OBGYN Tampa - Faculty and Resident Bios

Community (life experiences):

• Dr. Nuthalapaty immigrated to the U.S, at the age of 4, and grew up in Madison, WI. While Dr. Nuthalapaty’s father was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin, they lived in a graduate student housing community where they interacted with other student families from around the world. In this environment, Dr. Nuthalapaty learned how to appreciate people from differing backgrounds and worldviews. From a young age, Dr. Nuthalapaty learned about hard work and responsibility. His family had meager means, and thus he and his siblings delivered newspapers, and did other jobs to help meet the family needs. Six weeks before high school graduation, Dr. Nuthalapaty’s father passed away unexpectedly. Before his death, his father encouraged Dr. Nuthalapaty to go to medical school. Despite not having any family members in the medical field or health care experiences, Dr. Nuthalapaty followed his father’s guidance and pursued a career in medicine. He was accepted into the Northwestern University Honors Program in Medical Education, a 7-year program, where he studied Biomedical Engineering and obtained his MD degree.

Character (personal attributes):

• Dr. Nuthalapaty’s view of medicine and his personal mission was significantly impacted during his Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship. At the age of 15 months, his second child was diagnosed with Gaucher’s Disease. This experience taught Dr. Nuthalapaty to view each person as uniquely made, and medical conditions as differences, rather than diseases. This personal perspective transformed his approach to patient interactions and especially counseling in the face of fetal concerns. Dr. Nuthalapaty also learned to recognize the significant racial / cultural disparities that exist in our health care system, especially in Women’s Health. Dr. Nuthalapaty is thus passionate about caring for women and fetuses with complicated medical and obstetrical conditions during pregnancy. He recognizes that every woman has a unique background that forms her worldview and focuses on providing compassionate and culturally sensitive care.

Curiosity (professional accomplishments):

• Both of Dr. Nuthalapaty’s parents were once educators in India, and as he journeyed through medical school and residency/fellowship, he too developed an interest in the educational process. He created his first curricular intervention as a 4^th year medical student, served as Chair of the Organization of Resident Representatives for the AAMC as a resident, and conducted his first large scale medical education research project during his Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship. He collaborated with the NRMP and ERAS to conduct a national survey of residency applicants, studying factors that influence rank lists. This study became the precursor to the NRMP’s annual Match survey. In his role as Director of Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of South Carolina Greenville, Dr. Nuthalapaty developed innovative curricula, served on national committees, and conducted funded educational research. He is now a recognized expert in medical education with expertise in curriculum development, program management, and mentoring of faculty, residents, and students. He is passionate about teaching and enjoys partnering with patients to instruct the next generation of physicians.

Community (life experiences):

• Dr. Shelly Holmstrom was born and grew up in Pensacola. From a young age she showed an aptitude for intellectual pursuits and the use of her hands. Her mother introduced the idea of becoming a physician and bought her first “doctor kit” at age four. Dr. Holmstrom enrolled in the first class of International Baccalaureate (IB) students at Pensacola High School, where she balanced her schoolwork with cheerleading and gymnastics. Dr. Holmstrom attended Florida State University (FSU) and earned a Bachelor of Science in biology with the hopes of attending medical school. She is one of the first family members to achieve a college degree and the first to attend medical school. Dr. Holmstrom was accepted into the Program in Medical Sciences (PIMS) program, a partnership between FSU and the University of Florida (UF), which historically recruited students from the Panhandle of Florida and emphasized primary care of patients. Her early clinical experiences were in rural clinics outside of Tallahassee and Gainesville. Dr. Holmstrom enjoyed meeting patients in their communities and learning about their families.

Character (personal attributes):

• Dr. Holmstrom became fascinated with women’s healthcare as a first-year student and began shadowing an Ob/Gyn at UF Shands Clinics. She was amazed that the human body can create an entirely independent human being through pregnancy and delivery of a newborn. Dr. Holmstrom became involved in leadership in women’s healthcare as a second-year Ob/Gyn resident physician in Savannah, GA. She became a resident physician leader in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and has continued her leadership in ACOG. Dr. Holmstrom’s leadership in ACOG has allowed her to advocate for the many women and families throughout Florida. She is passionate about caring for women and their families and has practiced Ob/Gyn in the Tampa Bay area for nearly 20 years.

Curiosity (professional accomplishments):

• Dr. Holmstrom is a leader in Ob/Gyn with high impact accomplishments in patient care, academic medicine and ACOG leadership. She spent most of her career as academic faculty at the University of South Florida (USF) where she educated scores of medical students and resident physicians. In this capacity she achieved full professor designation, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology journal, received numerous teaching awards, and developed an Emergency Obstetrical Simulation course in partnership with ACOG. She achieved a top 1% patient satisfaction score award and was the Chair of ACOG District XII from 2020 to 2022. Dr. Holmstrom is adored by her patients for the extra attention she gives them as well as her warm and caring demeanor. She is grateful for her family, friends and the patients that trust her with their care.

Community (life experiences):

• Dr. Bivins was born into a Marine Corps family. The career of his father left him home with his mom and two older sisters for the bulk of his formative years. He developed a great respect for women while watching how his mom took care of their family when his Dad was away in Korea and Vietnam. The Bivins family lived in many different places, and he had to learn how to adapt to change and uncertainty. He was shy but learned how to make new friends and loved playing sports and working a variety of jobs to help make money for their family. While he was in high school, he learned how to fly a plane and thought that he would like to be a pilot someday. He enrolled at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach Florida and attended for one and a half years. Although he loved flying, all it took was one tour of a medical school with his brother-in-law, an internal medicine resident, to realize he wanted to be a doctor. He followed his heart and changed to premed instead of aviation and enrolled at Mercer University. While attending medical school, Dr. Bivins became very interested in high risk pregnancies and decided to pursue a fellowship in maternal fetal medicine at MUSC under the tutelage of MFM leaders like Roger Newman and Peter Van Dorsten.

Character (personal attributes):

• Dr. Bivins spent a great deal of time early in his career caring for patients in underprivileged communities. He recognized the challenges facing women who had limited access to care and implemented a successful outreach program to bring maternal fetal medicine care to rural communities like the one he grew up in. His practice emphasizes access to care, listening to patients and their families and providing a clear individual plan of care for their specific high-risk pregnancy conditions. Dr. Bivins was humbled when his wife became the patient of his partner due to an incompetent cervix at 21 weeks. His partner performed a cerclage and prescribed bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy, and he was able to see firsthand what it is like for families undergoing a high-risk pregnancy situation. This experience gave him new insight and empathy for the patients that he cares for. Dr. Bivins is so proud of his wonderful daughter Hannah, who is currently a freshman in college. He and his wife, Kim, enjoy time spent with friends and family, traveling, playing with their three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and cooking together.

Curiosity (professional accomplishments):

• Dr. Bivins has an interest in patient access to high risk obstetric care. He was instrumental in instituting Perinatal Health Partners of Southeast Georgia, Southeast Telehealth Partners and "A Mother's House" in Savannah Georgia which houses high risk mothers who live too far from the hospital to be managed at home. He has received teaching awards like the APGO Excellence in Teaching Award – 2004, Class of 2005 – Outstanding Clinical Faculty in the Department of OB/GYN and ACOG/CREOG National Faculty Award 2009. Dr. Bivins is very excited to be working with the Graduate Medical Education Ob/Gyn Residency program at AdventHealth – Tampa.