Born and raised on the West Coast, Dr. Amy Shaw received her undergraduate degree in Geology from Humboldt State University in 1981. After working for a natural gas consulting firm and becoming disillusioned with her chosen profession, she decided to pursue her dream of being a doctor. She returned to college and received her medical degree at the University of California at Davis in 1989, and then completed her Residency in Family Practice at Community Hospital of Sonoma County (now Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa) in 1992.
Dr. Shaw chose the specialty of Family Practice because of its holistic approach to medical care through its focus on understanding the patient in the context of her family and her community, as well as its emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion.
In her variety of roles as a physician, medical leader, and patient advocate, Dr. Shaw developed a special interest and expertise in the supportive care of patients who are being treated for cancer and patients who continue to experience long-term complications after the completion of cancer therapies. Her perspective as a Family Physician has allowed her to understand that cancer, more than almost any other disease, presents unique challenges to the patient, her family, and the community as a whole. She decided to leave the field of primary care medicine in 2011 and became the Medical Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program with the Redwood Regional Medical Group, now St. Joseph Regional Cancer Care.
Dr. Shaw is a nationally recognized expert in cancer survivorship and speaker on subjects such as the important role of primary care in cancer survival, treatment of menopausal symptoms in breast cancer survivors and the ongoing need for treating the lasting effects of cancer therapies after cancer treatments have ended.