How destiny led me to a career in Public Health!

And how I became Canadian.

This story is about a journey. One of how I found my calling and how Canada became my home. Was it a well thought plan? No! Did it happen overnight? If you guessed no, you are right! This is a nine year journey coming to Canada as an international student in 2013, building a career in public health and becoming a citizen nine year later! This is a glimpse of how things unfolded.

When dad predicted the future!

I grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, in a family who believed in diversity, inclusion, and acceptance of others before these concepts were trendy buzzwords. My dad was a graphic designer and mom a bank manager. They taught me to love people and life, and to always think the best of others even when their actions are not up to expectations. But that is not always a successful approach in a country torn by war and conflict, where everyone is in survival mode. When I was 11 years old, my dad witnessed me giving my spot in line for purchasing bread (scarce at that time) for another family and said: “you can’t survive in this country this way! You need to be in another place… maybe Canada!”. At that moment, dad said it as a joke. Little he knew that joke would become reality a few years later.

How I ended up in Canada.

I came to Canada as an international student in 2013, although this was never part of the plan. See, I completed a medical degree between Lebanon and Russia with a set path in pediatric surgery. But what happened in my last year of medical studies would change my plans forever, and with that, my entire life!

I saw a patient with advanced lip cancer, the type you only read about, as usually lip cancer is visible and it’s rare for it to reach advanced stages going unnoticed for years. This is when I first got introduced to the social determinants of health and how some people are not able to seek medical care or treatment because that would mean skipping work, and consequently not being able to put food on the table on that day. This is how I discovered public health!

But that was not the first step in the journey. I will take you with me back in time to high school and how I decided to be a medical doctor!

The Lebanese Red Cross chapter!

Little I knew that a fundraiser campaign would be the reason I launched a career in healthcare, and ultimately lead me to become Canadian.

May 08 is the International Red Cross Day. In Lebanon, the Lebanese Red Cross would launch its fundraiser to support its volunteer free-of-charge ambulance and first aid services. For that campaign, volunteers would visit schools and talk about the services and students would donate money, each as much as they can afford. Some would donate their lunch allowance for the day, and others would bring money they saved for a movie or another fun activity. The Lebanese Red Cross is crucial for the Lebanese when it comes to health services, especially since it replaced the government services during the war. Seeing these volunteers and how passionate they were about the cause, I was inspired and decided to join the Lebanese Red Cross as a volunteer in its Youth Department which offered social services. After 2 years of volunteering, it became clear to me I wanted a career where I can support people’s health and well-being. At that time, the obvious oath was medicine. Fast forward 6 years later, I realized it was public health that I was passionate about!

MD, check! A master in public health next!

My plan to disregard my admission to a residency in pediatric surgery was not an easy one. It wasn’t easy to explain to my parents and friends! “So you will be studying again and then not work in a clinic?” Before the pandemic and before Dr. Deena Hinshaw became a household name, trying to explain what would a medical doctor do working in public health was no easy task. Looking for a graduate program in public health (Master in Public Health or MPH) was somewhat easy: I was only looking to study in English or French, as I was not ready to learn a new language before starting my studies. So North America was my best bet. The USA schools all required GRE, and I was too busy to prepare and write one during my last year of medical school. So Canada was a clear winner. But which Public Health School should I choose? Thanks to Wikipedia, the answer was clear: the only accredited school of public health in Canada back in 2012 was the UofA’s School of Public Health! Now I did apply to other schools in Canada and got admission letters to all, but Alberta had a charm! No one can beat its natural beauty. And this is how I decided to come to Edmonton, Alberta. A decision that will change my life forever!

Edmonton: love at first sight!

Coming to Edmonton was no easy task, as my student visa got rejected twice due to logistical misunderstanding! But that’s a story for a different post. Long story short, I was able to get my student visa on the 3rd application. It was granted to me, one month before the start of the school year! So within 2 weeks of getting my passport stamped, I landed in Edmonton! I was mesmerized by how green the city is (later on replaced by how long the winter is). For two weeks I stayed at a B&B and then moved to Newton Place (UofA residence). The UofA was beautiful and I enjoyed every minute of my 1.5 years of Public Health program, graduating in 2013. Now that I have an MD and an MPH, I had to decide my next step: is it going back to Lebanon or working in public health in Canada? You can read about why I chose public health and how I decided to remain in Canada in this Facebook post!

Building a career in Public Health!

Starting a career from scratch is no easy task! But there are ways to help expedite the process and support any newcomer to Canada to launch their careers. It does require dedication, a lot of patience, and lots of networking! And of course, for any newcomer like me, you need a work permit! For some insight on how to build any career in Canada in a concrete way, scroll to the end of this post! It all starts by 

I landed my first job doing epidemiological research in the NT and YT, visiting remote communities, sometimes on ice roads, sometimes by charter planes, and sometimes by boat! I got to experience firsthand how similar our experiences as humans are, irrespective of where we are from! I heard stories from elders in small communities that reminded me of stories told to me by my grandma.

After three years of traveling to the north, it was time for me to plan my next step. I formed a strong bond with Canada and the people of Canada. I felt like my calling lies here, doing public health work with communities and populations who are underserved. This is when I decided to submit my application to become a permanent resident (PR) of Canada.

Becoming PR was an awesome feeling! I now could apply for permanent jobs! So I decided to move jobs and went into immunization policy and programming (yep that’s vaccines) in 2018! That is one year before vaccines became a worldwide hot topic! 3 years later, I became a Canadian citizen!

Becoming Canadian.

Here’s an infographic about the steps I went through to become a Canadian citizen! Not easy, but it’s worth it. It’s a privilege and an honor! If you are interested in a pinch of drama about the application process I went through, you can read my Twitter thread about it here. You can also check my Instagram story about my journey to get the Canadian passport!

Tips and tricks!

Stay tuned to join my Live on Instagram on August 29 at 5pm MT to talk more about tips and tricks to building any career in Canada as a newcomer. The video will also be uploaded to my YouTube channel and will be available to watch within 48 hours of the live.