An experienced neurologist in Iran, in N.B. he works as massage therapist

Masoud Mahmoudzadeh flips through pages of documents in his quiet north-side Fredericton home. 

Bright stamps and signatures flash by, showing degrees and certifications he and his wife earned in Iran, their home country. 

When asked what made him want to become a neurologist, he stops and smiles.

"I think the brain is the most complex system in the universe," he said. "I really like the challenge."

But Mahmoudzadeh isn't working as a neurologist in New Brunswick. He's a registered massage therapist. 

His journey started in Tehran, at a school he calls "the best medical school in Iran."

He spent seven years studying medicine to become a GP and then four years to become specialized in neurology.

He said his medical school had U.S. standards, with most professors having been educated there.

After graduating in 1999, Mahmoudzadeh worked for over a decade as chief neurologist and as the head of an ICU in a hospital in Maku, an Iranian city near the Turkish border.

Mahmoudzadeh says he was on call 24/7 and would care for patients not only in his own region, but also in neighbouring regions of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iraq. He speaks numerous languages, including English, French, Arabic and his native Turkish. 

He moved to New Brunswick six years ago under the express entry stream of the Provincial Nominee Program to pursue a better quality of life, he said.

The province's website describes the program as one for skilled workers with education and work experience to contribute to the economy and who are ready to live and work in the province permanently.

He chose Fredericton because it's "the most beautiful city in the world," he said.

"I've seen many, many countries. I've been to many, many places. And once we came here for a visit … Wow. I said that I'm going to live here. And I don't regret it."