Lifelong love for narratives leads one medical student to a career in healing

As a child, Mosufa Zainab, fourth-year student at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), loved listening to stories. During her time in medical school, she has listened to and absorbed many stories – those of her classmates, her mentors, her patients, and perhaps most deeply, herself.

“In high school, I found another fascination,” Zainab said. “I discovered I had the same love and passion for science as I did for stories. But I didn’t want to be confined to a lab.” She tried dentistry, pharmacy, and molecular chemistry, but ultimately felt medicine was her calling.

After graduating with honors in biochemistry from George Mason University, she took a gap year working for the National Institutes of Health. “It was fulfilling working in a clinical setting where patient stories and medicine struck a perfect balance.” Zainab set her sights on medical school and cast a wide net of applications.

“I really liked what I saw and read about VTCSOM, but I felt like the odds were stacked against me,” she said. The school enrolls about 50 students each year, only a small percentage of the 5,000 to 6,000 who apply.

In the end, the school with the lowest odds of her being accepted was the first school to offer Zainab admission. “I worked very hard to get into medical school. I knew VTCSOM believed in me and that I was meant to be here. I believed I found a community that would give me an option to grow as a physician and a professional.”

Finding community

Coming from a close-knit Muslim family in Northern Virginia, Zainab felt a certain amount of self-reproach for leaving her family to come to Roanoke. “This was the first time I was going to move away from them, so I felt a little selfish pursuing medical school.”

As she entered medical school, Zainab knew that her two passions, stories and science, awaited her, but she admitted to feeling isolated in the beginning.

“I don’t remember seeing anyone else wearing a hijab, for example.”

But her natural abilities to connect with others, to hear their stories, quickly led her to find a place within a community that would embrace her.

Influencing policy

Given her love for stories, it was no surprise when Zainab enrolled in a narrative medicine course taught by Brian and Cyndy Unwin. Brian Unwin is a professor of internal medicine and family and community medicine. Cyndy Unwin is an assistant professor in health systems and implementation science. The two quickly became unofficial mentors to Zainab.

“In class, Mosufa completely embraced the work of exploring herself and trying to learn more about her patients,” Brian Unwin said. “She is such a receptive listener. She doesn’t hide anything and is always reaching out to learn.”

Cyndy Unwin agreed.

“Mosufa has a gentle heart, and a strong spirit,” she said. “It’s that strength in her that we both had the pleasure of witnessing.”

Driven by her strong convictions, Zainab advocated for inclusive operating room training and policies — including attire — that accommodated students and staff and their religious practices or culture. The Unwins helped her successfully navigate medical school and hospital policies and procedures.

“At first, Mosufa hesitated to speak up about the level of discomfort she felt with no formal policies in place, but we encouraged her to pursue the often-challenging process,” Cyndy Unwin said. “Mosufa realized she was not just an advocate for herself but also for all the people who come after her.”

Beyond differences

As part of her quest to foster connections with others, Zainab organized a Faith in Medicine series, during which the school's students, staff and faculty visited different places of worship.

“It was so wholesome to attend religious ceremonies completely different from our individual beliefs, but feel the same emotion, the same connection,” she said.

This year, Zainab and Karima Abutaleb of the Class of 2027, co-founder of the medical school's chapter of the American Muslim Medical Student Association, organized a community Iftar, breaking of a fast during Ramadan. The event drew a number of participants from all walks of faith who listened to Muslim prayer, had an opportunity to connect, and enjoyed a meal together.

“I’ve found such pleasure in these connections and the stories that go with them, Zainab said. “I’ve learned we are so much more alike than we are different.”

“Mosufa has a supreme capacity to be present in a humane and compassionate way,” Cyndy Unwin said. “Every patient she sits with will feel the grace of her kindness, her empathy and intelligence.”

Brian Unwin agreed. “She’s going to be an advocate for her patients as well as bigger things.”