Dr. Sanskriti “Sunny” Sharma grew up in the heart of Englewood. After years of medical school and specialty training, she’s back home in Southwest Florida, where she opened Coastal Gastroenterology & General Surgery in Port Charlotte. She’s now practicing as a gastroenterologist, right in the community that helped raise her.
Coming home isn’t just about geography for Sunny; it’s about family and legacy. Medicine runs deep in her roots; her father, Dr. Om Sharma, has practiced internal medicine here for decades and still treats patients in Englewood. Watching him care for the people in the community played an enormous part in her choice to become a physician herself.
“I grew up here,” she says, “and seeing my dad work with local families really influenced me.” She took that foundation and built on it: school at Englewood Elementary, then Pine View from second grade through high school. “I know this area so well,” she laughs. “My parents still live here. It was such an amazing place to grow up.”
Sunny likes to talk about how it wasn’t just her parents who shaped her. The community wrapped around her, too. She remembers days at Elsie Quirk Library, where Camille Thinnes became something like a second mother. “So many people in Englewood took a genuine interest in me. They nurtured my curiosity, especially the retired folks—so kind, always willing to invest their time. It made growing up here really unique. Englewood’s a hidden gem.”
Leaving for medical school was a big step, with undergrad at the University of Florida, then more training in other cities. But when it came time to settle down and start her career as a gastroenterologist, she knew exactly where she wanted to be. “Once you’ve grown up here, you understand why it’s special. I saw a need to bring independent specialty care to Charlotte County; to make it so people wouldn’t have to drive to Sarasota or Fort Myers or even Venice for advanced GI care. That can be a real hardship.”
There are now two Dr. Sharmas in Englewood, since her father is still very much in practice. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to start this without seeing my dad do it for over 25 years. Most new physicians join a big practice or hospital group—it’s tough to go independent. You have to handle your own marketing, negotiate with insurance companies and hospitals—it’s a lot like launching a startup.”
But for Sunny, going her own way mattered. “I wanted to create a space where I could make decisions based on what’s best for my patients, not just on how many people I see in a day. Places like Millennium aren’t all bad, but they might tell you you’ve got five or fifteen minutes per patient, and you just keep moving. Here in Englewood and Port Charlotte, I have the chance to slow down and deliver more personalized care. That’s something I don’t take for granted.”
For Dr. Sunny Sharma, family is key. “This practice is kind of a family thing,” she says. “My husband is my partner here—he’s a general surgeon. I honestly don’t know how surgeons do it; it’s tough work. But we’re young, we’re up for the challenge, and combining gastroenterology with general surgery makes for easier referrals and better coordination. A lot of GI problems end up needing surgery eventually, so it’s nice for patients to have continuity of care in one place.”
They opened on July 1st. “It’s been almost two months now, and everyone in the community has been so welcoming. It’s honestly wonderful.”
Despite feeling at home, there are some funny moments. “A lot of the local doctors knew my dad or grew up with their kids. Now they see me and say, ‘If you’re showing up, I must be old—I should have retired by now!’ They tease me, but I tell them, ‘You’ve still got plenty of time!’”
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