Shahrzad Talebinejad 

Hometown: Tehran, Iran

Age: 42

Artistry: Board-certified trauma surgeon, Our Lady of the Lake; oil painter

Online: [email protected]

It’s the morning after her 24-hour shift at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, but Dr. Shahrzad Talebinejad remains energetic, even if the veteran trauma surgeon is no longer focused on rapid-fire decisions to control bleeding or repair organ and tissue damage.

Actually, she’s thinking about the smallest of brush strokes.

“I have a painting that I started last week, and this girl needs some freckles,” Talebinejad says. “This morning, I was like, ‘I can’t wait to put the freckles on her nose,’ you know? That’s all I think about.”

The Iran-born, Maryland-raised doctor talks about her dream-like oil paintings of feminine figures the way most people talk about their favorite friends—lovingly and with unapologetic pride. “She’s just so pretty,” she says of another piece.

Even with years spent saving ER patients from otherwise fatal injuries, for Talebinejad, there is nothing like completing a new work of art to feel a deep sense of wonder.

“I can literally save someone’s life in surgery, and I won’t be like, ‘My hands are amazing,’” she muses. “But I’ll finish a painting and think, ‘Oh my god, my hands are amazing.’”

Even without a portfolio or formal training, she earned a spot in art school in her teens. However, her family’s move to the U.S. soon after, followed by a medical career and motherhood, sidelined her painting efforts for a decade.

In 2021, she chose to change that.

“I think it’s all about prioritizing your time, deciding what’s important to you,” Talebinejad says. “Art really takes the right mindset. You have to be at peace. Everything else should be in line. Because it really is therapy. You have to be able to sit down, relax, let go of the outside world, get into your right brain, and create something.”

Talebinejad has sold paintings in auctions for St. George Catholic School and is open to more commission work while she continues taking art classes and exploring the balance of her career and her creativity.

“I was always such a nerd in school, always liked studying, and it’s the same with art now,” Talebinejad says. “Developing new skills is so important. It’s about always asking, ‘What can I learn today?’”