Qatar-trained cardiologist's journey from medicine to poetry

Doha, Qatar: Diala Steitieh spent much of her youth in Doha, Qatar, before graduating from Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar and moving to New York to p...

Doha, Qatar: Diala Steitieh spent much of her youth in Doha, Qatar, before graduating from Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar and moving to New York to practice cardiology.

Her professional path has been marked by rigor, structure, and years immersed in academia, an environment defined by precision and protocol. But in 2024, Steitieh began listening to a quieter pull.

After years shaped by medicine’s demands, she found herself searching for something less structured, something that spoke the language of feeling rather than theory.

She tried painting. She tried running, even completing her first marathon. Eventually, poetry found her. And when it did, it stayed. What began as private scribbles became a steady practice. Through rhythm and language, Steitieh discovered a way to untangle the noise of thought and turn emotion into something tangible.