Dr. Summit Shah, a highly regarded allergist practicing in and around the community of Columbus, Ohio, is the founder and owner of Premier Allergy, a medical practice specializing in advanced allergy and asthma care. Dr. Shah, who is also responsible for the founding of the allergy department located within the Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Outpatient Center, is recognized among patients and peers alike for his extensive expertise in conditions that include sinus disease, hay fever, and food and drug allergies, just to name a few.
A dedicated supporter of the hometown Buckeyes of his alma mater, The Ohio State University, Dr. Shah earned an undergraduate degree in Columbus before going on to secure his degree in medicine from The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Shah’s interest in allergies and asthma led him to pursue further academic endeavors in Boston, Massachusetts, and San Diego, California. In Boston, Dr. Shah completed his residency in internal medicine at Tufts University, which led to a fellowship opportunity at the Scripps Institute and the University of California, San Diego.
It was during his fellowship at the renowned Scripps Institute that Dr. Shah had the opportunity to work side-by-side with leading authorities in the field of allergic disease as well as serious asthma conditions and food allergies. Dr. Shah’s professional career has certainly benefited from this early exposure to such extensive medical expertise, and the longtime allergist has gone to great lengths to ensure his patients are able to reap the rewards of his unique understanding of this particular field of medicine.
In addition to running Premier Allergy, Dr. Summit Shah also serves as a professor at his alma mater, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and continues to devote a great deal of his time to clinical research relevant to his area of medical expertise.
1.What was your best/favorite subject in school?
I’m an academic at heart, and I consider myself quite grateful for all of the valuable academic opportunities to which I’ve had access throughout my career. So while I’ve deeply enjoyed every academic pursuit, medical science has always been my personal favorite.
2. What was your first job?
My first job was actually serving coffee, and I enjoyed it immensely despite the relative simplicity of the work.
3. Where and how did you first get into the industry you currently work in?
In addition to my lifelong interest in medicine, my own personal experiences dealing with allergies and asthma inspired me to pursue a career as an allergist.
4. How have those jobs prepared you for what you do now?
Having endured many of the very same struggles throughout my youth, it is much easier for me to empathize with and relate to the issues my patients are experiencing when they walk into the practice.
5. Describe the best day of work you’ve ever had.
Throughout the entirety of my career, I’ve enjoyed what seems like an endless string of “best days,” with each subsequent day matching or exceeding the previous one. Helping patients overcome difficult health-related issues is obviously quite gratifying for myself as well as my staff.
6. How do you keep yourself motivated?
I have a personal understanding of what my patients go through due to allergies and asthma, so I am deeply motivated to continue the clinical research that has helped us make so much progress in improving the treatment methodologies currently available to those experiencing the adverse issues caused by severe asthma or allergies.
7. What kind of business ideas excite you most?
I come from a family of entrepreneurs who valued any opportunity to utilize entrepreneurship as a means for giving back to the community. As a result, I’m most excited by ideas inspired by a desire to address a pressing need within one’s community.
8. Have you ever tried any unorthodox techniques to attract attention to your business?
We don’t rely on any unorthodox marketing techniques, but we have succeeded in attracting attention to the business through the clinical study of unorthodox (at least in a loose sense of the word) yet effective treatment methods.
9. What personal achievement are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the fact that I’ve not only been able to give back to the community I grew up in, but have also passed down these important familial values to my own children.
10. What wisdom you would have liked to share with yourself when you first started out?
I would have liked to share the importance of delegating responsibility to others while also resisting the temptation to micromanage every last operational detail. I have the support of a great team at Premier Allergy, but my former tendency to act as a micromanager likely stifled the staff’s professional development during the practice’s early stages. Placing more trust in my staff has yielded immeasurable benefits for the practice as well as the patients we treat each day.