As Cal State Fullerton doctoral student Fajer Al Najjar is preparing for a career in nurse anesthesia, she can’t help but reflect on the path that led her here and how each step has equipped her for the demands of the profession.
Born and raised in Baghdad, Iraq, Al Najjar and her family left their war-torn country in 2008 and lived in Turkey for a year before immigrating to the U.S. when she was just 13 years old. After living in Alabama for three years, she and her family landed in Orange County. Having to learn English and adjust to a new way of life shaped her choice to pursue the medical field.
“Being an immigrant and coming to America and not knowing really that much and feeling out of place a lot of times, has really prepared me for this career,” Al Najjar said of becoming a nurse anesthetist. “It’s prepared me to be empathetic to the patients and how they’re feeling, but also to be able to change my plan at any time and to have really good critical thinking skills.”
Following her graduation from Magnolia High School in Anaheim, Al Najjar chose Cal State Fullerton as the ideal place to continue her education, earning a bachelor’s degree in health sciences in 2017.
“I know how many resources and help they have at Cal State Fullerton if I do need it,” Al Najjar said. “I also really like the students that go there and the community that you can have a bond with. I feel like I had a really good bond with my undergrad community.”
While at CSUF, Al Najjar volunteered at local hospitals, where she was moved by the compassion and care shown by nurses. After earning a master’s degree in nursing from UCLA in 2020, she spent nearly four years working in the surgical trauma ICU department at Riverside Community Hospital, and it was there that she decided to specialize in nurse anesthesia.
“When I would ask the nurse anesthetists, they always talked about how much they love their job and how much they like to take care of patients at their sickest and most vulnerable moments,” Al Najjar said. “That’s what I love and what drew me to the career.”
Her positive experience as a Cal State Fullerton undergraduate, combined with the university’s nurse anesthesia program, ranked No. 1 in California by U.S. News & World Report in 2025, made it an easy choice for Al Najjar to return to her alma mater, where she is now in the second year of the three-year doctoral program.
“The faculty here are so great, and I feel like I can go to any of them for any help I need,” Al Najjar said. “They are so approachable and so nice, and they all just want the best for us. I love that about them.”
Doctoral student Fajer Al Najjar practices medical skills in CSUF’s School of Nursing Simulation Center. (Photo courtesy of Cal State Fullerton)In partnership with the Kaiser Permanente School of Anesthesia in Pasadena, Al Najjar is in CSUF’s integrated anesthesia program, and she currently splits her time between taking courses at the Kaiser Pasadena campus and working a clinical rotation at UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center. The third year of the program will take her to different hospitals for rotations in specialties such as obstetrics, cardiology and neuroscience.
“The good thing is that you get exposed to so many different ways of doing anesthesia,” Al Najjar said. “It helps you prepare for the unexpected when you do graduate.”
Al Najjar is excelling at her craft, and her commitment to the field was recognized earlier this year when she was awarded the 2025-26 California State University Trustees Award for Outstanding Achievement. Additionally, she was named a Hearst Foundation Scholar and received a $14,000 scholarship.
“This is just my life and the way I’ve been living,” Al Najjar said. “When someone else recognizes it and says hey, you’ve been working really hard to get this, good job, it feels great to be recognized.”
After graduation in August 2027, Al Najjar hopes to secure a position at a Level I trauma center where she can care for a wide range of patients and continue building her skills early in her career. She credits her time at CSUF and her life experiences for giving her the confidence she needs to move into this next chapter.
“They always say, ‘Titan strong,’ and so for me, it does mean being strong,” Al Najjar said. “Coming from where I’ve come from, being a Titan, it’s built me up. It’s made me the person that I am. And so I think my background has built me up to be strong and ready for this career.”
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