Sheila Patel, M.D. is a Board-certified family physician and former Chief Medical Officer for Chopra Global. She serves as Medical Advisor and Lead Educator for Chopra Certifications at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). Dr. Sheila is dedicated to maximizing human potential by shifting the paradigm in healthcare from disease management to creating health and wellbeing.

Dr. Sheila practiced full-spectrum family medicine for 13 years in various settings before pursuing further training in Ayurvedic medicine. She has seen firsthand the benefits of finding the right tools at the right time to facilitate a patient’s healing, treating both acute and chronic conditions. She served as Medical Director for the Mind-Body Medical Group at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, offering Ayurvedic consultations and supporting Ayurvedic retreats. Currently, she utilizes her extensive medical training along with the principles of Ayurveda, meditation, and yoga to support individuals in creating optimal health and wellbeing. She maintains an outpatient family medicine practice where she blends modern medicine with natural healing systems and also offers virtual Ayurvedic lifestyle consultations. Dr. Sheila believes in a preventive, predictive, personalized, and participatory approach to healing that can improve both individual and societal health.

In addition to seeing patients, Dr. Sheila is a sought-after speaker in a variety of settings. She was a regular speaker at Chopra Global’s events and retreats and has been a guest lecturer on integrative medicine topics at the University of California - San Diego School of Medicine, UCLA, and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, as well as creating a lecture series in mind-body medicine for medical students at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. She has presented at various medical conferences on natural supplements, Ayurvedic medicine, and lifestyle medicine, including speaking at the Chopra Center’s Journey into Healing event for many years.

Dr. Sheila also regularly lectures for national and international organizations such as the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, the Ayurvedic Association of Uruguay, La Grace Sri Aurobindo Integral Life Center, and the Vedanta Society of San Diego on the topics of Ayurveda, meditation, and yoga. She has spoken at health summits and conferences, both in person and virtually, focusing on natural healing for organizations such as the Shift Network and the Natural Law. Additionally, she is an invited guest on many podcasts that discuss natural health topics.

Dr. Sheila has a passion for teaching and is a regular educator for Chopra/IIN’s certification programs, which include Ayurvedic lifestyle, meditation, yoga, and health coaching. She enjoys making Ayurvedic and scientific topics easy to understand and practical in modern lives. She mentors others on translating Ayurvedic knowledge into clinical practice and has facilitated training for physicians, residents, medical students, and students in other healing professions. She currently holds a position as Voluntary Clinical Instructor in the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, Health Sciences, and has served as an Ambulatory Care preceptor.

As part of her role as Medical Director at the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, Dr. Sheila participated in several research studies on the benefits of meditation and Ayurvedic practices on health, working with esteemed researchers, scientists, and Nobel laureates. She is a co-author on several published articles in peer-reviewed journals on the benefits of meditation and Ayurvedic retreats.

Dr. Sheila works with organizations such as Healing Co, consulting on Ayurvedic product formulations, creating programs for the Chopra meditation and wellbeing app, and supporting Chopra Global partnership properties and programs. She is on the Medical Advisory Committee for Lake Nona Performance Club, supporting the Chopra meditation and yoga classes. For 10 years, she has served on the Board of Be Well Therapy, an organization that supports people living with cancer, where she participates in yoga retreats and teaches mindfulness practices to optimize wellbeing during and after treatment. She values introducing people to healing mind-body practices to help all people optimize their wellbeing so they can thrive in body, mind, and spirit.