Neeral Sheth

Section Chief, Psychiatry Director of the Mind & Medicine Course Series

Campus: Chicago, IL IllinoisCOM
Department: Surgery and Specialty Medicine
Institution: The Chicago School

Biography

Dr. Sheth is an award-winning medical educator who has prioritized teaching and mentoring the next generation of physicians throughout his career. He earned his B.A. degree in Biology at Northwestern University and his D.O. degree at Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his psychiatry residency at Rush Medical College, where he served as the chief resident during his final year of training. As a board-certified Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine physician, Dr. Sheth emphasizes harm-reduction, trauma-informed and identity-affirming approaches in his clinical work.

Dr. Sheth has designed, implemented, and directed behavioral health curricula targeting gaps in medical education and garnering institutional, local, and national recognition for his innovative work. Before joining ILCOM, he spent several years serving as the Director of Medical Education in Psychiatry for both the pre-clerkship and clerkship phases at Rush Medical College. Prior to that he was the Interim Director for Medical Education in Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine.

Notable awards include the Leonard Tow Faculty Award for Humanism in Medicine, the Daniel Brainard Award for Excellence in Pre-Clerkship Teaching, Illinois Psychiatric Society's Educator of the Year Award, multiple Innovations in Medical Education Awards, and a Scholarly Publication of the Year Award.

Education History

Degree	Institution	Year
B.A.	Northwestern University , Evanston, IL	2007
D.O	Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine , Downers Grove, IL	2011
Psychiatry Residency	Rush University , Chicago, IL	2015

Publications

Journal
Pickerl P, Sorrell T, Blue M, Patterson K, Sheth N, Givens S (2025). Racial issues in psychiatry: a thematic analysis of an initial health equity educational activity for medical students. BMC Med Ethics, 26 (1), 53.
Sheth NK, Wilson AB, West JC, Schilling DC, Rhee SH, Napier TC. (2025). Effects of Stigmatizing Language on Trainees' Clinical Decision-Making in Substance Use Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Acad Psych, 49 (2), 126-135.
Bunting, S.R., Woodruff, J.N, Vidyasagar, N, Sheth, N.K., Spitz, D., Babcock, C., & Arora, V (2024). Parallel-application to residency training programs in the United States: trends and differences by applicant educational background, 2009-2021. Acad Med, 100 (2), 170-178.
Bunting, Samuel R. MD, MSHA; Feinstein, Brian A. PhD; Vidyasagar, Nitin BS; Sheth, Neeral K. DO; Yu, Roger BS; Hazra, Aniruddha MD (2024). Psychiatry and family medicine residents’ likelihood of prescribing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to patients with mental illness and HIV vulnerability. JAIDS, 96 (3), 231-240.
Bunting, S.R., Vidyasagar, N, Sheth, N.K., Khisty, R.S., & Spitz, D (2024). Parallel application to U.S. psychiatry residency programs: trends in frequency and differences by applicant group, 2009-2021. Acad Psych, 48 , 135-142.
Brennan EF, Markopoulos A, Rodriguez J, Sheth NK, Shah N (2023). Addressing a gap in medical school training: identifying and caring for human trafficking survivors using trauma-informed care. MedEdPORTAL, 19 , 11304.
Tobin, V., Sheth, N.K., Thompson, H.M. and Karnik, N.S (2022). Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning/Queer Two-Spirit Adolescents and Suicidality. Adol Psych, 12 (3), 207-223.
Thompson, H., Coleman, J.A., Iyengar, R., Phillips, S., Kent, P.M., Sheth, N (2020). Evaluation of a gender affirming healthcare curriculum for second-year medical students. Postgraduate Medical Journal, 96 , 515-519.

Professional Skills

Medical Education, Behavioral Health, Psychiatry, Addiction Medicine, LGBTQ+ Health