Dr. Urvish Shah joins Oaklawn Medical Group-Gastroenterology

December 28, 2016

MARSHALL – Urvish Shah was a 10-year-old in Ahmedabad, India, when he chose a path that would lead to a career in healing half a world away.

After nearly three decades of study and the practice of medicine in India and the United States, Shah now has joined Oaklawn Medical Group – Gastroenterology as a consultant.

“In India, being a doctor is a very honorable profession,” Shah mused during a recent interview. “One of the main reasons is to help people and take care of their disorders and prevent problems. For me, the second reason was research, which interested me deeply.”

Shah’s mother was a housekeeper and his father worked in a textile mill – a common enough circumstance in Ahmedabad, a populous city on the banks of the Sabarmati river in the western Indian state of Gujarat, and India’s second-largest producer of cotton.

“I was only 10 years old when I decided I wanted to be a doctor,” he recalled. “I saw that it would be nice to help out people. I was the first one in my family to want to become a doctor.”

Shah received his family’s full support in his choice of profession and, until his parents passed on, they remained deeply proud of his decision to pursue medicine as a career.

 Shah, his wife Hina and their son Jainil, 14, now live in Okemos and their daughter Khushbu, 26, lives in New York. Shah got to know Marshall a bit while studying medicine in the United States, chiefly because his travels between Detroit and Chicago frequently brought him near Marshall.

Shah now plans to commute to his new work in Marshall, although he may consider a move to this area at a later time. Now he looks forward to getting to know the community better.

 “It’s such a nice town with wonderful people,” he said.

Shah’s hobbies include such interests as photography and automobiles. He also visited Battle Creek earlier this year as a performer of traditional and modern Indian music, a semi-profession he has undertaken since he was a teen-ager. As a singer, he has performed across the Midwest ranging from Chicago to Detroit.

“I’ve performed in people’s homes, on stage, music halls and at weddings,” he said.

Shah comes to Oaklawn Medical Group – Gastroenterology with a 23-year history in gastrointestinal practice, joining fellow gastroenterologist Freda L. Arlow, M.D., as well as James Van Popering, D.O.

Shah specializes in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), which focuses on ducts that drain the liver and pancreas. That work includes endoscopic sphincterotomy, biliary stent placement, stone removal including lithotripsy, diagnostic and therapeutic colonoscopy, diagnostic and therapeutic upper endoscopy and liver biopsy.

While in India, Shah received the equivalent of a U.S. medical degree in 1982 from N.H.L. Municipal Medical College at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad. He completed his residency in internal medicine in 1985 from the same university’s K.M. School of Medicine and Research.

In the United Sates, Shah completed a residency and internship in internal medicine in 1989 at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, and completed a Fellowship in gastroenterology in 1993 at Seton Hall University and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Shah was an assistant professor for two years in the Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, at Michigan State University until 1995, when he went on to private practice in gastroenterology until 2014.

Most recently, Shah worked for more than two years in gastroenterology at McLaren Greater Lansing Hospital in Lansing. He is certified by the American Board of Gastroenterology and the American Board of Internal Medicine.

“We’re pleased that a very experienced and respected physician like Dr. Shah is joining our medical staff to help augment Oaklawn’s gastroenterology services,” said Oaklawn Medical Group’s Executive Director Mark Montross.

“We are persistently working at expanding the breadth and access of our primary care and specialty services to meet our community’s needs,” Montross said.

Oaklawn Medical Group – Gastroenterology is in Suite 3A of the Wright Medical Building at 215 E. Mansion St., and may be contacted at (269) 789-0025.

People who would like to receive help in finding a family-practice physician or being referred to another Oaklawn Medical Group physician may call (888) OAKLAWN or (888) 625-5296.