蓝莓视频

Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman, the first Black female president of the Ontario Medical Association, sees herself as a bridge builder.

A clinical immunologist and allergist, she initially studied surgery in medical school before realizing that her love for communicating with patients made her ideally suited for clinical work. It鈥檚 her MMath in Biostatistics (鈥�03) from the University of 蓝莓视频, however, that has given her such a unique perspective.

Abdurrahman was born in Nigeria and grew up in the Middle East and the United Kingdom before settling down in Canada as a preteen. Her father is a pediatrician, and inspired her to follow in his footsteps from an early age. 鈥淎s a听kid, I loved science, and I liked that he seemed to spend most of his day talking to people,鈥� she says.

In high school, however, Abdurrahman also thrived in math: her favorite math teacher, Mr. Savage, was a 蓝莓视频 alum, and he encouraged his students to participate in the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC)鈥檚 annual math competitions. At McGill University, she was able to do a combined physiology and mathematics program with a tiny cohort of equally enthusiastic peers.

鈥淲e talked about chaos theory, and statistics, and the mathematical modelling of different systems of the body,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 had professors who were brilliant mathematicians who also loved physiology. When I told them I had fallen in love with statistics and wanted to do a master鈥檚 in mathematics, they told me I had to go to the University of 蓝莓视频 鈥� that I would find so much support in their Faculty of Math.鈥�

The Translation Person

Abdurrahman had an unusually difficult introduction to graduate studies: her first day of orientation was September 11, 2001. 鈥淚t was really shocking for all of us, who were far from home and starting this program together,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淏ut the faculty and administrators in the Biostatistics program were so supportive of us, and we bonded really quickly because of what we went through.鈥�

She was the first Biostatistics master鈥檚 student who planned to become a doctor, and her professors were thrilled. 鈥淚t will be great to have more physicians understanding the background of the research they want to do,鈥� her supervisor, Dr. Jerry Lawless (distinguished professor emeritus of Statistics and Actuarial Science) told her. 鈥淚t sometimes feels like medicine and statistics are two different languages, and you can be the translation person.鈥�

He helped her find a co-op at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Toronto, where she did statistical research on HIV. 鈥淭hat was just so fascinating, and so transformational,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e were using these generalized estimating equations to understand the impact of new medications on people鈥檚 viral loads, and we were also trying to figure out how to model the impact of social factors on treatment effectiveness. I learned so much about how to work on a team.鈥�

New Ways to Communicate

In medical school at the University of Toronto, Abdurrahman thrived: she served as co-president of her cohort, and as head of the Women in Surgery group. She also changed the curriculum. 鈥淚 remember approaching our professor advocating that we study more biostatistics, and we ended up working together over the summer to build a second-year biostatistics module that鈥檚 still part of the curriculum! I wanted to make sure that my classmates had the skills to interpret research papers effectively and communicate those findings to their patients.鈥�

Eventually, Abdurrahman switched from pediatric surgery to pediatric allergy and immunology. 鈥淚 love that there are a lot of mysteries to solve, but you also get to help people deal with more common issues involving food allergies, environmental allergies, and asthma,鈥� she says.

Now that Abdurrahman is serving her one-year term as Ontario Medical Association president, she鈥檚 balancing time caring for her patients with province-wide leadership and advocacy. 鈥淚鈥檝e always loved governance,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 related to my love of math. Math is the universal language, and governance is the universal language for organizations and how they work!鈥�

She鈥檚 also continuing work that was important to her during the pandemic, combating misinformation through new forms of media like Instagram as well as advocating for culturally informed medical communication in historically marginalized communities. 鈥淭here are valid historical reasons, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis experiments, for people to be wary of medicine,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e have to find new ways to communicate and educate people, to meet them where they are.鈥�

For Abdurrahman, one of the most important aspects of her role is the time she gets to spend talking to aspiring doctors, from elementary school to medical school. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for people to see women of colour in STEM,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 want to challenge their preconceived notions about who can become a doctor, and the path and skills that will take you there.鈥�