About Me
I spent my childhood growing up between western Michigan and southern Lebanon, where I learned to climb fig trees, swim in the Mediterranean Sea, and chase after street cats. During college, I spent time volunteering in the Middle East. I interned in the social work department of the largest public hospital in Morocco, located in the capital city of Rabat. There, I spent my weekends learning Darija and exploring the country, including Chefchaouen (the blue city) and Marrakesh (the red city). The next year, I taught Syrian refugees at a local high school in the small town of Ansariyeh, Lebanon. During medical school, I dedicated myself to working with underserved and minority patient populations, the most recent of which being Afghan refugees following the collapse of the Afghan government in 2021. To this day, I remain passionate about global health and social justice. One of my goals as a doctor and as a person is to follow this quote by Dr. Brené Brown: “In order to empathize with someone's experience, you must be willing to believe them as they see it, and not how you imagine their experience to be.”
On a personal note, I enjoy reading books on anti-racism and decolonialism, learning to cook foods from different cultures, and pretending I’m good at pickup basketball. I speak Arabic fluently and I’m currently learning Medical Arabic. I don’t have children, but my partner and I would like to one day have fur babies of our own. Last, but not least, my Meyers-Briggs personality type is INFJ.
Why I Chose Michigan?
I am thrilled to be training in the combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics (Med-Peds) program at U of M! There are so many reasons why, and they won’t all fit in this paragraph, but my #1 reason is the culture at U of M. The faculty, staff, and trainees have dedicated themselves to building a welcoming, caring, and supportive culture that has made me feel right at home! Please reach out to me if you’d like to hear my speech on all the things I love about this program!
