There is no way back home: A phenomenological study of the fears and future uncertainty of Afghan female medical students in Iran

PURPOSE: The Taliban's 2022 ban on women's higher education represented one of the most extensive gender-based restrictions in recent history. Little was known about how this ban shaped the educational experiences, professional identities and future expectations of Afghan female medical students studying abroad. This study examined how Afghan women enrolled in medical programmes in Iran understood their training, fears and imagined futures under the shadow of the ban. METHODS: This qualitative study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. In-depth online interviews were conducted with 25 Afghan female medical students enrolled in MBBS programmes across Iranian universities. Snowball sampling was used due to the sensitivity of the topic and the dispersed nature of the student population. Interviews were transcribed and analysed through iterative phenomenological coding to understand how participants interpreted their educational journeys and future possibilities. FINDINGS: Participants reported that the Taliban's restrictions created persistent feelings of fear, guilt and emotional burden. Many believed their medical degrees might lose value and described returning to Afghanistan as unsafe or impossible due to gendered limitations and escalating risks for women professionals. Despite these constraints, students actively reconstructed hope by exploring migration pathways, international licensing options and transnational strategies to support Afghan women. Becoming a doctor emerged as a symbol of purpose and resistance. DISCUSSION: The findings demonstrated that Afghanistan's education ban functioned as an enduring emotional, professional and identity-based disruption for Afghan women abroad. However, students also showed resilience by re-imagining attainable futures beyond Afghanistan. These findings highlight the need for trauma-informed support, structured academic advising and international mechanisms to protect educational and professional continuity for Afghan female medical students. In addition, this study contributes to international health professions education highlighting how educational disruption is experienced not only as interrupted access but also as a destabilisation of identity, belonging and professional futurity.