(8/02/11) – McLeod Health announces the association of Dr. Heather Shelton with McLeod Family Medicine Center. In addition to caring for patients, Dr. Shelton will serve as a faculty member for the McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program. She returns to serve as an instructor where she received part of her education as a physician.

The McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program is a program at McLeod Health designed to train the "physicians of tomorrow" in an effort to increase the availability of family medicine physicians for patients in the Pee Dee and other rural areas of South Carolina.

"About half of our residents in the program are women," said Dr. Shelton. "While we have an outstanding faculty here, one of the things I felt was needed when I myself was part of the residency program was a female family medicine faculty member.

"Since my graduation, I have been precepting medical students from the Medical University of South Carolina, which I have enjoyed. When I received a phone call from the McLeod Residency Program Director, Dr. William Hester, I realized that the position he was offering was the perfect opportunity for me. I was being given the chance to do two things I love – – teach and care for patients," added Dr. Shelton.

Dr. Shelton received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and a Master’s in Public Health degree in Environmental and Occupational Health from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, Georgia. She received her medical degree from Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia. Dr. Shelton completed her residency in Family Medicine at the McLeod Family Medicine Residency Program graduating in 2007.

Prior to returning to McLeod, Dr. Shelton was in practice at Black River Healthcare in Olanta, South Carolina, and served as a staff physician at Clarendon Memorial Hospital in Manning, South Carolina.

During her third year of residency at McLeod, Dr. Shelton was selected to serve on the Resident Fellow Section (RFS) Public Health Committee for the American Medical Association. The RFS Public Health Committee’s function is to address public health issues brought forth by the American Medical Association and provide feedback and resolution. Only ten medical residents from across the country are invited to serve on the committee for a period of one year.

Dr. Shelton is a member of the American Academy of Family Practice and the South Carolina Academy of Family Physicians. She and her husband Raif reside in Florence.

Dr. Shelton is accepting new patients. For more information, please call the McLeod Family Medicine Center at 843-777-2800.