Gold-Headed Cane Award Recipient - M. Ebadat Ali, MD

By Allison Howard

“I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a physician,” shares M. Ebadat Ali, MD. He smiles, remembering his childhood in India. “Starting when I was five, maybe six, my family began calling me ‘The Doctor.’” As a pulmonologist who practiced in Fort Worth for over 45 years throughout a career that spanned over five decades, Dr. Ali found that it turned out to be an accurate description.

Dr. Ali’s road to medical school was far from easy. At the young age of 14 his father passed away, and Dr. Ali soon realized that he would have to work hard and be patient to come up with the funds for medical school. By the time he was 18, he had also lost his mother. Discouraged but not daunted, he continued with his schooling and graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India. Dr. Ali was soon accepted into a local medical school, but his financial situation did not allow him to keep up with the required tuition. Disheartened, Dr. Ali dropped out of school for a time, instead getting a government position in the agricultural department. He worked hard and was successful at his job, but he still dreamed of a time when he could complete medical school.

“I wanted to help others. There was nothing for me besides being a doctor. I knew I needed to get there, but I just wasn’t sure how,” says Dr. Ali. He spoke with a friend who had moved to Pakistan and said Dr. Ali should come there to look for work. Having few attachments in India, Dr. Ali decided to make the move. Because he had limited money, he went by cargo ship rather than plane. It was during the monsoon season and the boat rocked wildly, which led to a very difficult journey.

When Dr. Ali at last arrived in Pakistan, ill from his trip and with only 800 rupees (approximately 11 dollars) hidden in the sole of his shoe and a small pack of belongings, he waited for his friend, who was supposed to meet him at the port. He waited one hour, then two. Then four. “I have never been so discouraged as I was at that point. Friendless, without the support of my family and with no job, I felt completely alone,” remembers Dr. Ali. He shakes his head. “But I was not. God was with me. I have faced many sad and difficult circumstances in my life, but God has saved me many times. He has given me miracles. This was one of those times.” Desperately trying to come up with a plan, Dr. Ali remembered that a friend’s brother was a medical school student in a nearby town. Without a name or an address, he set out to find this man, and surprisingly, he was able to do so that very same day. Soon, with the support of his new friends, he once again enrolled in medical school.  As there was no loan system available in Pakistan, Dr. Ali obtained income for tuition by using his artistic talents, selling drawings to newspapers and print publications. He also eventually got commissions to paint portraits of some well-known individuals in the area. At this same time, he also held jobs as a science teacher and tutor at a local institution. Dr. Ali did all of this while he continued to attend medical school. This left him with little time to sleep or rest, and by the time he reached his third year of medical school, things took a turn for the worse.

Dr. Ali became acutely ill with hepatitis A due to contaminated food. He became jaundiced and his condition deteriorated rapidly. He eventually fell into a coma, and the prognosis was grim. “By the grace of God, though, I made it,” he says. Still weak and having missed several weeks of school, Dr. Ali worked desperately to catch up. He had worked so hard to get to this point; he couldn’t give up now.

Finally, he graduated from medical school and returned to India for a short time, where he met and married his wife, Shameem. At that point, he was getting ready to begin his residency in Pakistan and had limited income, so she stayed with her family in India while he began the last stage of his education.

Dr. Ali began an Internal Medicine residency in Pakistan and then, when the opportunity arrived, he moved to England, where he continued his training at Cambridge Hospital and South Hampton University Hospital. Shameem was able to reunite with her husband, and the family would spend several years in England while Dr. Ali finished his training. He continued to a pulmonology fellowship, where he had the opportunity to study under the highly acclaimed pulmonologist Dr. William McLeod. Eventually, the family moved to America, settling in Connecticut, where Dr. Ali was accepted as the senior resident at Yale affiliated Norwalk hospital, and eventually became teaching faculty at Yale University School of Medicine Lung Research Center.

At this point, the young family had three children, and Dr. Ali decided to begin an independent practice. He received offers from various parts of the country, but the family was ultimately drawn to Texas. “We looked at the different places we could go, and Texas seemed like a good idea. The weather was similar to what we were used to in India. No more snowstorms!” Dr. Ali established his pulmonary practice in Fort Worth in the 1970s and continued to serve our community’s patients for the rest of his career. He retired at the age of 85 after practicing in Tarrant County for 45 years.

During his long career, Dr. Ali was instrumental in the development of pulmonary and critical care in Fort Worth. He was the first physician with critical care training in Fort Worth as well as the first to perform a fiberoptic bronchoscopy. He was the medical director of the Respiratory Therapy Department at St. Joseph’s Hospital for over a decade and established a bronchoscopy lab at the hospital, which would in turn encourage the growth of the field in surrounding hospitals. He had the opportunity to write a chapter on performing bronchoscopy in the 1983 edition of Diagnostic Procedures: The Patient and the Health Care Team, further disseminating the knowledge he had gained from his experience with the procedure.

In the late 1970s, Dr. Ali was the first to diagnose Legionnaires’ Disease in Fort Worth, and in the 1980s he was among the pioneer physicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of the first cases of HIV/AIDS in Fort Worth. Throughout his career, Dr. Ali was beloved by patients and physicians alike for his compassionate and excellent care. Drs. Vernon Ellis and Robert Shaw, longtime friends and colleagues of Dr. Ali, had the opportunity to refer many patients to him for pulmonary care through their practices as a family physician. “Dr. Ali was wonderful,” says Dr. Ellis. “I sent patients to him time and again with great results. They got excellent treatment, and everything was thoroughly explained—he never rushed his time with the patients.”

Dr. Shaw couldn’t agree more. “His follow-up care and treatment were always timely, appropriate, and spot on . . . I will always consider it one of the greatest blessings in my career in medicine to have been able to refer my pulmonary patients to a physician so brilliant and yet so kind and compassionate as Dr. Ebadat Ali.”

As a longtime member of the Tarrant County Medical Society, Dr. Ali stresses the importance of membership and participation. Having spent the majority of his career in Texas, Dr. Ali has watched the development of laws that effect physicians, and he credits organized medicine for many of the safeguards we have today. “The Medical Society and Texas Medical Association have done a wonderful job standing for physicians and patients. We need to stay united,” Dr. Ali shares. “Because of their work, my practice of medicine was not restricted in many of the ways it would have been. Having a fence behind you to address government regulations is very important.”

Dr. Ali kept an incredibly busy schedule throughout the majority of his career. Practicing independently in critical care, he worked long hours, typically seeing over 30 patients a day, and was often called back to the hospital at night for emergency care. For years it was difficult to balance his family life and work schedule, and he credits his wife, Shameem, for often carrying the burden of managing their home. “I am fortunate to have such an excellent wife who worked so hard for our family,” he shares. “Most days I would leave early and come home around midnight, so everything with the children would fall on her. It was a difficult balance, but we made it work.” Their father’s passion for serving others had no small influence on their children—their daughter, Amberina Husain, is a school teacher and their sons are both physicians. Farhan Ali, MD, is a cardiologist in Fort Worth and Rehan Ali, MD, is an emergency medicine physician who practices in multiple hospitals in the DFW area.

Dr. Farhan Ali remembers measures his father took to spend with them despite his busy schedule. “Some of my fondest memories as a little boy are of rounding with my father on the weekends. It was his way of spending time with my brother and me as he often missed dinners, school events, and many other family activities taking care of the sickest people in Fort Worth.”

Dr. Ali is incredibly proud of his sons and daughter as well as their spouses and his eight grandchildren. “I have wonderful children; they have all worked very hard and valued the education and opportunities they have been given and are very dedicated to us,” says Dr. Ali. “We are glad their spouses are part of our family and, since retirement, I have enjoyed getting to spend more time with them as well as our grandchildren. Finally, I get to go to all of the school events!” Amberina shares that she has “always known [Dr. Ali] to be a responsible, patient, and nurturing father” and has “embraced these qualities in [her] career as a teacher as well.”

Dr. Rehan Ali says his father was his inspiration for practicing medicine. “To me, he embodies compassion, knowledge, powerful work ethic, mental and physical strength, and trust . . . He is my hero when I see his role as a physician, husband, father, and contributing member of society. His struggles and accomplishments in life have been an inspiration to me.”

When reflecting on the most important part of his dad’s legacy, Dr. Farhan Ali believes that it is the impact he had on his patients. “The greatest testament to his practice . . .  was the long list of teary-eyed new and long-standing patients that lined up to take pictures with my dad when he retired after practicing for half a century. His indelible mark on the science of medicine is undeniable, yet it is the connection to his patients, staff, and colleagues that is truly remarkable.”

Having now retired after a long and fulfilling career, Dr. Ali enjoys spending time with Shameem, traveling the world, and spending time with their children and grandchildren. They have been to six continents, many of them multiple times now. Their house is filled with pictures, souvenirs, and furniture from their travels. “We like to bring parts of our time and experiences back with us,” Dr. Ali smiles.

Despite being very busy while he was in practice, Dr. Ali believes that it is important to give back to the community by serving those in need, and he has led by example. He actively supports both the Tarrant County Food Bank and the ARC of Fort Worth. He also is very active within his faith community, having helped to establish the Islamic Community in Fort Worth during the 1970s. He says his faith is one of the most important aspects of his life. “I am so grateful to God for all He has done for me. He has given me so many blessings and showed His hand in my life many times.”

Dr. Ali is a credit to our community, having touched the lives of both patients and physicians with excellent and compassionate care, and we are proud to congratulate him as our 2019 Gold-Headed Cane Award Recipient.