Dr. Rizwan Shah

Dr. Rizwan Shah is currently the Medical Director of the Child Abuse Program at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa.  Dr. Shah came to Iowa from her native Pakistan in 1968, and began practicing in pediatrics.  In 1981, she became among the first in the nation to recognize the link between parental crack cocaine abuse and abused children.   

Dr. Shah has taught widely on the linkage between child abuse and drug abuse and was one of a group of physicians to receive the Award of Merit from the Iowa Medical Society, in 1999, for helping to facilitate the establishment of children's health programs in Iowa. Shah teaches child abuse training programs both in Iowa and nationally, as well as clinical teaching in medical schools and hospitals. She has served as President of the Iowa Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Co-Chair of the Iowa Medical Society's Public Health Committee.

Dr. Shah is passionate concerning her philosophy in treating children harmed by drug abuse: “I try to leave the child with the message that you can rise above the abuse and neglect and be somebody." 
Adapted from the National Library of Medicine