The Practice of Care

When he joined the New York State (NYS) Board for Medicine in 2016, Amit M. Shelat (D.O. ’02) recognized it as an opportunity to combine his two passions: medicine and the well-being of his community.

Shelat brought a practical conviction that quality healthcare should be accessible to all. “As the NYS Board for Medicine, we oversee the practice of medicine and safeguard the health of the people in New York State,” he says, a responsibility he has pursued with diligence and clarity.

Shelat’s foundation in service and leadership took shape at New York Tech, where he earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) in 2002. In the same year, he also completed a Master of Public Administration in Health Policy and Management at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

As a student in the College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM), Shelat usually rode the bus to campus, often alongside his professor, Larry Stepp, Ph.D. Rather than making small talk, they dug into the previous day’s lectures, exploring how foundational scientific concepts play out in real clinical scenarios. “Dr. Stepp always pushed me to see why the material truly mattered beyond the textbook,” Shelat recalls.

During his second year, he studied cardiology under Humayun “Hank” Chaudhry (D.O. ’91), who now serves as president and chief executive officer of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States. Chaudhry’s leadership in medical regulation and his enthusiastic mentorship made a lasting impression on Shelat, inspiring him to seek a coveted appointment with the NYS Board for Medicine. “Seeing how Dr. Chaudhry built on his clinical background to achieve a wider influence showed me just how far a dedicated physician can go.”

Another NYITCOM alumnus who left a lasting impression on Shelat was Lynn Mark (D.O. ’87). In his third-year family practice rotation at St. Barnabas Medical Center in the Bronx, Mark’s emphasis on trust and open communication shaped Shelat’s approach to patients. “She insisted on treating people as genuine partners in their care,” he remembers.

Shelat’s commitment to blending clinical practice with large-scale impact led him to the Harvard School of Public Health while he maintained a full-time neurology practice in New York. He commuted frequently to Boston for two years to earn a Master of Science in Healthcare Management. However, even this achievement was not without its own brand of trials and tribulations. In 2015, during his final semester, Shelat was diagnosed with stage 4 Burkitt lymphoma. Undeterred by his cancer diagnosis and the complications of the treatment, he continued his coursework from a hospital isolation room, enduring aggressive chemotherapy that severely compromised his immune system. “Going through something so tough gave me a firsthand look at what it really means to rely on someone else to keep you alive,” he says. “It completely changed how I see patient needs and pushed me to make sure we do right by them every step of the way.

As chair of the NYS Board for Medicine, Shelat’s leadership style blends pragmatism with empathy. When concerns arose about undertrained providers offering laser-based treatments, he initiated a fact-driven process, seeking expertise from multiple specialists before issuing guidelines to the New York State Education Department and Board of Regents. “Lasers are everywhere now, but in the hands of an undertrained person, patients can be seriously harmed,” he says. His measured approach underscores a board open to innovation yet firmly committed to public safety.

In his own practice, Shelat, focuses on neurophysiological intraoperative monitoring, which tracks nerve signals in real time during surgery to alert surgical teams to subtle electrical changes that may indicate a potential complication. “If a surgeon is focused on stabilizing your cervical spine, someone needs to be monitoring the integrity of your spinal cord and related pathways,” says Shelat, who is licensed in 14 states. “That’s my job.” By leveraging remote technology, he ensures that even patients hundreds of miles away can benefit from immediate neurological oversight—an invaluable service in regions that might otherwise lack this level of expertise.

Shelat furthers osteopathic medicine through his work on the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, where he helps develop COMLEX-USA Level II and III exams. key benchmarks of clinical competence for osteopathic physicians nationwide. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the New York State Neurological Society, guiding neurological advocacy and practice at the state level. In addition, he is an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University.

Shelat’s journey is a testament to perseverance, insight, and resolute compassion. The NYS Board for Medicine “gives us a chance to stand up for those who need safe, quality care,” he says. “I want our decisions to genuinely help New Yorkers now and for years to come.”