Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri understands the value of knowledge. To become a pharmacist, Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri had to attend school. After completing his Pharmacy degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri was determined to use his skills and knowledge for the benefit of others.

As a pharmacist, Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri does a lot of work every day. His job often includes looking at the medications prescribed to a patient to make sure there won't be overdosing or harmful drug interactions. While the work of Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri consumes a lot of his time as a working professional, he doesn't underestimate the value of volunteer work.

"I wanted to help people in more ways than one. I decided I could help others in my local community and abroad," says Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri. His acts of compassion have led him to travel to Iran where Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri volunteered his services as a pharmacist in small villages in Tehran and Isfahan.

While helping small villages was important to Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri on a personal level, helping children in his local area was equally important. Since Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri cannot spend time traveling back and forth to Iran regularly, he spends a great deal of time volunteering at IWK Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia. "IWK is a children's hospital and as hard as it is to see children hospitalized for disease, they deserve attentive patient care as much as anyone," says Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri.

Even children possess the capacity to understand that medication is important. Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri is one of the many professional volunteers who work with children and their families at the hospital to understand how to use their medication safely. "Medicating children in the hospital is easy because they have more around the clock surveillance. But when families come in for an out-patient procedure, they often need to be educated on prescribed medication. They need to know what to take, how much, and when," says Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri.

As a volunteer at the IWK, Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri continues to spread knowledge and patient-centered care. Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri cares about the health of every individual person and is passionate about helping children in need. IWK hospital is also grateful for Masoud Amidi-Mazaheri's volunteer work as well as other volunteer physicians.