In the sterile corridors, where the weight of a life-altering diagnosis hangs heavy, Dr. Mona Tareen moves with a calm purpose. As a fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (FAAHPM), Consultant Palliative Physician; Chair of Palliative Care – EIOC (Excellence in Oncology Care, Dubai); Staff Physician, Palliative Care, Cancer Institute she exemplifies the exceptional blend of clinical knowledge and profound empathy that defines exceptional healthcare leadership. She has dedicated her career to transforming Palliative Medicine: one of medicine’s most misunderstood specialties. Her concerted efforts have earned her many accolades and recognitions. She offers lecture sessions at American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
The Unlikely Journey to Purpose
Dr. Tareen entered the field of palliative care after realising that she had been given a natural gift. She was regarded as the best intern who could handle the most delicate medical situations while completing her Internal Medicine residency at the prestigious University of Chicago Hospitals. When hope and reality collide, it was all about doctors, patients, and families having difficult conversations.
“I was typically regarded as the senior resident who could guide patients and their families through challenging goals of-care discussions,” states Dr. Tareen. According to her, that was a long time before hospice and palliative medicine was acknowledged as a recognised subspeciality. “That inculcated empathy has always characterised me.”
It was a game-changer when she was in the middle of her Geriatric Medicine fellowship and national palliative care icon Dr. Martha Twaddle came to investigate an unexpected possibility. Dr. Twaddle suggested that instead of going the more traditional path of Hematology-Oncology, she apply for a Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship. Her advice altered Dr. Tareen’s career and potentially the future of palliative care in the Middle East. As someone who has found their mission in life, Dr. Tareen adds, “All her trust in me provided me with the clarity I needed—and I never glanced back,” with assurance.
A Leader Shaped by Experience and Tragedy
Dr. Tareen’s management philosophy did not arise in management workshops and books. It evolved through decades of managing palliative care programs in the Midwest and Chicago. She crafted her philosophy from her practice as a Palliative Hospitalist with Oncology in the UAE.
Her father’s personal experience with pancreatic cancer also encouraged her to delve deeper and offer the best palliative care services.
The COVID-19 pandemic was another push, propelling her towards devotion to the profession. She completed a Master of Cannabis Science and Therapeutics in 2023 and began working on a PhD in Palliative Care at the University of Maryland, seeking education and research. Her Clifton Strengths report of Achiever, Learner, and Strategist is precisely what characterizes the push that drives her relentless pursuit of excellence and innovation.
“Personally, above all, my father’s loss to pancreatic cancer reaffirmed my commitment to expanding access, informing policy, and enhancing palliative care globally,” she declares.
The Servant Leader
In the traditionally ego-based, hierarchical organizational structures of the healthcare industry, Dr. Tareen has opted differently. She is most committed to the servant leadership framework, a notion that frowns upon commanding and instead invites serving.
“Rather than leading through rank or position, I believe we should lead through vision, trust, and shared purpose,” she responds. “At its simplest, servant leadership is stewardship. It’s about creating space for others while you ‘dream the dream’ for what palliative care can be.”
This approach has worked extremely well in the multicultural environment of the UAE, where effective health care delivery requires deep cultural awareness and reaching consensus. Dr. Tareen’s leadership is compassionate, available, and collaborative and creates a culture of listening to and valuing caregivers from diverse backgrounds, social workers, chaplains, patients, and families.
Her commitment to the growth of others is not confined to her direct acquaintance. She has instituted mentorship, in the sense of women mentoring women in medicine, as a core part of her style of leadership. “For women, and especially in such fields as palliative care and academic medicine, the road can sometimes be isolating,” she acknowledges. “My goal is to bring both insight and visibility.”
Respecting Cultural Sensitivities with Humility
Dr. Tareen’s biggest contribution has been towards the study of cultural subtleties of end-of-life care in Muslim countries. She wrote in-depth descriptions of relational autonomy in medical decision-making recently. This refers to the influence of family in determining medical decisions in Islamic cultures.
“I build awareness in a delicate and precise way, always seeking permission from the patient and preserving their autonomy,” she explains. “My goal is to foster informed decision-making in a way that honors the patient’s values and their culture.”
Her expertise in this nuanced art is a tribute to her deep understanding that effective care is more than professional skill. It must be accompanied by an understanding of culture, emotional acuity, and the ability to have respect for different assumptions about life, death, and medical encroachment.
Evidence-Based Advocacy
Dr. Tareen’s healthcare leadership model is highly evidence based and quantifiable. She is aware that in the modern evidence-based healthcare culture, passion will not lead to change at the system level anymore.
“Leadership in medicine—and indeed in palliative care—too often involves taking compassion and putting it into numbers,” she says. “Top hospital leadership may not always be swayed by opinion but numbers and outcomes are transparent.”
These evidence-based practices have materialized into tangible dividends. She sets strict patient-related outcomes that compellingly demonstrate the worth of palliative care interventions. These encompass numerical processes of pain control within 48-72 hours of admission and timely surrogate decision-maker identification. The evidence-based model has proven highly successful in garnering resources to propel program development. She has developed the first nurse practitioner position in the field of palliative care and recruited a second physician for the palliative care division.
Dr. Tareen’s goals are much broader than the task at hand. She is already involved in addressing one of the most entrenched issues faced by palliative care: public misunderstandings. Too many still view palliative care as equivalent to end-of-life care, when the reality is that it should start with the diagnosis of any life-limiting illness.
“Palliative care must begin at the diagnosis of a life-life limiting illness and provide specialist intervention with symptom control, communication, and quality of life throughout the illness,” she contends. “Instead of rebranding, we need to focus on informing individuals about the value of primary palliative care to professionals and society at large so that palliative care will be seen not as ‘giving up,’ but as an additional layer of care—early, proactive, compassionate.”
Dr. Tareen is spearheading innovative work both among patients and healthcare professionals. She initiated training in breaking bad news, moral distress, and preparing for Schwartz Rounds. These are spaces to reflect where caregivers learn to internalize the emotional toll of their work. These efforts are a reflection of her holistic approach towards the provision of healthcare.
The Personal Price of Compassion
Palliative care leadership requires daily encounters with death and suffering, something that would be challenging even for the most resilient health care professionals. Dr. Tareen has created her own strategy for remaining in balance and not succumbing to compassion fatigue herself.
“I catch myself muttering that I sleep, I eat, I dream palliative care,” she admits. “Every day I have the chance to minister to people at the moment when they need it most. It was never ever a career choice to become interested in palliative care—it was a calling.”
Her own sustainability practice is one of philosophy and pragmatism. Strength lies in individual development, in loving family, in meditation, and in “quiet moments of thankfulness.” Rather than finding distance from the emotional weight of her work, she has learned to move through it with intention, reflection, and gratitude.
Recognition and Responsibility
For Dr. Tareen, being included in the Top Influential Women Leaders in Healthcare for the Arab world is not merely an individual achievement. It is also a means to advance palliative care across the region.
“This honor is not for me,” she replies modestly. “It is for the patients and families whose stories stay long after we leave the hospital. It is for the voices that so often get silenced, and for the systems we continue to call upon needing to be changed. We break glass ceilings not for praise, but because everyone everywhere deserves compassionate, respectful care—no matter where they happen to reside.”
A Legacy in Progress
Pursued to state what legacy she would wish to leave, Dr. Tareen’s response gives some insight into just how committed she is to deep-rooted change over personal recognition.
“Indirectly, I don’t think a great deal about legacy in the traditional sense,” she replies. “It’s always been for me about impactful work—the kind that happens in quiet moments and lasting transformation.”
Her ambitions are high but quite personal. She aspires to be remembered as a physician who walked into rooms of uncertainty and pain with presence, purpose, and heart. Dr. Tareen aspires to leave a legacy as a leader who has crossed disciplines and cultures. She aspires to be remembered as a woman who opened doors for other women in the Arab world who aspire to lead, speak, heal, and innovate without fear.
Dr. Tareen is pursuing her PhD, while advocating for policy changes that will improve the availability of palliative care globally. She also stands tall as a symbol of a new era of healthcare leadership. She is part of a trend that combines clinical brilliance and cultural understanding, evidence-based practice with deep empathy, and personal aspiration with service to others. Dr. Tareen sets an example for health care change that is truly global in scope beyond the UAE.
During this age of medical miracles, Dr. Tareen reminds us that the best healing happens when medical expertise meets human compassion. She believes that clinical protocols need to be founded on cultural beliefs. She defines leadership not as power but as service. Her path, from a compassionate Chicagoan to a renowned Middle Eastern leader, shows the strength of one who follows their heart, even if it leads them through some of the darkest ground of medicine.
With what she is doing, Dr. Tareen is not only changing how we practice palliative care. She is changing how we conceptualize health leadership across the board. She continues to show us that our most profound impact really occurs not by clinging to command for attention. It occurs by being present every time with a body of knowledge, compassion, and an unwavering allegiance to the people we serve.
