Dr. Shea has been a cardiologist with TriHealth since 1989, for 12 of those years serving as Director of Cardiology at Bethesda Hospitals. He has found the most rewarding part of his practice is having an opportunity to establish a relationship with his patients.
Realizing the importance of prevention ahead of the national guidelines, Dr. Shea routinely suggests families have Cardiac Calcium CT scans to identify coronary disease at a time when they are asymptomatic but expected to progress because of family history. Finding these at-risk people earlier means preventing an event before it occurs.
He is an advocate of teaching patients how to take control over their own lives, such as with Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). Patients are taught how to deal with an acute recurrence at home and avoid unnecessary visits to the Emergency Department. Similarly, Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome patients can have congenital anomalies of the autonomic nervous system or so-called dysautonomia, which is usually benign. Symptoms may have gone unrecognized and misdiagnosed. Education builds awareness such that patients sometimes leave in better shape than when they arrived, through just talking or medications.
One of Dr. Shea's favorite pieces of medical advice is: "When taking a history and the patient is describing symptoms, especially pain, get them to use their hands. It is far more descriptive than their words. Eighty percent of all diagnoses can be made by taking a careful history."
Areas of Expertise