MAKING THE LEAP Dr. Mateen Raazi
Provincial head of anaesthesiology, U of S, Saskatoon Originally from Pakistan
Where are you from and what brought you to Saskatchewan? My immediate transition to Canada happened in late 1996 from the United States where I did my residency training and fellowships. I was born and raised, however, in Pakistan and that is where I did my medical school as well. Since most of my close family had already migrated to North America, a desire to stay close to them came to fortuitous fruition when a job opportunity presented itself in Saskatchewan.
What was it like coming here? What struck you? My wife and I came to Saskatchewan in December of 1996, which was a particularly unforgettable time. Neither of us had been to Canada before even though we had lived in the United States for several years prior to that. What struck us both was the vastness and the eerily serene beauty of the snow-covered Saskatchewan landscape as the plane hovered before landing. We soon discovered firsthand the brutally invigorating impact of -40 C temperature on the human senses. In contrast to that, it was also quite apparent how warm and welcoming the people of Saskatchewan are and what a wonderful place this is to raise a family, not to mention how amply rewarding professional medical practice here is from many perspectives.
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SMA DIGEST | SPRING 2019
Dr. Mateen Raazi and his family at the end of Ramadan celebrations: daughter Huda, wife Ayla, and son Ozayr.
What is a big difference you’ve noticed in Saskatchewan as compared with where you are from originally? Just to carry the climatic analogy and contrast a little bit further, I chuckle at how much of my childhood and youth were spent in +40 C summer temperatures and how -40 C temperatures have become the winter norm for us. Also quite apparent is the contrast between population densities; I grew up in cities with a minimum population of five to six million and it took a while to get used to the almost deserted roads of rural Saskatchewan where you feel like waving a big hello to a total stranger in the occasional car that drives by in the opposite direction.
How does it compare to practising medicine where you came from? Medical practice in most of the developing world including my country of birth, Pakistan, is quite different from Canada. While individual health-care providers are often the same on the skill and quality spectrum, aspects of organization and regulation of medical practice can be strikingly different. What we Canadians take for granted, and decidedly should not, is the universality, accessibility, quality and portability of our health-care system which is truly a shining example of Canadian social values.
What has been the biggest challenge? As with most diaspora families, the biggest challenge for us has been the logistics of staying in close touch with other family members and friends across vast and sometimes continental distances. If long absences make the heart grow fonder, our larger family must be a very loving one indeed.