KAMSACK — Dr. Elmira Amirazodi, who says her passion is medicine and that she enjoys being a general practitioner, began a three-year contract on Aug. 5 to work at the Assiniboine Valley Medical Centre.
Although married, Amirazodi moved to Kamsack by herself because her husband Arash Shadkami, a chemical engineer, remains in Toronto because of not having found a suitable job closer to Kamsack.
“We’ll have to keep in contact virtually,” Amirazodi said last week, adding that she expects him to visit at the end of August.
Born and raised in Iran, Amirazodi attended medical school in the south of Iran, graduating with a medical doctor’s degree in 2007. The couple was married in 2010 and she worked as a family and emergency doctor at a medical practice in southern Iran until 2011, when the couple moved to Canada, settling in Toronto. She enrolled at McMaster University in Hamilton, where she worked to obtain a master’s degree, while her husband obtained a Ph.D. in chemical engineering.
Amirazodi said that she and her husband had decided to immigrate to Canada because they had found it difficult to live within the political restrictions required by the Iranian government. She received her Canadian citizenship in 2015.
In 2019, Amirazodi returned to Iran, just prior to when the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were imposed, and was stuck there for the next two years, returning to Canada in 2021.
While in Canada waiting for her certification to practice, Amirazodi worked as a medical researcher and physician’s assistant.
“I’m most satisfied as a medical doctor,” she said. “I’ve always liked helping people; that’s why I entered medical school.”
She said that after having heard good things about the medical possibilities in Saskatchewan, she applied as a general practitioner.
“I’m a flexible person. I adapt fast,” she said, adding that she likes the program here. “And I like the quiet.”
When not at work, Amirazodi said she especially enjoys two things: hiking and swimming. She earned national competitive swimming medals in Iran, with her specialty, the “frog” or breaststroke.
At the time of the interview, Amirazodi said she still had not visited Duck Mountain Provincial Park and Madge Lake where the opportunities for hiking and swimming are excellent.
“I’ll wait for my husband before going to Madge Lake,” she said.
Amirazodi said that she also enjoys baking, and sharing the cookies and cakes that she bakes.
“I’m happy here,” she said. “I’m working with a good team and am looking forward to working here for the next few years.”
