Leaving Egypt and the people I loved so much, and the environment I liked, was definitely worth it, because I also have great love for medicine and science.

I actually consider myself as totally privileged to be able to serve science and medicine in a global fashion, because science and medicine know no boundaries.

My dad was a surgeon in Egypt. He was a general surgeon. As a little boy I always admired what he was doing, and I wanted to do surgery.

I don't have any regrets. I consider myself really privileged to belong to medicine and do what I do. I would do it all again.

I get sick all the time because I get no rest and sleep, but it's definitely worth it.

I always wanted to be a surgeon, because I had a lot of admiration for my father, who is also a surgeon. I also wanted to be a heart surgeon. That was motivated by the fact that my young aunt, a sister of my dad, died in her early 20s of a correctable heart disease.