For some people, Homecoming is about returning to a place that once felt like home. For Shawn Nishi, MD, it is a reminder of a place that has been part of her life for more than two decades.
In 2001, Nishi arrived at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) as a medical student. Over the next 25 years, she completed medical school, residency, and fellowship training at UTMB before joining the faculty and growing into roles as a physician, educator, mentor, and leader. Today, she serves as chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine.
Along the way, mentors helped shape her path, colleagues became lifelong friends, and UTMB provided opportunities for her to continually grow and evolve.
Today, Nishi is not only a product of the institution where she trained, but is also helping shape its future.
It started with a change of heart
Nishi grew up in Texas but earned her undergraduate degree in Iowa. When it was time for medical school, she returned to Texas and applied to schools across the state before ultimately choosing UTMB.
When Nishi arrived at UTMB, she believed she had a clear sense of where her medical career would lead. She initially envisioned a future in orthopedic surgery before developing an interest in internal medicine and cardiology. But rather than pushing students toward a specialty too early, UTMB gave her the freedom to explore, question, and ultimately change her mind.
“That’s one of the many things I value about UTMB,” she said. “I had the opportunity to explore different possibilities, the freedom to change direction, and the support I needed when I realized there was another path that was right for me.”
Then, at a pivotal moment in her journey, a conversation with another mentor changed the course of her career.
Gulshan Sharma, MD, then an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care at UTMB, asked Nishi what she envisioned for her future.
“He encouraged me to not become anchored and to consider pulmonary and critical care medicine,” she said.
She did. And she stayed at UTMB.
It was a simple conversation, yet one that would have a lasting impact. Nishi found her passion, discovering in pulmonary and critical care a field that brought together the complexity of medicine, the immediacy of critical care, and the opportunity to build lasting relationships with patients and colleagues.
“Looking back, I think there was something serendipitous about it. Sometimes, things simply have a way of unfolding as they are meant to,” she said.
And in choosing pulmonary and critical care, she found more than a specialty. She found her professional home.
A career built on relationships
Nishi, along with her husband, Mike King, stayed at UTMB. King, now deputy chief information officer, also began his career during her training.
“At every stage when Mike and I had to choose whether to stay or go somewhere else, we’ve just had incredible opportunities to stay and advance our careers at UTMB. We have been very fortunate to have mentors and sponsors who helped accelerate our career journey. This has always been a place that keeps presenting us possibilities,” she said.
That support, and the relationships forged along the way, have been central to Nishi’s decision to remain at UTMB for more than two decades.
“My career and success here were built on the deep sense of community forged early in my training, connections that have only grown stronger over the years, and I’m still developing new ones,” she said.
She pointed to colleagues and fellow UTMB Internal Medicine alumni she trained with, including Lindsay Sonstein, MD, chief of General Internal Medicine, Carlos Clark, MD, chief medical information officer, and Leah Lowe, MD, associate chief medical officer.
“We have collaborated throughout our careers and have followed similar paths to success while thriving in a collaborative ecosystem. We flourished under that same supportive umbrella,” Nishi said.
From being mentored to giving back
Evolving as a physician, educator, and leader, Nishi sees one of her greatest responsibilities as creating opportunities for others, just as mentors and colleagues did for her. She hopes to provide the encouragement, mentorship, and sense of possibility that once helped her find her own path.
For Nishi, mentorship is not simply about passing along knowledge. It is about recognizing potential, creating opportunities, and helping others discover what they are capable of becoming.
“I want to be the mentor that others were to me,” she said. “Now it’s time to give back.”
Much has changed since she first walked through the doors of UTMB as a medical student, but one thing has remained constant: her desire to learn.
“I came in as a learner, and I still am,” she said. “But now, I am looking for ways to serve the university, the division, and my department.”
Today, Nishi is focused on using what she has learned to strengthen the community that has supported her for so many years and to make room for those who will follow.
“It’s about helping to open doors so that others can walk through them,” she said.
Coming full circle
Homecoming is not simply a chance to reflect on where she began. It is an opportunity to recognize the people and relationships that shaped her journey and the institution that gave her the freedom to discover her path.
More than two decades later, Nishi continues to find purpose at UTMB, building community, developing future leaders, and helping shape what comes next.
In many ways, she has come full circle. But for Nishi, Homecoming is not about returning. It is a celebration of a place she never left.