About
Decades
inside the
system.
Nurse practitioner, clinical leader, healthcare executive. The ER, the provider chair, and the leadership table.
The longer version
Who he is.
Derek Shelton is a Doctor of Nursing Practice who has spent decades inside healthcare: in the emergency room, in the provider chair, and at the leadership table.
Today he owns and runs Optimize U clinics in Evansville and Columbus, Indiana, where hormone, recovery and wellness care start with real labs and a real conversation. He sees patients every week, and most of what he talks about publicly starts there.
He has competed on the bodybuilding stage. He hosts Better Human, a weekly podcast with athletes, founders, clinicians, artists and veterans about what it takes to get better, and what it costs. And he wrote Dying Breed, a memoir and manifesto about the pride, accountability, grit and purpose healthcare is losing.
The Urban Shaman part is simple. Old instincts, modern medicine, and no patience for noise.
What he stands for
Four words.
Pride
Do the work right, even when nobody is checking.
Accountability
If you say you value it, reward it. Healthcare forgot the second part.
Grit
Show up for the patient in front of you. Then fight the system behind you.
Purpose
People at the center. Not the system protecting itself.
Where to find him
The work.
Optimize U
Hormone, recovery and wellness clinics. Where the labs get read and the plans get made.
Evansville, IN · Columbus, IN · Book a visit
Better Human
Long conversations about body, mind and purpose. Athletes, founders, clinicians, artists and veterans.
New episodes Fridays · betterhumanworld.com
Dying Breed
A memoir and manifesto on pride, accountability, grit and purpose in healthcare.
Available on Amazon
Ohio River Muscle Co.
What's in his gym bag.
ohiorivermuscleco.com
OffScript Studios
The team behind Better Human and this site. Run by Markus Barnett and Lucas Washington.
offscriptyourlife.com
Credentials
On the record.
Derek is a nurse practitioner, not a medical doctor (MD or DO).
The Seekers
Become a
Seeker.
For the ones looking for answers their last appointment didn't give them.
Field Notes · every week
- From the clinic floor. One pattern Derek is seeing right now.
- One thing to try. A small experiment for the week ahead.
- Myth vs. lab. One popular claim, checked against the evidence.
- On the nightstand. What he's reading and listening to.