As a high school graduate at age 12 and a medical school graduate at 20, Palestinian Iqbal Al Assaad is in every sense a prodigy despite many challenges. But her childhood dream to become a doctor and help Palestinian refugees is only partly realized. With limited opportunities for professional work in Lebanon, where she grew up, El Assaad instead practices medicine in Ohio – for now. El Assaad graduated from high school four years ahead of schedule at the top of her class including studies in biochemistry and mathematics she would need for medical school. At age 13, she caught the attention of the education minister of Lebanon, who helped her win a scholarship to study medicine in Qatar. In 2013, still only 20 years old, she became the youngest student ever to graduate from Cornell University medical school’s Qatar branch and possibly the youngest Arab doctor ever.

Opportunities for Palestinians limited

But since then, she has been unable to use her skills to help Palestinian refugees and offer them services by opening a free clinic for them in Lebanon. Medicine is one of several dozen professions from which Palestinian refugees are barred. Palestinians in Lebanon were allowed to take clerical and lower-level jobs starting in 2005 and allowed to work in some professions in 2010. But highly skilled fields including medicine are regulated by professional associations that impose strict membership restrictions in order to protect jobs for Lebanese nationals. These associations are concerned that Palestinians might overwhelm the labor market, “so they feel it’s about job opportunities for Lebanese nationals”, said Lina Hamdan, a spokeswoman for the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee.

Refugee population swells with Syrian conflict

As the ranks of refugees grow in the Middle East, Al Assaad’s situation is increasingly common. The United Nations Relief Works Agency, estimates there are about 450,000 Palestinians in Lebanon and more than 90,000 have arrived from Syria since that country’s conflict began five years ago. While the UN agency provides primary medical care, it does not pay for more serious medical conditions, often forcing refugees to chose between forgoing treatment or going heavily into debt to pay for care. Growing up in Bar Elias, a rural village in the Bekaa valley, after her parents arrived in Lebanon, Al Assaad visited relatives in refugee camps and was struck at an early age by the poverty and lack of access to medical care.

Inspired to help refugees

Inspired to help, she pursued an education in math and science, which led to help from Lebanon’s education minister Khaled Qabbani in winning a full scholarship from the Qatar Foundation to attend Weill Cornell Medical College. Recognizing her accomplishment in graduating medical school and obtaining a prestigious residency in the United States, Arabian Business named her one of the 100 most powerful people under 40 in the Middle East in 2015.

Inspired to help refugees

Inspired to help, she pursued an education in maths and science, which led to help from Lebanon’s education minister Khaled Qabbani in winning a full scholarship from the Qatar Foundation to attend Weill Cornell Medical College. Recognizing her accomplishment in graduating medical school and obtaining a prestigious residency in the United States, Arabian Business named her one of the 100 most powerful people under 40 in the Middle East in 2015.