Farabi Hospital dates back to 1300 (AH). In 1313, the ophthalmology department of Farabi Hospital was started by Professor Shams; and the first cornea transplant operation in Iran was performed by him in this hospital in the same year. With the establishment of this center, eye surgery was performed for the training of students by Professor Shams and his colleagues, including Professor Mohammad Hadi Qavam Sadouqi, Dr. Masoud Zarrabi, and Dr. Hassan Alavi. During the years of Professor Shams' service, Farabi Hospital was at a high level in terms of ophthalmology, and prominent international professors and ophthalmologists visited it many times.

After the victory of the Islamic revolution, with special attention to the development and equipment of the hospital and the efforts of the relevant officials, this hospital has become the largest ophthalmology center in the Middle East. Many eye surgeries, which could not be performed in Iran before and patients had to be sent abroad for treatment, are performed in this center with the efforts of experienced doctors and hardworking hospital personnel, so that there is no need to send them anymore. There are no patients abroad for eye treatment.

Farabi Hospital is one of the centers that have many visits every day and patients from all over the country are referred and treated. This center has been highly respected by all international and domestic circles and has immortalized its name in the history of Iranian ophthalmology by benefiting from the latest technology and advanced equipment. And this is the consequence of the doctors and scientists’ hard-working who have taken a step in this direction and have endured many hardships and efforts. At the head of all of them shines the name of Professor Mohammad Qoli Shams who devoted himself to the patients for many years by the last day of his life.

Even now, despite the existence of ophthalmology centers affiliated with universities and other privately run centers, this hospital is still the place of referral for most patients and is still a meeting place for the exchange of ideas and techniques of eye surgeries. This hospital welcomes a large number of clients to this center every day due to having primary ophthalmology examination clinics (general clinic) and specialized clinics. Likewise, the hospital’s emergency clinic is one of the most active clinics with more than 400 patients admitted 24-hours.

According to the definition of health tourism and the role of medical centers in this field, Farabi Hospital was established in 1390 (AH) by the efforts of Dr. Mehdi Khodaparast, the late deputy medical director of the international patient department of this hospital. Over the past years, many efforts have been made by the heads, managers, and health tourism colleagues of Farabi Hospital to improve this department; so that the international patient department of Hospital receives international patients from different parts of the world daily.