Doctor, pro golfer and humanitarian

SPECIAL/The Times-Union Operation Kids is a charity arm of the American Medical Center, which Reid Sheftall, a Jacksonville native and surgeon, founded in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Jacksonville native now in Cambodia finds time for fun, good works.

By HOLLI WELCH,

Special to the Times-Union

Reid Sheftall took a swing three years ago and hit a hole in one, and things have been falling his way ever since.


Sheftall, 52, earned his players card for the Malaysian PGA tour in 2005, after a 28-year hiatus from the game. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Sheftall, a doctor, moved to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 2003 to form the American Medical Center. During the next two years, Sheftall founded Operation Kids, a charity facet to the clinic. He also headed back to the golf course.
"I played golf as a child, but when I got involved in medicine I gave it up," Sheftall said during a recent visit to Jacksonville. "Still, I always noticed I could shoot in the 70s even if I hadn't played in years."
In fact, Sheftall played well enough to make the Malaysian tour, where he has a stroke average of 76.27 and has played in nearly 20 tournaments.
"I work full time as a doctor, so I don't get to go to every tournament on tour," he said. "If I did . . . I'd have to quit being a doctor, and that is not something I want to give up."
In his capacity as a doctor, Sheftall has also helped more than 100 children who suffered disfiguring scars as a result of burns caused by fire, hot water, hot oil and even acid.
"People get angry and throw acid on children," Sheftall said. "It is a terrible thing, but it constantly happens to these innocent children."
Through Operation Kids, Sheftall is able to conduct free reconstructive surgery for the children, a dream he had in 2000 after visiting Cambodian orphanages.
"Visiting the orphanages was a life-changing experience," Sheftall said. "I got invited to go to Vietnam to show laparoscopic surgery to a group of doctors. On the way, I stopped in Cambodia. I wasn't really sure why I was there then, but I know now."
Sheftall enlisted the help of three other surgeons. The four run and operate the American Medical Center.
The center supports Operation Kids, which receives no outside funding. To offset the cost, Sheftall self-published Striking It Rich, in which he describes his journey to the Malaysian PGA tour.
"The only way to change the quality and direction of your life is to change the way you think," Sheftall wrote in his book, which is available at Amazon.com. "If you believe something, truly believe it, your mind will figure out a way to make it a reality."