Nothing was ever going to stop Hoppers Crossing’s Nisreen Dahalan from becoming a doctor.
Growing up as a Palestinian in Saudi Arabia, she knew she wanted to help people.
Whatever hurdles may face budding medical students in Australia, they pale in comparison to those that Dr Dahalan was confronted with.
After three years of studying in Palestine, where she was not allowed to travel freely and conflicts prevented students from going to university, she was forced to finish her last year of university in Jordan.
She spent years moving around the Middle East, including stays in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and being separated from her engineer husband, until they were eventually reunited in Jordan.
“My uncle was a politician in Palestine and the conditions were so bad that everyone in my family was in danger,” Dr Dahalan said.
“When I lived there my life was so much more complicated. There is no respect for human life.”
Throughout her professional life, she was never once paid for her services; instead she had to pay if she wanted to practise medicine.
In 2009, Dr Dahalan’s husband moved to Australia after his brother was killed by the radical Islamic group Hamas.
Finally, 14 months later, in June 2010, Dr Dahalan was approved for a protection visa and joined him.
She brought their two young children with her and the couple’s third son was born in Australia.
Dr Dahalan is now employed at the Derrimut Road Medical Centre, but visa restrictions mean she’s only allowed to work evenings and weekends. “I’m very happy now that I’m finally here,” she says.
“Sometimes I cry because it is so good. It feels so good to be earning money and to be recognised and respected by a country like Australia.
“We needed to leave where we were, not just for me but for my kids.
“We needed to do something.”
Dr Dahalan says she now wants to continue studying and become a specialist and eventually receive Australian citizenship.
