In between medicine and masterpieces: Shaya Latheef, a medical doctor with paint brushes and stethoscopes

In a busy hospital in Australia, working on the cardiac team, is a girl whose heart beats to the sound of the ocean waves. Born and raised in the Maldives, Shaya Latheef, a once bright-eyed child who painted a mural on the wall of her house to copy her brother, is now a second-year junior doctor in Australia. Twenty some years and a medical degree later, that little girl still lives on ever green in her heart.

Shaya is the epitome of every Asian household’s dream – a successful doctor. All too often, the world has witnessed big dreams crushed under the heavy expectations of this perception of success. However, medicine for her was never an expectation. It was a choice she made, and one she says she would dive headfirst into all over again if given the chance. But that’s not to say that her choice of career has been an easy one.