I’m a 25-year old born and raised in Karachi. I grew up privileged and was given the freedom to study whatever I wanted to, although studying and getting good grades was always enforced in my family. Although I wanted to pursue medicine after my A-Levels, the idea of moving abroad at 18 years of age and living independently was more enthralling. I went to the University of Toronto for my undergraduate hoping to pursue Human Nutrition and Dietetics. A year into my undergraduate, I found out that my university was not accredited with the Dietitians of Canada, so studying nutrition there was not going to get me a registered dietitian license. Anyhow, I completed my degree with a double major in Nutritional Sciences and Neuroscience, and a minor in Psychology.
During my undergrad, I was introduced to Public Health while I interned at Sickkids Hospital. Over there, I met a world reknown paediatrician and public health scientist from Pakistan, who encouraged me to pursue a Masters in Public Health. I moved back to Pakistan after completing my undergrad in 2017, and enrolled in an MPH program online from the University of Edinburgh, which I had to complete over a period of three years.
I changed quite a few jobs in Pakistan, since I couldn’t find my niche where I was working. I wanted to pursue research during my initial working years to build a strong academic profile. What I realized when working at different hospitals and NGOs was that in order to build an expertise in public health, it was important to publish articles and conduct studies with an epidemiologic base. My masters degree grounded epidemiology and biostatistical skills which I concurrently utilized while working.
The biggest obstacle I faced in the field of STEM in Pakistan, was the lack of research design and data analytics in the field of public health. As a country, or even within a hospital setting, there is large data that has yet to be utilized and published. Without any trace of evidence or analysis of the current scenario, there is only so much we can improve or work towards. I also realized the amount of data fabrication that took place within the field and within research settings, that came from a lack of trained personnel and rigorous checks. As a woman, I was lucky not to face as many obstacles as I expected. However, working became difficult when local mindsets perceived an unmarried single woman who was nice to men as “chalaak”. I also experienced a lot of harassment around me which went by ignored or was covered up, and my personal values were in anguish upon seeing the kind of injustice in society and in workplaces. However, I suppose that is entirely dependent on the working environment and not the field of work per se.
So far, I have conducted a few projects and implemented maternal and paediatric programs at primary care centres, and also conducted a pharmaceutical clinical trial. Most of my work is in maternal child health and I’m focusing on building an academic profile by publishing research done at my department at work, before I move on to the next step.
About the future, I’m not too sure at this point. I have come to realize that to excel in this field, a clinical background is highly necessary, so even pursuing a PhD at this age won’t be helpful in a field like public health. I got into this field of work by chance, and I’d like to see where life takes me in the future.