With roles ranging from student to plastic surgeon to inventor and clinic director, Dr. Bharat Shah’s life is a balancing act, with innovation at top of mind.
Shah, section chairman and plastic surgeon with Mercy Clinic Plastic Surgery, also serves as medical director of Mercy Medical Spa, on the boards of Mercy Clinic and Mercy Medical Research Institute and consistently has irons in the fire with Mercy Research & Development, which operates out of Jordan Valley Innovation Center.
“In addition to taking care of my aesthetic practice and reconstructive patients, I am responsible for leading our group of five plastic surgeons and 25 staff,” Shah says.
Through Mercy R&D, Shah has invented several medical devices, including the Secure360 Prone Positioning Device, which cuts the positioning process for infant cranial surgeries to about three minutes from 45 minutes and the Secure Flip Pediatric Dual Positioner, which enables physicians to efficiently switch the positions of infants during spina bifida surgeries.
“Bharat has and will continue to influence the medical community nationally with his innovations,” says Kristi Fulnecky of Fulnecky Law LLC, who counts Shah as a friend and fellow philanthropist. “(He) genuinely cares about and is committed to serving the Springfield community,” she adds, pointing to Shah’s efforts with organizations such as Development Center of the Ozarks, Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Greenwood Laboratory School.
Shah says he is proud of work with Mercy pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Sami Khoshyomn to develop a pediatric cranial deformity program at Mercy Children’s Hospital in Springfield.
Through the doctors’ work, a pediatric surgical team has been developed locally to treat infants with craniosynostosis, a congenital skull deformity.
“Prior to this development, children afflicted with this disorder often had to travel to St. Louis or Kansas City for treatment,” Shah says. “Since development of the program, we have treated dozens of children in our community with this uncommon condition with excellent results.”
Shah, who is studying to earn his master’s degree in health administration at Missouri State University, also is an adjunct faculty member at MSU, training physician assistants in the community. He also has prior experience teaching surgical residents and fellows as a clinical assistant professor at University of Missouri, and has lent his talents nationwide to teach physicians and surgeons basic and advanced surgical techniques.
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