From National Gymnast
to Plastic Surgeon
From National Gymnast to Senior Lecturer, PhD & Plastic Surgeon
In a world where defying gravity in the gymnastics arena and defying odds in the operating room seemed worlds apart, her journey as a national gymnast turned senior lecturer, PhD, surgeon and discerning leader has been nothing short of extraordinary. This is the story of Associate Professor Dr. Farrah-Hani Imran, where adrenaline-fueled, disciplined rhythmic routines on the carpet intertwined with life-altering decisions under the bright lights of the hospital and operating theatre. Let’s take a peek into the life of Prof Farrah, our outstanding surgeon and also beloved lecturer.
Chapter 1: How it All Started
Prof Farrah started her performing arts journey by joining ballet when she was in standard 1. Her mum wanted both her children to have a diverse, multi-disciplinary skill set, and Prof chose classical ballet & piano. In primary school, one of the co-curricular options was gymnastics which piqued her interest and therefore she tried it out for fun. She then progressed to represent her school in gymnastics competitions, which further progressed to representing the state, and finally to the national team through advanced intensive training sessions. This successful athlete's life did not arise without any struggles. Prof Farrah had to skip many school classes as she had to go for training and therefore had to study on her own. She also learnt how to navigate nuances of surviving non-English/Bahasa situations, and at times being the outcast/odd one out. A fun fact that Prof Farrah shared was that she developed a distaste for apples. This stemmed from her strict gymnast diet of a single apple for dinner every day, during training camps, to maintain the mandatory physique. She has represented Malaysia as a National Gymnast and Official in various roles. She was the first Malaysian Gymnast to reach the World Championships at the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships 1993. She represented Malaysia in multiple national, regional and international competitions throughout her service. For 4-6 years, she held reigning repeat titles as South-East Asian (SEA) Games Overall Champion, Malaysian National Champion and Malaysian National Schools Sports Champion. Among the awards received are the Her World Youth Woman of The Year 2007, Malaysian National Sportswoman Finalist 1994, Malaysian National Sportsgirl 1991, Kuala Lumpur Sportsgirl 1993, and the McDonalds-Rotary Youth Achievement Award 1993.
Chapter 2: The Transition from Gymnast to Doctor
When she was young, she had three careers in mind: doctor, lawyer, and a profession in performing arts. Growing up, she realised that some tactics of the legal profession were not necessarily aligned with her and knew it was not her calling. Performing arts was also on the cards, as she grew up with multiple fine arts influences. Her maternal Uncle was the renowned thespian & seniman negara Mustaffa Noor. Before he passed away in 1990, he was a strong part of her & her brother’s development. Additionally, her brother Dr Amar Imran & her were both members of the national choir, Suara Mas Kuala Lumpur, under MAS-DBKL. Dr Amar represented Malaysia in Turkey, and she represented Malaysia in USA & Japan at multiple Festivals. Eventually medicine won, alongside a medical family background, where her mum was a senior nursing sister, her father a medic who set up the ENT postgrad program in UKM and elder brother a KKM medic. In 2020, Prof Farrah was appointed Associate Professor in Surgery, making her the first former national athlete to receive this prestigious recognition. She is also the recipient of the Constable Fellowship Award from the American Association of Plastic Surgeons and Association of Graduates Medal from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
What actually drove her to taking on various challenges, despite her busy schedule? Her biggest motivation was her family. It was actually her parent's wish to see her reach that academic title. Her dad passed away in the past decade and therefore she wanted to fulfil her dad's wish. Her parents' complete wish was for her to be a full Professor, so we hope it happens while her Mum, Sister Aminah Sirajuddin from Batu Pahat Johor, is still with us.
“We are a very close family so I’m grateful that my mum was able to witness it (Prof Madya) while dad smiles from beyond.”
Chapter 3: Beyond the Spotlight
We were intrigued as to how an athlete and a doctor correlate with each other. Prof Farrah explained that it was all about mindset and principles. She improved our question, by explaining it is more to do with the correlation between an athlete and a professional. As a gymnast, it is an individual sport, but team events require cohesive teamwork to win the victory.
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“There are times where you have to step down from your spotlight
to let others shine”
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In the medical field, there are times where you cannot be egotistical and self-centred, but you have to let other people express their ideas and thoughts in order to achieve the common goal for the patient’s benefit. This portrays that sports are important in building character and moulding an all rounded individual.
Chapter 4: Not Just a Doctor
Prof Farrah is a public hospital senior consultant surgeon and also a lecturer at the National University of Malaysia (UKM). Not only that, she voluntarily gives her time to pro-bono work in national service at ministerial, international, national and educational levels. This continuous National Service is done in her free time and of her own free will. Along the way, many people question why she decides to do community service for free, when she could easily do private work for a lot of money, with her amazing skills, during her free time. As cliche as it sounds, she does it because her purpose is to help people by clinical practice and teaching/education. She loves her students and patients, and prioritises them. Many privately reach out to her long after leaving undergraduate or postgraduate training, for life guidance and advice. She regularly gets asked, “you see others go private, already got ferrari/mansion/VIP patients, what about you?”.
Her simple happy answer is always, “my patients & students are my Ferraris. Plus why would anyone subject a Ferrari, Lambo or Masserati to Malaysian roads & potholes!”
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“Do not limit yourself, open your mind, love nature, be kind to animals &
live a full life with gratitude.”
Chapter 5: Why Plastic Surgery?
In contrast to the stereotypes of plastic surgery, Prof Farrah’s main priority venturing into plastic surgery was to help people have healthier lives. Her principle is to specialise in the art of medicine, not merely aesthetics. Prof Farrah specialises in cases of cleft lip and palate, burns, post-bariatric (weight-loss) surgery and also wound management to better help the rakyat. She has a deep understanding of surgical and sports psychology; and is a respected leader in Professional & Personal Development. She believes that a person is not defined by physical appearance, but instead what is inside. To her, mental health and physical health go hand-in-hand. She spends time in thorough and detailed consultations with her patients to ascertain the purpose of seeking plastic surgery. By doing this, she gets a full picture and to better reach a consensus regarding the nature of management indicated, with realistic expectations, and optimal holistic outcome. There are times where the patient is just lacking self confidence, thus empowering the patient successfully with factual truths results in a superior outcome than surgery.
Chapter 6: Tanah Airku
We’ve all heard stories about how it is much better to work overseas rather than in Malaysia. We see many professionals working abroad when the opportunity arises. However, this is not the case for Prof Farrah. Graduated from Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland (RCSI) in 2002, Prof Farrah decided to return to her motherland to serve her country.
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“It is like a cycle of receiving and giving back”
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She further elaborated by stating that as a national athlete, she received an Academic Scholarship from the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports to further her studies in medicine. To pay this back, she has worked as a public doctor in medicine for the past 21 years and at the same time giving back in national service through sports and education, back to her roots.
“Malaysia is my home, Malaysians are my people.”
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In addition, her mum and brother are still living in Malaysia, and she will always take care of them. Not only that, Malaysia is where her patients and students are. Her passion in teaching her beloved students is one of the main factors as to why she chooses to remain in Malaysia.
.”For now, the chip to ‘serve the rakyat’ is strongly embedded and I continue to do what I can to bring up others based on merit, not ‘kabel besar’.”
Chapter 7: The Secret behind Her Success
Finally, we asked Prof Farrah to elucidate the keys to her success, the people who inspired her, and also her final words for our readers.
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“Always have empathy, courageous resilience.
Never put others down to lift yourself up.”
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These were the key points given by Prof Farrah. She further shared that we should always be generous and giving within reason, no matter how indifferent the other party is. “After some time, the truth will always prevail”. Even when people badmouth and criticise her, she chooses to be true to herself, let time tell and more importantly let her achievements shine and work speak for itself. The people she admires the most are her mum & brother. She admits that there will always be squabbles, disagreements and uncertainties within family relationships, but her mother's and brother’s love and intention is unconditional. It is her mother's self sacrificing attitude and motivation that keeps her moving forward. Not only her mum, but her mentors along her journey to where she is now. She added that no one is perfect and everyone has their own imperfections. Therefore we cannot only limit our admiration to one single person. Finally, she ended the interview with her signature:
“Live an EPIC life with Ethics, Principles, Integrity & Courage.”