Cardiologist’s daughter inspires creation of ‘Walk-with-a-Doc’ – Oak Ridger

Special to The Oak Ridger

Walking for as little as 30 minutes a day can reduce your risk of coronary heart disease, improve your blood pressure and blood sugar levels, elevate your mood and reduce your risk of osteoporosis, cancer and diabetes.

And, if you join Methodist Medical Centers new Walk-with-a-Doc program, you can also learn more about an important health topic each month. Milan Sheth, a board-certified interventional cardiologist, will lead the first session with a discussion about heart disease at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 14. Participants will meet at the pavilion at Melton Lake Park in Oak Ridge to hear brief remarks by Sheth and then will walk as a group to Calhouns restaurant and back.

"Walking not only adds years to our lives, but provides needed companionship with family and friends, Sheth stated in an MMC news release.Routine walking has been associated with lower rates of depression. As we come out of this dark period in our history, we as people need to reconnect. Walk-with-a-Doc is a great way to bounce back from the past two years."

This event series was inspired by Sheths daughter, Riya, during the pandemic.

I saw my dad come home worried about how isolated his patients were becoming during quarantine, said Riya, who wants to pursue a career in medicine just like her father. I started doing some research about the mental and physical benefits of just getting outside for a short walk and interaction.

That research turned into Riyas Advanced Placementseminar research paper during her sophomore year at Oak Ridge High School and she convinced her dad to start the first chapter of the Walk-with-a-Doc program in East Tennessee.

Im so proud of Riya for pursuing this with such a passion, Sheth said.Together we want to develop this into a dynamic monthly program featuring other physicians and health topics. At Methodist, we mentor and train medical students from Lincoln Memorial University, and I want to involve them as well. I think it will be a tremendous learning experience for them outside of the clinical hospital setting.

Sheth received his medical degree from the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. He completed an internal medicine residency and general and interventional cardiology fellowships at Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas, and a molecular cardiology research fellowship at Texas A&M Universitys regional medical campus in Temple. He is board-certified in internal medicine, cardiovascular medicine and interventional cardiology. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and practices with Parkway Cardiology Associates.

Walk-with-a-Doc is free and open to the public. It will occur the second Saturday of every month, weather permitting. For more information or to be added to the event mailing list, call (865) 835-4662.

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Cardiologist's daughter inspires creation of 'Walk-with-a-Doc' - Oak Ridger