Most people would choose between two demanding paths, but Dr Omar Kassab chose both. Now a qualified doctor, he is staying true to his first trade - construction - while beginning his career in medicine, driven by passion, purpose, and a deep respect for hard work.

After years working on construction sites, Kassab, a 26-year-old Maltese citizen, has now graduated as a medical doctor, but while many might leave one path behind, Kassab said he will not be choosing between them.

"I grew up with it," he says on what drew him to construction. "I was fascinated with construction since I was a child. In fact, I never really played with toys, I used to play with tools."

As he grew older, he sought to involve himself and learn more about the sector until he became seasoned enough in construction that he could dismantle a place and build a block of apartments.

Kassab said he started from the very beginning, doing work such as plastering and kneading building materials like mortar and clay.

"I was always willing to learn more. I loved the job. In reality, you do not need that job, as it brings its hardships, but the passion and love I have for it makes me unsee the hardships," Kassab said.

Working in construction is not a path many youths take nowadays, a point Kassab agreed with.

"We were different before. We used to love and appreciate craftsmanship much more, and it's a pity, really, how skilled work ended up being perceived," Kassab said.

Asked what made him decide to take the leap into medicine, Kassab said there were two moments in his life that inspired him to become a doctor.

One of them was, again, a childhood fascination - with how a doctor, when someone falls ill, can examine them, determine what's wrong, and offer treatment.

"I used to be fascinated and wondered if doctors had an X-ray scanner in their eyes to determine what's wrong," Kassab said, laughing. He added that this sparked his curiosity.

However, it was a life event that deeply motivated him to choose this path - when his grandmother died unexpectedly.

"That was the ugliest experience I have ever had. It was a trauma for me as a child. We used to be with our grandma all the time, and all of a sudden, we were missing her," Kassab said.

After this, he said, he made a pact with himself that what had happened to his grandmother - and to him - would not happen to others.

"I had said I wanted to become a doctor, so that, as much as possible, I help others where I can," Kassab said.

The medicine course is known to be one of the toughest. Kassab was asked about the most difficult parts for him along the way, especially while juggling work.

He said the most difficult periods were always exam periods. He does not like to cut off many things, but during exams, bigger sacrifices had to be made to truly focus in that short period.

"Those moments are where you have more stress, but I always managed to get around it, and at the end of the day, this succeeded too," Kassab said.

Asked if he had moments where things felt especially heavy or overwhelming - and how he found the strength to keep going - Kassab said those moments of wanting to give up were definitely there.

"However, my mind is very resilient, and that helped me to always push through. At the end of the day, these are things I wished for. I always wanted to become a doctor, and I had a vision - I saw this goal before my eyes," Kassab said.

He added that each time he felt he was falling back, he would remember the reasons why he chose this path, and why he was making all those sacrifices.

"If there is a goal you want to achieve, and it is something you truly want, you will make the effort and work over and above to reach that goal," Kassab said.

In the meantime, Kassab plans to keep both construction and his medicine path.

"However, the fact that I will now be working as a doctor at hospital - that will be the main priority now. Since I still have much to learn about the health sector, I will be giving more time to that, to try to become a better doctor each day," Kassab said.

Despite this, Kassab said he will keep construction on the side and is working out his schedule to keep both jobs without one affecting the other.

Construction taught him respect, as he became well familiar with the hardships experienced by those in skilled labour.

"That taught me that any honest job needs to be respected, irrespective of whether they are, for example, working in waste collection. If they had to go on strike, people would be left with garbage outside their homes," Kassab said.

"At the end of the day, people are working honest jobs to earn their living and live with their family," he added.

Along his journey in construction, he said he also learned communication skills, as one meets various people on the job.

His leadership skills also improved while working in construction - when managing large-scale projects, for example - a quality he said will greatly help him work in a team as a doctor.

"Something close to my heart, and that I'm very grateful I learned from working in construction, is to have greater empathy," Kassab said.

While some may ask what empathy has to do with construction, Kassab explained how they correlate, as he would often enter people's homes, or be invited in, and they would share their life experiences with him.

"You feel for them and put yourself in their shoes, which is something a doctor has to do with their patient, who would be at a vulnerable moment and would need to feel understood and able to trust their doctor, which is part of the treatment," Kassab said.

Skilled labour and craftsmanship are no longer common among youths, and Kassab was asked what he would say to a youth considering this line of work.

"Don't give up. Craftsmanship is something very beautiful and rewarding at the same time. There are hardships, but if it is something you love and you are determined, go for it," Kassab said.

Kassab said he wanted to encourage anyone taking such steps in life not to give up, not to let anyone make them give up, and, importantly, to believe in themselves and their capabilities to keep improving.

"There will be obstacles along the way, but that is the important moment where you stand up for yourself, fight not to give up, and keep pushing on," Kassab said.