Interview with Dr. Farah Naz Khan, Endocrinology Fellow at Emory University School of Medicine [Show Summary]

Dr. Farah Naz Khan is not only a physician, but also an engineer and Bollywood expert. Listen in as she shares why she started with an engineering degree before going on to be a doctor (and the positives in doing so), as well as the ups and downs on the road to becoming a doctor. She’ll also share her reasons for having a love-hate relationship with Bollywood.

Endocrinologist, Writer, and Bollywood Critic Tells Her Story [Show Notes]

Our guest today, Dr. Farah Naz Khan was an Endocrinology Fellow at Emory University School of Medicine. She earned her bachelors in Environmental Engineering from MIT in 2009, went straight to medical school, and graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2013. She did her residency in Internal Medicine at Emory and just completed her endocrinology residency at Emory with a particular interest in diabetes in the developing world and equal access to endocrine care for all patient populations. In addition, she is a published author with bylines at The Daily Beast, The Atlantic, Vox.com, Scientific American, Huff Post India, and more. Oh, and one more thing: she is a Bollywood expert.

Can you tell us about your background? Where you grew up? What do you like to do for fun? [1:27]

I was born and raised in Birmingham, AL, and then went to Boston for my undergrad at MIT. After four years in the cold northeast I needed to defrost, so I came back home and spent four years at University of Alabama Medical School. After that, I wanted to be in a bigger city, so I went to Atlanta, where I was until I came to Seattle, which is where I am now.

How did you go from an undergrad degree in environmental engineering to immediately starting medical school? When did you know you wanted to be a doctor? [2:30]

Being a doctor was always in the cards for me. I was premed from day 1 in college. My dad said to all of us kids that you can do whatever you want with your life but you need to get an undergrad engineering degree first so you always have that to fall back on. Being an engineer actually allows me to see things from a different mindset which is very helpful.

How was the method of learning different? [4:29]

Engineers are taught to problem-solve. You are given the tools and here is the problem set, so go do it – lots of tests in engineering were open book, so with more of a problem-solving focus. In medicine you are required to do lots of memorization, so adjusting from a very problem-solving-based method to a memorization-based method was challenging for me.

Are you happy you went straight from undergrad to medical school, and if so, why? [5:11]

I am going to waffle on that. I do wish I had taken some time off, but at the same time I am really glad I finished when I finished, because otherwise it would have ultimately taken more time to become a doctor. The reason I wish I had taken a break is because it’s really tough to get a break once you are in med school.

What did you like best about your medical school experience at U of Alabama? [6:09]

The professors and mentors were so supportive from day one. I really wanted to do work in India, but didn’t have any connections there, and UAB helped me make it happen. They also didn’t have much experience in global health in India, but they supported me - I got funding,