Shelley B Bhattacharya, DO, MPH

Dr. Shelley Bhattacharya is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine with a subcertification in geriatric medicine. She has been taking care of patients over age 65 at the University of Kansas Health System since 2005.

She is committed to providing excellent compassionate care to the Kansas City older adult community. She specializes in geriatric medicine and sees patients at the Landon Center on Aging. She sees patients for primary care as well as for consultations. She co-directs the geriatrics Interprofessional Assessment Clinic, a novel interprofessional clinic enabling 3 professions to see each patient and provide their guidance together. She enjoys teaching and is the assistant director of the Fitzsimons Learning Community at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She is also the faculty advisor for 3 student interest groups and faculty preceptor for the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

She is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (FAAFP) and the American Geriatrics Society (AGSF). She is currently assistant director of the Fitzsimons Learning Community at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and the co-director of the Geriatrics Interprofessional Assessment Clinic at the Landon Center on Aging.

Dr. Bhattacharya earned her medical degree from Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2000 and completed her residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2003. She completed a health policy fellowship at the New York Institute of Technology in 2003 and a geriatrics fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2005. During her geriatrics fellowship, she completed a master’s in public health at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health in 2005.

Dr. Bhattacharya’s parents often remind her that she knew she wanted to be a doctor since she was a child, before she can even remember! She feels fortunate she was able to fulfill her dream with the support of her family and community. Her patients encouraged her to pursue geriatric medicine during her residency, and she has loved every minute of it! Her goal is to focus on the quality, not just the quantity, of life for her patients. She wants to be a partner to help her patients live a fulfilling, satisfying and functional life. Close collaboration with other healthcare providers is one of the many reasons she has chosen to practice, and stay, at The University of Kansas Health System since 2005.

In addition to taking care of patients, Dr. Bhattacharya has a passion for gardening, traveling, spending time with her husband and 2 daughters, and championing environmental sustainability. She has spearheaded efforts to bridge the community with the campus to understand and talk about climate change and health (https://sites.google.com/view/climatechangeandhealth/home). She is also a current Fulbright specialist to help teach geriatric education globally.

Dr. Bhattacharya’s research interests include improving safe older adult driving and interprofessional education. She has had multiple grants with the Department of Transportation and the Health Resource Services Administration to improve commercial driver safety and to create a geriatrics course for more than 800 students in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social welfare, physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychology and dietetics. She has had many manuscripts in these research arenas: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%28kansas%5BAffiliation%5D%29+AND+%28Bhattacharya+SB%5BAuthor%5D%29&sort=