Dr. Shala Sundaram found her path to family medicine in a unique fashion. She attended Georgia Institute of Technology and earned a Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering prior to earning her medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine. She continued her education with an internship in Family Medicine at St. Joseph's Hospital at State University of New York, and completed her residency in Stamford Hospital/Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she served as Chief Resident. Dr. Sundaram spent a year studying at University of Massachusetts Teaching of Tomorrow, participating in the Longitudinal Faculty Development Program, and completed a one-year faculty development fellowship at UNC Chapel Hill School of Medicine. She is also completing a year of the Program Director Development Fellowship with the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors.

Prior to becoming the founding program director at LewisGale Medical Center (LGMC), she was the assistant program director for the family medicine residency program at Albany Medical College in Albany, NY. She has helped create a new family medicine residency before (so this will be her second at LGMC) at New York Medical College Phelps in Sleepy Hollow, NY.

With her background in engineering, she enjoys building a bridge between the world of electronics and medicine. She takes pleasure in practicing and continuing to learn medicine every day, with a drive to institute this passion via teaching to the upcoming generation of new family physicians.