Zachary Sheppard, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Advanced practice provider Zachary Sheppard is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and licensed advanced practice registered nurse. He also holds certificates in basic life support and advanced cardiac life support.

Zachary earned an associate degree in nursing at Lamar University in Beaumont, Tex., a bachelor’s degree in nursing at Chamberlain College of Nursing in Addison, Ill., and a master’s at Prairie View A&M School of Nursing in Houston. He has been a nurse practitioner since 2014.

His diverse clinical experience includes family practice, primary care pediatrics, occupational health and addiction medicine. He decided to go into nursing because he has always loved science and was attracted to the field’s numerous opportunities for learning and teaching.

Zachary enjoys the holistic aspect of primary care, particularly prevention, education and finding the source of problems. He loves to teach, especially educating patients on the differences between “treatment-management” and “cure.” Patients, he believes, are more likely to follow a treatment plan if they understand why it is being recommended or prescribed.

He feels that it is most effective to prevent a problem whenever possible, and his approach to care is to treat not symptoms but their cause. He looks at exam findings and patient comments as puzzle pieces that build up to a bigger picture or link multiple problems to a common source.

Zachary wants his patients to feel that they were heard, that someone was listening to them and that they learned something from him. His greatest satisfaction comes when he feels he has truly helped someone, especially when he can find a problem that has been overlooked in the past or one that has caused a patient significant distress.

When he is away from his practice, Zachary likes to spend time reading, traveling, playing board games, cooking and eating. He enjoys learning new things, both practical--such as sewing and handyman skills--and academic--such as science and history. An animal lover, he shares his life with five cats and a dog. He’s also interested in archery, martial arts and sword fighting.