In this revealing interview, we trace the immigrant success story of Azam Hematiyan, an Iranian-born nurse who turned cultural barriers into stepping stones in Canada. Born into a large Isfahan family, her journey—fueled by her father’s courage and mother’s discipline—defies expectations: from engineering student to nurse, from Iran to Ontario, through language hurdles and heartache.
What astonishes us isn’t just her career shift or resilience, but how she redefines triumph. Through cultural shocks and lonely winters, Azam’s tale reminds us that even the harshest transitions can spark joy—when you cling to purpose. Her secret? “Help others, and you’ll find yourself.”
Can you share a bit about your upbringing in Isfahan
Hello and thank you for inviting me to this interview. I am very happy about this and thank you. I will try to answer your questions in general. I must say that I owe the courage I have now to my father and the discipline I have in my life to my mother, and I thank them for that, It’s a long story when you ask me why I chose nursing, but I really enjoy telling this story every time and I’d love to share it with you…
In short and generally speaking, considering my personality, I am very perfectionist and ambitious, I say this boldly, and I am very happy that I am a perfectionist because it made me successful in many places😅.
But I have to admit that this perfectionism did not always lead to my success, sometimes it caused things that upset me a lot, but I didn’t give up and I didn’t stop being a perfectionist and I continued…🤕🚶♀️
But many times I was blamed for my personality, but I didn’t care and I still don’t care, I don’t care how anyone judges me, it’s always important to me to be happy and feel the power of everything…🤷♀️😎💪
And I must say that the only thing that keeps me going is my parents, my family, my sisters and also my brother… And I would like to say that I grew up in a large family, a family where we had three sisters and two brothers, we were almost a large family, and I can say that the most beautiful period of my life was my teenage childhood, which was with the family… I have always experienced many challenges in my family with my sisters and brothers until now and the most beautiful moments of my life were the time spent with them and they are the reason for many of my successes… And when I immigrated, it made me think a lot about the life I had before immigrating and after immigrating, about all the experiences I had and didn’t have.
I have to say that my overthinking is the second and most obvious part of my personality.. After thinking a lot every time, I come to important conclusions, and sometimes it makes me write them down, and this gives me a strange peace, and I feel that it makes my personality grow and makes me know myself better… And I would like to mention this sentence at the end that family is the most important part of every person’s personality.
You mentioned your perfectionism and ambition—and how your family played a huge role in shaping you. But your path wasn’t straightforward! You started in electrical engineering before switching to nursing. What was that turning point like? What made you realize nursing was the right fit for you?
I must say that I was a student of electrical engineering, but what made me become interested in medicine was the medical school of nursing, which was located near our university.
It might be funny but I discovered my interest when I entered university and after that I realized that I really love medicine and nursing.
And that’s why after two years, I got a post-graduate degree in electrical engineering and took the medical exam. I wanted to be a doctor, but I was accepted as a nurse and I was really interested, so I continued with interest.
And the further I went, I saw that I really like this field, and my interest grew more every day, and I preferred to develop myself in this field.
Due to my perfectionist personality, I always wanted my future job to be well-known in the society, and as soon as someone felt better, with my help, I felt good and gradually my interest increased much more, unlike the fact that I had a very sensitive and gentle spirit.
Switching from engineering to nursing is such a big leap—and you’ve talked about how much your family means to you. What did they think when you made that change? Were they surprised, supportive… or did anyone try to talk you out of it?
My family was very against me becoming a nurse, especially my father, and I secretly took the entrance exam for nursing, and when I was accepted, I studied nursing for a year and told them later.
Ever since, my family has been very happy to see my work and interest and success in this field and even supported me..
My biggest challenge was that my family was very against and they always said that I have an emotional and tender personality and I will not succeed in this field and I always tried and overcame this weakness and I succeeded and they were also happy and accepted me. supported…
The reason for their opposition was that my father wanted me to become an engineer and my mother was always worried about my delicate spirit, it is true, I was very sensitive and it was very difficult to adapt, sometimes I also cried with my patients.
Before moving to Canada, what was your nursing career like in Isfahan? Any memorable moments or challenges that shaped you as a nurse?
In my opinion, there is not much difference between nurses before immigration and after immigration, and in general, nursing has the same concept everywhere in the world, and in my opinion, there are very small differences.
A few differences that I can say, first, the work environment, work method, colleague, these are all influential in making work difficult or easy.
Before immigrating, nursing was a very sweet job for me, and the only difficulty was the lack of nurses, a lot of work, work pressure, and lack of facilities…
I worked in the emergency department in Isfahan for 5 years and I can confidently say that my most and best experiences were the most learning during this period and these 5 years of work made me an expert and the best in my work.
During this time, I saw different patients, I did different things and gained many experiences, and despite all the bitterness, there were many sweets in this work, and my best and most beautiful memories go back to working in the emergency room before immigration…
You’ve painted such a vivid picture of your time in the Isfahan emergency room—it sounds intense but incredibly rewarding! What made you decide to take that big step and move to Canada? And of all places, why Montreal specifically?
My motivation for immigrating was to improve my work and education, and I chose Montreal because I thought it would be easier to start life again from scratch in a small city.
Moving to a new country—especially starting fresh in Montreal—must have come with its own set of challenges. What were some of the biggest practical hurdles you faced when you first arrived? And was there a moment where you experienced real culture shock, where Canada felt unexpectedly different from home?
My biggest obstacle to immigrating was my strong attachment to my family and being away from them, and it was very, very difficult and caused my immigration process to be delayed several times because it was very difficult to be separated from my family and friends.
The biggest shock for me was that the environment was not what I always imagined in my mind and I was culturally very different from the people around me and they were also different, we couldn’t even make a simple joke together at work, a joke was needed. that I translate it for them and again my funny joke was not funny for them and this is very hard for me because I have a bad sense of humor, sometimes I have to laugh at myself.
You’ve shared how tough the cultural gap felt at first—especially when even humor didn’t translate (literally!). Knowing what you know now, how do you prepare yourself for those differences you would face in Canada?
I tried to communicate with different people so that I can get to know the new culture and I can update myself with them and I had to accept that everything is different and I also have to make changes in myself so that I can adapt to the same environment.
It is very difficult for me because I am a humorous and talkative person and it is very difficult to live next to these people and work next to these people with this culture, but it is interesting for me to get to know them and their culture as well. My opinion is that one has to change after immigration, but sometimes I try to change the environment according to my own will.
After sharing those cultural adjustment challenges, I’m curious about the professional side of your transition. What was the process like to get your nursing credentials recognized here in Canada? And as an immigrant nurse, were there any unexpected hurdles or barriers you had to navigate in the system?
I must say that nursing education in Iran has been very complete and comprehensive, and we have enough knowledge and awareness of it here, and the only problem for us nurses here can only be another language, However, I went through a two-year process to equalize my nursing qualifications and become a nurse again, but due to the problems in my life, it took 4 years..
I started as préposé au benefice then infirmier auxiliaire s and then RN..
I started and completed the follow-up through Quebec’s nursing system.
Regarding the second question, providing mental and physical needs as a nurse is very difficult and sometimes we are very tired, both mentally and physically, but I try to make it sweeter for myself every moment, we have to accept the life we have chosen and find a new way. In order to be less tired and enjoy life more, maybe this is what life is all about. In my opinion, there is no destination, the whole path of life should be enjoyed and not tired, beautiful moments should be created.
I try to have a healthy diet and exercise and have a recreational class along with my work so that I can have a healthy body and a healthy mind for better work…
Let’s talk about your daily life now – could you walk us through a typical shift as a nurse in Montreal? And after all the challenges you’ve overcome, what parts of your work in Canada bring you the most joy or fulfillment?
As a nurse in Montreal, you have to be at work every day, you have less days off, in my opinion, you work more than life, but I try to enjoy life in a reasonable way, you should accept these hard days of the first years and find a solution. For a better future and a better job position
The only thing I enjoy in my nursing job is to make my patients happy and make them laugh and I try to make them very happy and I give all my potential to help them. Their smile and satisfaction makes me very happy and satisfied. The biggest challenge I saw in the nursing profession is communication with patients, it is difficult to share your feelings with them because there is a lot of cultural difference.
We’ve talked about the rewarding parts of your journey – but I imagine there must have been some really tough moments too. Was there one experience in Canada that tested you more than you expected? How did you get through it?
I had a history of a surgery here and it was very urgent, it was very uncomfortable and it was very difficult to be alone, different thoughts come to you and you can’t even express your feelings, there is no one to understand you, there is no one to understand you and you have to quickly Get well, you can’t even tell your family because they are far away and they will only worry.
You’ve shared such vulnerable experiences about being alone through health challenges – thank you for that honesty. Professionally, have you ever faced clear instances of discrimination as an immigrant nurse in Canada? How did you recognize these moments, and what helped you respond while staying true to your nursing values?
I was discriminated a lot but I try my best to keep quiet and respect them..
We have to accept that we live in a place where there is cultural difference and arguing is useless.
It takes remarkable strength to navigate those difficult situations with such grace. After days when work feels especially heavy – whether from discrimination or just the demands of nursing – what are your favorite ways to recharge? How do you show yourself kindness after long shifts?
After a long day of work to relax I choose exercise and music and I try to work out and go to a sports class every day after work and one of the classes that I have been very successful in here is patinage.
We’ve covered so much of your journey today – from your nursing passion to the challenges and joys of building a life in Montreal. Before we wrap up, is there anything we haven’t asked that you’d love to share? This is your space to add anything on your heart or mind for our readers.
For a long time, problems had made me forget myself, and as life became more difficult for me, it made me fight more and become more successful, and to calm down and deal with loneliness, I went to music classes and now I play the guitar and also started the piano. And the harsh Montreal winter made me take hockey lessons and now I can play hockey on cold days as a hobby and…and…and I must also talk about the sweet experience of the snake in kindergarten which was very enjoyable for me, and I am happy that the hardships of the path made me an experienced person and I thank all my companions on this path, especially my supervisor in the breathing department, who encouraged me a lot and I was able to regain my lost self-confidence.
