Turning Grief into Purpose

Fueled by Personal Loss, Maryam Nafea is on a Mission to Combat Diabetes and Support Families

By: Lauren Nguyen

After losing three uncles to diabetes as a young girl, Pharm.D. student Maryam Nafea turned her grief into a passion for helping others, sparking her journey into health care and pharmacy.

As her uncles passed away one by one, her family never shared the details of their deaths. It wasn’t until her mom fell ill that Nafea made the connection.

“They just said, ‘Your uncle got really sick and died,’” Nafea said. “As I got older, my mom was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I realized that this is what happened with my uncles.”

Nafea believes her family’s lack of health education kept them from understanding that their deaths were preventable.

“They think that once you have the disease, it will lead to death whether you take care of it or not, which is not true,” Nafea said.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in biology in Utah, Nafea ventured into new territory when she enrolled at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy (UHCOP).

“The culture just felt right,” Nafea said. “Everybody was welcoming to me; I didn’t feel like I was a new student from another state.”

The diversity and opportunities at UHCOP have made Nafea feel like she’s receiving a world-class education.

“The college focuses on bringing different professors with specialized education so they can deliver the material to us in the best way possible,” Nafea said. “To me, that is very unique and not a lot of colleges do that. I’m glad to be able to receive this kind of knowledge from top-notch professors and experts.”

Nafea served on the UHCOP Student Wellness Advisory Committee during her P1 and P2 years. She surveyed her classmates to identify gaps in resources and ways to improve mental health support, with the addition of a yoga or meditation room to the school among the top suggestions to help alleviate stress.

Nafea also serves as Operation Diabetes Senior Chair for American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and education chair for the UHCOP Chapter of the National Community Pharmacy Association (NPCA). She said she believes community pharmacy has set her up for success because it’s where you get your feet wet.

“You learn how to talk to patients, and you also see a lot of the most commonly used medications for chronic disease management,” Nafea said. “Seeing them repetitively helps you remember them and recognize how they are prescribed.”

As a current P3 student, Nafea discovered two areas of interest during her hospital rotations at Houston Methodist Hospital: ambulatory care and transition of care.

“I like ambulatory care so I can focus on diabetes and diabetic patients,” Nafea said.

Nafea said is determined to educate others about diabetes so they don’t suffer the same fate as her uncles. Nafea said she also believes in providing support to a patient’s family members and offering them mental health resources.

“As a family member, you have to be strong for the patient, but who is there to tell you that ‘I have your hand, I can help you, I’m here to listen to you?’” Nafea said.

One memorable moment from her time at Houston Methodist Hospital occurred when the chapel setting comforted a family who was there with their mother.

“They were sitting on the ground together, hugging,” Nafea said. “That’s something I hope to offer in the future to anybody, whether it’s a patient or their family member.”

During her experience with transition of care, Nafea worked with many different patients. One instance that stood out was watching a pharmacist go to great lengths to help an older patient with a language barrier.

“Not only was he explaining the medication to the patient, but literally drawing out when to take it,” Nafea said. “He made a visual and almost turned the counseling session into a cartoon.”

The pharmacist’s effort to ensure the patient understood how and when to take the medication left a lasting impression on Nafea.

With a growing commitment to patient care and mental health, Nafea is determined to use her future career to ensure that no one else faces the same struggles her family did.

“I think that a lot of people just underestimate the power of medicine,” Nafea said. “I want to be that person who can make a difference in other people’s lives.”