While at Oxford, Dr. Deep Shah recognized an opportunity to explore knowledge within and outside his degree program.
“That was one of the few periods of my life where there was truly enough time to be intellectually curious and spend a significant amount of time with other graduate students in different disciplines,” Shah says.
In the Oxford dining halls, Shah and his Rhodes Scholar classmates discussed pressing issues ranging from politics to the economy to health care. They also traveled whenever they could, forging lifelong friendships.
“We—now as alumni of the Rhodes Scholarship—still provide each other with multidisciplinary perspectives on issues, just largely over text and email now,” Shah says.
After returning from Oxford, Shah earned his medical degree at Harvard. Now as a primary care physician in Gwinnett County, Shah applies an interdisciplinary lens to approach health from a holistic view. It’s more than just tests and prescriptions; it’s also about focusing on social determinants of health, financial implications, and the overall patient experience, Shah says.
This approach also translates to his role as a preceptor, wherein Shah gives medical students hands-on learning opportunities.
Supporting students is one way to give back and build on the foundation Shah formed at UGA, just as mentorship from former associate provost David S. Williams AB ’79, MA ’82 and President Jere W. Morehead JD ’80 helped Shah as he won the Rhodes and Truman Scholarships.
But a love for the campus and the state drew him back to the University System of Georgia (USG). Gov. Brian Kemp BSA ’87 appointed Shah to the USG Board of Regents in April, providing him an exciting opportunity to encourage the success of future students.
“We—my immediate and extended family—hope this is one of many ways in which we can give back and make education in Georgia even better for future generations and to ‘fight the world’s fight,’ as the Rhodes mantra goes,” Shah says. “USG has a unique opportunity, with the diversity of our state and being part of a growing economy, to create a workforce and future professionals who will take the state to new heights under the leadership of Gov. Kemp and Chancellor Perdue.”
