Editor's Note: Every year, Rhode Island Monthly releases its Top Docs issue. These are doctors in a variety of specialties who are named tops in their field by their peers.
His name is Dr. Samir Shah.
He's a gastroenterologist and treats a variety of conditions.
"It's everything from reflux disease, difficulty swallowing, stomach problems, ulcers, pancreas, problems from pancreatic cancer to pancreatitis and then liver problems. Hepatitis is a big problem," said Shah, who's affiliated with The Miriam Hospital.
He's big on prevention, preparing to do a colonoscopy on one of his patients. It's one way to screen for and potentially prevent colon cancer.
Shah, who is originally from upstate New York, said he didn't set out to specialize in this field.
"I actually tried to avoid gastroenterology as a specialty because my father's in GI and he's very well respected and I didn't want to be compared to him," he said.
So he set out to heal matters of the heart.
"I was going to be a cardiologist," Shah said.
But the pull was too strong and 14 years ago, the Brown University and Harvard Medical School graduate became a gastroenterologist in Rhode Island.
He admits, it's not always easy figuring out what's wrong.
"It's frustrating for us, but I think it's more frustrating for the patient because they're coming to us for an answer and sometimes it just takes time to hopefully figure it out," he said.
Shah takes that time to do the detective work that's sometimes needed.
He's married and has two boys.
"My office is kind of littered with their pictures. That's probably my most important job -- being a dad," Shah said.
He's also a huge sports fan.
"Right now it's basketball season. I'm hoping the Celtics come through and beat Miami and go on to the finals," Shah said.
He said there are a lot of similarities between basketball and medicine.
"It's really a team sport, if you call it a sport. It's so important that everyone works together for the better of the patient," Shah said.
The doctor was recently honored as a top doc by Rhode Island Monthly.
"It's a great honor to be thought of well by your peers," Shah said.
And great, he said, to follow in his dad's footsteps, Dr. Ashok Shah.
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