Alumna’s love for Indian films sparks interest in writing.At first glance, Bollywood, medicine, and health and science seem like an odd trio of interests, but for School of Medicine 2013 graduate, Farah Naz Khan, M.D., writing about those topics is a way to unwind after a long day at the hospital.
From movie reviews to opinion columns, Khan developed a habit of writing about cultural issues from a South Asian-American perspective during her fourth year of medical school. She continued writing while completing an internal medicine residency at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
“I have a guilty pleasure of watching Bollywood movies, so it was the first thing I started writing about,” says Khan. “It was a great way to begin my writing career, and writing is relaxing for me. It’s how I disconnect and recharge.”
Khan says her love affair with Bollywood (the name given to the Indian movie industry) stems from her childhood fascination with the world’s largest film industry. Later, this passion for South Asian arts and culture extended into a keen interest in global health. She started pursuing global health outreach while in medical school at UAB, during which time she went on two medical research trips to India.
“UAB was the most supportive environment for me to nurture that interest,” says Khan. “There were so many people who went out of their way to help me get research funding and a travel scholarship that allowed me to go to India not once, but twice in my time at the School of Medicine.”
Khan wrote about her travels and global health outreach in a personal blog. She later broadened her focus and began writing about her personal and professional experiences as a young physician after she began her residency.
Farah Naz Khan shared her love of travel in a personal blog before turning her writing hobby into a successful side career.
“I had never thought about publishing my writing until the end of my second year of residency,” says Khan. “I reached out to an editor who was looking for freelance writers for health and science pitches, and it went from there.”
She has since written for numerous online outlets, including The Atlantic, Vox.com, Scientific American, and The Daily Beast. One of her most widely circulated articles is a 2015 article for The Daily Beast titled, “How I Deal with Racist Patients.” In it, Khan shares her encounters with patients who make offensive comments and refuse treatment because of the color of her skin. She says she hopes her writing helps physicians cope with similar situations, and she encourages her colleagues to find an outlet for expressing themselves like she has with writing.
“Find something outside of medicine that is a source of energy and positivity, because sometimes we won’t see the light of day,” Khan says. “Whether it’s calling a friend or family member on the way home or checking out the latest Bollywood album, I always try to find interests outside of the hospital to help me stay balanced.”
For Khan, writing is not the only way to stay grounded. She enjoys spending time with her nieces and nephews, visiting her family in Birmingham, and traveling with her husband. She recently moved from Atlanta and joined her husband in Seattle, where she has started working at the University of Washington as a clinical assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Nutrition.
Now an academic physician, Khan credits several professors at the School of Medicine as playing key roles in her success during medical school. Two of those were Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program Director Lisa Willett, M.D., MACM, FACP, and Assistant Director Jason Morris, M.D.
“Dr. Willett, Dr. Morris, and my research mentor, Dr. Andrea Cherrington, were all amazing sources of guidance,” she says. “They were also supportive of me going to Emory, because they knew I would be carrying UAB’s good name with me to Atlanta.”
By Brianna Farley