SLU Associate Professor of Internal Medicine Named Society of Hospital of Medicine’s ‘Unsung Hero’

ST. LOUIS  — Farzana Hoque, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and acting internship co-director at Saint Louis University’s School of Medicine, will receive the Society of Hospital of Medicine’s (SHM) Unsung Hero award. SHM awards only one award under this category annually.

Hoque is the president of SHM’s St. Louis Chapter. The Unsung Hero award is given to a chapter leader who has positively influenced SHM behind the scenes with a positive attitude and a willingness to support other chapter members. The award will be presented at the 2024 SHM annual meeting in San Diego, California, on April 14. 

Under Hoque’s leadership, she spearheaded collaborative initiatives and actively pursued efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion within her chapter. In 2021, she served as the only woman on the St. Louis Chapter board, and she has increased the representation of women hospitalist board members during her presidency. She also inaugurated the Visionary Leadership award to honor outstanding hospitalist leaders annually, inspiring and engaging hospitalists across Missouri.

There are 25,000 hospitalists in the US, who are board-certified physicians who provide acute, comprehensive medical care to complex hospitalized patients and co-manage patients with surgical specialties. They are also engaged in teaching, research, and leadership.

“The intersectionality of Hoque's diverse lived experiences enriches her initiatives and interactions within the medical community,” said Gwendolyn Williams, M.D., president of SHM’s Hampton Roads Chapter. “Her road has been paved with hardships, yet she did not let discouragement prevent her from answering the call of medicine, showing grace in the most challenging of circumstances.”

Hoque was born in Bangladesh and received her doctorate at Dhaka University, Bangladesh. She moved to the United States to do her residency at St. Luke’s, and she joined SLU in 2018 after completing residency training. In addition to her position on the faculty at SLU in the Division of Hospital Medicine, she is a member of the Faculty Senate and is the inaugural Medical Director of Bordley Tower of SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital.

Hoque volunteers at St. Louis CRUSH (Community Resources United to Stop Heroin), providing vital resources in the fight against the heroin crisis in the St. Louis community. Her goal is to inspire future physicians, by volunteering at multiple not-for-profit organizations, including Tour for Diversity in Medicine and The Student National Medical Association. She also mentors underrepresented undergraduate students aspiring to be physicians, including high school students from the Collegiate School of Medicine & Bioscience, who shadow her to gain firsthand clinical experience. 

"As an educator, she always presents herself with humility and kindness," said Tejas Sangoi, M.D., treasurer of SHM's St. Louis Chapter. "While she leads her medical team and chapter board with poise, she is always open to self-education, separating herself from the assumed hierarchy to treat everyone on her team equally."

Hoque was named to the St. Louis Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 List last year and she was nominated by SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital nurses to throw out the Ceremonial First Pitch at a St. Louis Cardinals game at Busch Stadium in recognition of her outstanding patient care and dedicated service to the community.