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Prashant C Shah, MD
I joined the surgical staff here at Fox Chase in 2010. I completed my premedical and undergraduate training at Stanford University and went on to St. George’s University for medical school, where I completed the bulk of my medical rotations in New York. I went on to stay in New York and completed my general surgical residency at Maimonides Medical Center, followed by a cardiothoracic fellowship at SUNY Downstate. I then went on to pursue further specialized training, and completed a Harvard fellowship in Thoracic Oncology at Brigham & Women's Hospital, followed by a Harvard fellowship in Minimally-Invasive Thoracic Surgery. During my training at Brigham & Women's Hospital, I also served as a surgical clinical instructor for Harvard Medical School.
I feel that my rigorous training has given me a very broad base of experience and knowledge to apply the newest, cutting-edge minimally-invasive techniques to help treat surgical conditions that affect the chest and foregut.
In the not-so-distant past, chest surgery patients would have undergone large surgical incisions, significant postoperative pain, lengthy hospital stays, and long recovery periods. With the latest minimally-invasive techniques, more and more thoracic surgical diseases can now be treated with far smaller incisions, affording patients less pain and faster recovery time. My specific area of professional interest and clinical expertise is to broaden the applications of minimally-invasive techniques to a variety of diseases of the chest and foregut and to discover new innovative multimodal approaches to complex thoracic cancer cases.
My personal philosophy of patient care is to listen and empathize, meaning to treat patients like I myself would like to be treated. A new diagnosis of an aggressive cancer is never easy for a patient or family members to deal with. In many cases, it is an emotional life-altering period, where they have to struggle with making drastic changes and rational decisions regarding options to advance their treatment. I have successfully counseled hundreds of patients and their family members during this difficult chapter in their life. As a counselor, my foremost goal is for the patient and their family members to “understand”: to “understand” their disease process, to “understand” the multiple options that are available, and to “understand” that they are not alone—but that I, as well as the team here at Fox Chase, will be there with them every step of the way.
I enjoy working here at Fox Chase and with the Fox Chase staff for several reasons. First of all, it is a highly-ranked comprehensive cancer center, ranked among the top 20 in the country. Patients that are treated here know that they are being cared for by some of the brightest physicians and most talented and skilled surgeons in the country. There is a fundamental inspiration here at Fox Chase to not only stay on the cutting edge, but to actually also pioneer the newest techniques and advanced methodologies in the treatment of human cancers. To be part of the team that pioneers these new approaches is very important to me.
Secondly, the clinical team here at Fox Chase believes in the multimodality approach. In the past, unilateral approaches may have worked for simplex cancers. But, in this day and age, more and more cancers are found to be complex and wholly aggressive at presentation, requiring us to be aggressive with our treatment strategy. The fact that Fox Chase has hosted and continues to host hundreds of multimodal cancer clinical trials speaks to how committed the physicians here are in reducing the burden of human cancer.
But, the most fundamental reason why I enjoy working here, is that the highest priority of the Fox Chase staff is patient care. At the end of the day, what matters most is that all patients are treated with the utmost kindness, dignity, and respect by the entire staff.
For me, it is truly an honor and a privilege to be working with such a highly motivated and talented staff of caregivers. It is also a privilege for me to use my expertise to help care for patients with surgical diseases of the chest and foregut. As I continue to work here at Fox Chase, I will always be thankful and appreciate all of the well-placed confidence that you and others have placed in me.
Video
Introductory Video of Dr. Shah
Dr. Shah was featured on "Boston Med," an ABC News series about physicians in Boston, MA. (2010) Read more »
Department of
Surgical Oncology
Division of Thoracic Oncology
Attending Surgeon
Meet other members of the
lung cancer treatment team.
Meet other members of the
gastrointestinal cancer treatment team.
New patients can request an appointment online or call
215-214-3271.
Appointments for
Returning Patients
For general information, call:
1-888-FOX CHASE (1-888-369-2427).
An oncology certified nurse will assist you.
Fox Chase Cancer Center
333 Cottman Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19111-2497
Clinical Expertise
My area of expertise is to treat surgical diseases of the chest, as it pertains to the lung, esophagus, mediastinum, pleura, and diaphragm. My clinical focus has been placed on complex thocacic cancer cases, minimally-invasive foregut/esophageal surgery, VATS lung and mediastinal surgery, and the surgical management of mesothelioma. I have also had specialized training in treating many different types of benign thoracic surgical problems, such as GERD and hyperhidrosis.
Medical Education
MD, St. George's University School of Medicine. Grenada, West Indies, 2000
Residency:
Brooklyn South Surgical Training Program, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York
Fellowships:
Advanced Minimally-Invasive Thoracic Surgery Fellowship, Brigham and Women's Hospital. Harvard Medical School. Department of Surgery, Division of Thoracic Surgery. Boston, Massachusetts;
Advanced Thoracic Oncology Fellowship, Brigham and Women's Hospital;
Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship, SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn; Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York
Certification:
American Board of Surgery
Research Interests:
Thoracic oncology (lung and esophagus) clinical outcomes
For Information about cancer or