About Dr. Zakaria

The story begins shortly after I graduated from Rutgers (go BIG RED!) armed with a degree and license to practice pharmacy.

I entered the workforce putting in long shifts at a mega retail chain with the (naive) ideology that I can help my patients achieve optimal health through basic pharmacy skills I’d been taught – drug utilization review, patient counseling, and ensured medication compliance.

It didn’t take long for me to notice it wasn’t really working out like that.

I watched patients start new blood pressure medication, only to return in a few months on a higher dose. And a few months after that, they would come back with a prescription for cholesterol lowering medication. A year or two passed by, and then they would be coming in for treatment for type 2 diabetes.

This scenario would continuously play out, time and time again.

And after a while I started questioning whether or not dispensing these medications and counseling on “compliance and safety” was enough. Something was missing.

Meanwhile, I could see doctors getting frustrated. With shorter time allotted to see patients and increasing pressure from insurance companies, this was hardly what they dreamed of as they shed blood, sweat , and tears to get their education!

I had always been mindful of what I ate, thinking I was making healthy choices. I was one of those people that counted calories meticulously and exercised regularly to “burn off what I ate”.

Yet, at 28, I felt like I had the body of an 82-year-old (and to be honest, some 82-year-olds were doing better than I was!).

I was in pain, unable to concentrate, and holding on to extra weight…

The next several years are a blur. I started to read everything I could get my hands on. I became obsessed with nutrition and discovered Functional Medicine. I’d eventually decided to go back to school, first for a Master’s of Science in nutrition, then a Post- Bach in Medical Herbalism to educate myself where my allopathic training left gaps.

Fast forward a few more years, I completed 3 internships, one in a kidney clinic at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in NYC and the other two under the mentorship of two distinguished Functional Medicine physicians. That would help me earn my CNS certification from the Board for Certified Nutrition Specialists and Certification in functional medicine through IFM (IFMCP).

What I discovered was chronic disease does not have to be our destiny. Chronic disease is not a “natural” consequence of aging. That the evidence and guidelines respected by clinicians globally all agree that diet and lifestyle have to be a priority.

When I started in healthcare as a pharmacist I only had one set of tools in my toolkit. As I learned more about Personalized Nutrition and Functional Medicine, I learned that the same chronic conditions that years before I simply dispensed medications to treat – like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, thyroid disease, and autoimmune disease – could be managed and improved with diet and lifestyle interventions (sometimes in conjunction with medication).

Personally, I was able to get to the root of my own health issues, lift the brain fog and joint pain that had plagued me for most of my 20’s. But the most valuable lesson I learned was that consistency and sustainability of these powerful diet and lifestyle interventions can be

really challenging when real life happens.

In the last few years, my mission grew. In 2015, I was lucky enough to join The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) on a life – changing medical mission to Jordan for the first time. As the Crisis in Syria was getting into its fourth year, I felt like I needed to help in any way I could. It was a turning point in my life and an experience I’ll never forget and eternally be grateful for.

In fact, my work with SAMS taught me a valuable lesson about access, health communication, and program development, and inspired me to go back to school again, this time for a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) and a doctorate in Pharmacy.