For Samad, who grew up in India and Saudi Arabia, serving his country is his way of giving back to the life he and his family enjoy in Canada. He also wants to serve as a role model for others, on campus and in the community.
“My personal reason is that I was not born in Canada, I moved to Canada with my family many years ago,” he said. “And as a Canadian Muslim immigrant, I wanted to give back to this country and present people like me in a positive light. So that’s one of the reasons I’m joining the forces. And professionally, being in the military gives me job security, benefits, pension, disability, health coverage, which, frankly, most doctors in Canada don’t. not because we are primarily private entrepreneurs. So these are my personal and professional reasons for serving.
Having studied in Nepal and worked as a medic in the Middle East, Samad speaks several languages, including Arabic, and has experienced a variety of cultures, providing a skill set highly sought after by the Canadian Armed Forces for deployment in missions of peacekeeping, humanitarian or military. .
“The military, when they hire someone, they look at the whole package, including your degrees,” said Samad, who has undergone basic training and field exercises, and is now classified as operational as as military doctor and air surgeon. “But certainly, I’m sure they’re also looking at the non-academic qualifications that someone brings, like whether they speak a particular language or know a particular culture, and that sort of thing.”
While awaiting deployment, Samad divides his time between his private practice in Saskatoon and teaching at USask, sharing his unique training and experience with future physicians. He also hopes to be a role model for other medical students and newcomers to Canada.
“Whenever I work with medical students and with residents, I always try to talk to them about the military aspects of medicine in particular, and I try to incorporate that into my civilian practice,” Samad said, who completed his general internal medicine scholarship. via USask, before becoming an assistant professor.
“And I seriously hope, with my unique experience and my unique career path, that I can inspire others like me. My message to newcomers to this country is to be grateful, to be grateful to this country and what they have offered to us and whatever way you can give back to this country, please make your go.
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