Alumna honors her mother’s sacrifice by paying it forward

Several years ago, Farah Shah, MD ’89, found an envelope in her mother’s home. It read, “Farah’s last medical school loan payment.”

Farah’s mother, an immigrant of modest means who was widowed when Farah was nine years old, had been secretly taking out loans to pay for Farah and her siblings’ education.

“How do I fully pay back what she did?” says Farah, who graduated from McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston and built a successful career as a dermatologist at Houston Dermatology Associates. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for her.”

In many ways, Farah’s story began in Puerto Rico, where her father had transferred for his job. When he unexpectedly passed away, Farah’s mother—a college professor of biology and zoology—promised on his deathbed that she would send their children to the best schools she could manage.

Despite financial hardship, she sent Farah and her siblings to a college preparatory school. To pay their fees, she tutored students, graded papers, and did any extra work she could find.

“I wondered how she was paying for everything,” Farah says. “But my mother would just say, ‘I know we’re going to do it.’ She always believed education would change our lives.”

Farah went on to attend Duke University, followed by McGovern Medical School. With some persuasion from Farah, her mother moved to Houston and found work in a hospital laboratory. Her mother continued to take out loans and live frugally to support her children. Farah’s sister also became a physician, and her brother became an attorney.

“When I found that envelope, I knew there was no way I could ever repay her personally,” Farah says. “But I could honor what was important to her—education. That’s how I could pay it forward.”

In 2020, Farah established the Fatma Kazim Scholarship Fund at McGovern Medical School, named in honor of the woman whose strength and generosity shaped her path. The scholarship helps medical students graduate with less debt and begin their careers with the opportunities Farah’s mother worked so hard to provide her.

“My role model is a woman who was beyond strong, someone who had little but always gave,” Farah says, recalling how her mother would cook meals for traveling Mormon missionaries, even though she was a Muslim.

Giving back, she adds, is part of her identity as a physician. She believes her upbringing allows her to relate with patients from all backgrounds.

“Being a good doctor starts with being able to connect and show patients you genuinely care,” she says. “Having been raised with not much helps me understand people in a real way.”

Her commitment to mentorship and community extends beyond her practice. Farah serves on the McGovern Medical School Alumni Association board, hosts an annual reception for incoming medical students, and brings aspiring female physicians into her office to learn firsthand what a career in medicine can look like.

“I like for them to come see what I do,” she says. “It’s my way of helping the next generation of doctors—and honoring my mom.”

One of Farah’s children recently graduated from McGovern Medical School, furthering the family’s legacy of compassion in medicine. As Farah continues to serve others through her time, resources, and skills as a physician, she emulates the woman who set an example of how to truly live for others.

“I look back at it now, and I am amazed by how selfless my mom has been throughout her life,” Farah says. “If I am even a fraction of the person she is, it will be a life well-lived.”