Dr. Inna Shpats, MD

Dr. Inna Shpats practices family medicine in more ways than one. She is the third of four generations of women in her family who have become medical doctors. She took her initial medical training and degree at the Leningrad Research Institute of Immunology in what was then the U.S.S.R. On the strength of her work in immunology research she was offered an Assistant Professorship at the Institute and went on to have some of her research findings achieve national publication.

In 1979 Dr. Shpats and her husband Sam made the decision to immigrate to the United States and become American citizens. They settled in Houston, and Dr. Shpats was accepted to the staff of the immunology department of the Baylor College of medicine. Later she became a researcher at M.D. Anderson where once again her work was published in national medical journals.

Despite her success as a researcher, Dr. Shpats decided to trade in her microscope for a stethoscope and become a family practice physician. She completed her residency at the University of Texas Medical School and entered practice as a board certified Family Practice doctor in 1988.

She decided to bring the collaborative environment of the research lab to the area of patient care. She builds a partnership with each patient advising, suggesting and some times cajoling but always with the goal of involving the patient in the decisions about their treatment. Not surprisingly considering her background in immunology, Dr. Shpats is also a big believer in the value of preventative medicine and early detection. She likes to say she never met a symptom that she wanted to ignore. While she readily works with her patients on any medical need, her continuing education has added to her experience in the areas of dermatology, gynecology, and hormone replacement therapy.

Dr. Shpats is one of the founders of the Physicians at Sweetwater. She is also a member of Harris County Academy of Family practice, the Harris County Medical Society and the Texas Medical Association.

Dr. Inna Shpats' practice is located at 16659 Southwest Freeway, Suite 301, Sugar Land in the Methodist Sugar Land Hospital campus.