The death of his mother when Houman Farzin, MDCM鈥�12, PGME鈥�14, was only two years old, planted a seed for his eventual career choice. 鈥淚 always knew that I wanted to become a doctor and a scientist, and someone who could help heal and prevent death,鈥� he said, adding that the loss was a defining factor.
Becoming a doctor would remain elusive for some time until the arrival of a second seed. Although Farzin appeared to be heading towards medicine, doing cancer research during his undergrad at UC Berkeley, numerous interests, from studying Persian literature to volunteering at a homeless shelter had also sprouted, leading him to pursue various endeavours including working at a bank and getting involved in a real estate development project, all while pursuing a passion for music.
But then, while the real estate project was coming to a close, he was hit with another loss, the death of his second mother, who had cared for him from a young age. That death, he feels, gave him the final push to pursue what he always wanted to do.
鈥淚t was a wake-up call: 鈥楬ey, you were supposed to pursue medicine!鈥欌�� While medical school was now in his sights, he took another zig before he zagged. He enrolled in graduate studies at Columbia University, researching the benefits of good nutrition in a public health context.
He did eventually enrol in the MDCM program at McGill after securing one of a handful of international student spots. The circuitous route that took him to medical school allowed him to pick up an array of experiences that have led to his unorthodox combination of medical assignments.
Farzin, 39, has been working as a part-time family and rural emergency doctor in various Northern communities from James Bay to Nunavut and the Yukon; he is the chief medical officer for a digital medicine start-up that promotes gut health for people suffering from painful gastrointestinal disorders; he is working on the front lines as an attending staff on the COVID-19 units of McGill teaching hospitals; he is preparing to launch a mental health practice that will draw on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy; and he is a guest lecturer at McGill鈥檚 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Farzin鈥檚 eclectic interests stem partly from a peripatetic early life. He was born in Iran, and grew up between Tehran and New York. Language was fluid; he spoke English with many in his extended family while he had a Jewish-American uncle who learned Farsi. Meanwhile, for periods of time he attended Persian school in Hamburg, attempting to speak German with his neighbourhood friends.
Throw into the mix a likely but undiagnosed case of ADHD, which manifested itself in classroom hyperactivity and difficulty completing tasks. 鈥淚t was a lot of starting things, but not being able to finish them.鈥�
But in adolescence he was introduced to meditation and certain study practices, and found his focus improved. 鈥淚 was realizing my potential, learning how to integrate all these things that were scattered.鈥�
His divergent pursuits have coalesced into a one-of-a-kind medical portfolio. Farzin鈥檚 time at Columbia in nutrition and previous studies in anthropology provided a springboard for his work with Indigenous communities and diet, while his ease at sitting down with patients was honed with homeless shelter clients in California. His residency in Family Medicine at McGill gave him his first opportunity to practice in the North, while the lifestyle-related illnesses he treated in Cree territory and his early entrepreneurial work informed the AI-enhanced digital therapeutics tool. Phyla, which recently launched its app, is primarily aimed at those living with Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), and analyzes the microbiome in combination with factors such as diet, mood, and gastrointestinal symptoms.
His curiosity has also led him to seek training in the emerging specialization of psychedelic medicine, where certain psychoactive substances are prescribed for therapeutic purposes. One drug he鈥檚 been looking at, ketamine, which is considered a dissociative anaesthetic, has shown great promise for depression and other mental health disorders. A nasal spray version of esketamine, which mirrors ketamine on a molecular level, was recently approved by Health Canada for treatment-resistant depression and suicidality.
Farzin's happy to be at a place that continues his lifetime of eclecticism, where high-tech can mix with family medicine, psychedelia with psychiatry, and his experiences of loss, a rich cultural background, and artistic and entrepreneurial pursuits can all contribute to his building a practice that resembles few others.
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