Today we’d like to introduce you to Mona Shah.
Hi Mona, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
After I graduated Cardiology Fellowship more than 20 years ago and I started practicing here in Jacksonville, I realized that many of the patient questions, issues, symptoms were not necessarily always treatable with medications or doing certain tests. I realized more that Lifestyle, exercise, diet, supplements, and stress played a big role in many ailments and disease processes. I and the patient often would feel left unsatisfied when the other aspects of health weren’t getting addressed so I became board certified in Holistic Medicine so I could add this to the way I cared for patients. After several years of practicing this way in a hospital based system, I realized that spending 15 minutes with patients to not only go over their cardiac health but also their diet, lifestyle, stressors and vitamins just wasn’t enough. The churn and burn model of keep seeing 20-25 patients a day wasn’t fulfilling anymore as I couldn’t give to my patients what I wanted to give them in regards to helping them find optimal heart health. I left and started a Concierge Holistic Cardiology Practice in January so I could offer more attention to patient care, longer visits, direct access to me and more aggressive prevention with offering advanced testing .
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a smooth road for sure, back when I did cardiology fellowship it was majority male driven. Being a female choosing to do cardiology was a tough decision as I also wanted to have a family and most attending doctors said it would be very difficult to have a family and be a Cardiologist. However, I was driven and my lead fellowship director encouraged me to go down this path and that I could do it. I just needed one person to tell me and I went for it. Having two children during cardiology fellowship proved very difficult. When we moved here finding part time work for a woman cardiologist wasn’t easy, I did this because my ex husband was also a cardiologist and we decided I would be the one to do part time and stay home with the kids when I could. I eventually was raising my three boys alone and also trying to practice cardiology and figuring out how to work and balance it all. Not an easy road but I had a lot of support including finding my now husband who has been my biggest supporter in every aspect. When I started at the hospital based system and I became board certified in Holistic Medicine they weren’t sure how to help me build that in my practice, so I started from scratch on how that would look with the system I was in. When I left in January after practicing in a hospital based practice for almost 20 years, it was a very big decision to leave a steady job, steady income and start from scratch to build my own practice in the last phase of my career. I had never owned a business before and there were No models for me to follow as many DPC or Concierge are Primary Care not specialist let alone a holistic specialist. I had many supporters again who helped guide me especially my husband and other DPC and Concierge doctors, and family and close friends who never gave up and encouraged me all the way . My husband has been my rock and helped me with every aspect of my new business. I had a lot of naysayers and even small business consultants who said I couldn’t do it because there was no model. I literally was starting something that has not really been done in this area for sure!
As you know, we’re big fans of One Heart Cardiology, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I specialist in Holistic Cardiology, Preventive Cardiology. I am the only board certified holistic car diologist in the area and one of only three in Florida. At my Concierge practice i spend 60-90 minutes with patients, they have direct access to me, I focus on preventive cardiology with a holistic approach – diving into all aspects of health: stress, diet, supplements and of course heart health and how to be preventive. I also address patients who have already had heart disease affect them and how to keep it at bay and prevent further issues.
I left traditional medicine because I really wanted to treat patients differently , spend more time, and have direct care with them.
I am most proud brand wise of being the only cardiologist in this area who practices this way and only one to offer a concierge approach. I dig a lot deeper into labs including advanced lipid testing as well as cutting edge cardiac scans to look at their heart arterteries in better detail.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
i do podcasts, give free talks and I also have a blog that I write articles for
Pricing:
- I have different tiers of memberships
- I offer a foundational appt for patients who want to meet me and make sure we are a good fit and have me review their records etc and come up with a plan
- I offer CCTA and Cleerly heart scan done at precision
Contact Info:
- Website: https://drmonashah.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holisticheartdoc/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mona-shah-7a9b4a178/
- Other: https://drmonashah.wordpress.com
