A long route into medicine

Where it began

I grew up in a family dedicated to charitable healthcare. We ran free clinics out in the remote areas, and handed out food aid alongside the care so that people who had walked a long way to see someone did not leave hungry as well as unwell.

That taught me early that medicine is fundamentally about service rather than a career. After immigrating to the United States I found out firsthand what it feels like to navigate an unfamiliar healthcare system, and that perspective still shapes how I look after patients today. I want every patient to leave feeling respected, informed and supported.

Six countries before a license

I was born in Libya in 1984 and it was home until 1992. Pakistan came next, where I finished school and began pre-medical study. Then medical school at Avicenna Tajik State Medical University in Dushanbe, a decade in Malaysia including two years in Singapore, and in 2012 the United States: Michigan first, then Virginia for my degree, then Utah.

My route into medicine ran through several countries and several healthcare systems. It is the reason I understand what it is like to be the patient who does not speak the language and does not know how any of this works.

Every day I go to work, I get a chance to make a difference in someone’s life. I find deep purpose in helping people understand complex information, and I greatly value the opportunity to connect with them on a personal level.

Zobia Zafar, MPAS, PA-C

Three years volunteering at free clinics

Between 2012 and 2015, while studying in Virginia, I volunteered at more than twenty Remote Area Medical free clinics across Virginia and Tennessee. I also led my university’s volunteer program for those trips, which meant arranging transport, gathering students before dawn and being on site by three in the morning. Most of my own hours went to the dental area, because that line was always the longest.

One clinic saw more than five thousand people in three days. That is the work that made me want to do this properly, with a license and a name on the door.

I also worked at migrant family clinics in Utah between 2020 and 2022, doing physical exams, vital signs, diabetes screening, fluoride varnish and vaccinations for adults and children. And I volunteer as an education mentor with the Refugee and Immigrant Center, helping refugee and immigrant families find their way to educational opportunities and community resources.

Training

• Master of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Utah School of Medicine, graduated August 2022
• Bachelor of Science, Biology and Chemistry, Southern Virginia University, December 2015
• Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants license, January 2023
• NCCPA certified, and DEA registered
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support, American Heart Association CPR and BLS, Nexplanon trained, Certified Clinical Hemodialysis Technician

Clinical rotations

My training deliberately covered the whole range rather than one narrow lane, which is what makes general practice possible. It means I recognize what is serious and what can safely wait.

• Primary and urgent care, University of Utah Health
• Family medicine, United Community Health Center, Green Valley, Arizona
• Underserved primary care, Ft Duchesne Indian Health Service
• Trauma and general surgery, Utah Valley Hospital
• Women’s health and obstetrics, Rocky Mountain Women’s Center
• Pediatrics, University of Utah South Main Public Health Center
• Nephrology and hepatology, University of Utah Kidney and Liver Clinic
• Emergency medicine, Timpanogos Regional Hospital
• Behavioral health, Huntsman Mental Health Institute
• Correctional medicine, Utah State Prison Division of Clinical Services
• Occupational medicine, Raytheon Technologies, Tucson

Kidney and critical care, before the white coat

Before I qualified as a PA I spent five years looking after patients with chronic kidney disease and critically ill patients, in outpatient dialysis centers and in hospital intensive care. I am a Certified Clinical Hemodialysis Technician.

• Home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patient training, Fresenius Kidney Care, Salt Lake City, 2019 to 2020
• Acute dialysis technician, Intermountain Healthcare, Murray, Utah, 2018 to 2019, including CRRT dialysis for intensive care patients and liver transplant support in the operating room
• DaVita Dialysis, Detroit, 2015 to 2018
• Training hospital ICU staff to use CRRT machines, and working with vascular surgeons to keep patients’ dialysis access open

That background still shapes how I manage diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease now. It is also where I learned to teach: explaining something complicated and frightening until a patient can do it themselves at home is the same skill as explaining a new diagnosis.

Research and quality improvement

• Stratified Analysis of Second-Generation Antipsychotic Metabolic Monitoring in Developmentally Disabled Patients. My master’s research at the University of Utah, presented April 2021 and accepted for publication.
• Patient access to care survey, Ft Duchesne. A quality improvement study with the Utah Indian Health Service, from questionnaire design through to recommendations.

Since qualifying

I worked in full-spectrum outpatient primary care at Phoenix Family Medical Clinic from 2023, and I have been with Optima Medical in Laveen since 2024. I am a member of the American Academy of Physician Associates and the American Academy of Family Physicians.