In 1950, Shely established his initial practice in Louisa in Lawrence County in far eastern Kentucky. In 1963, he returned to Campbellsville, where he had begun college twelve years earlier, to open his medical practice, which he maintained there until his retirement in 1997.<ref name=assawards>{{cite web|url=http://www.campbellsville.edu/Websites/cu/Files/Content/740887/CVSummer03.pdf|author=Joan C. McKinney|title=Campbellsville University presents first Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards|publisher=Campbellsville University|accessdate=October 16, 2019}}</ref> | In 1950, Shely established his initial practice in Louisa in Lawrence County in far eastern Kentucky. In 1963, he returned to Campbellsville, where he had begun college twelve years earlier, to open his medical practice, which he maintained there until his retirement in 1997.<ref name=assawards>{{cite web|url=http://www.campbellsville.edu/Websites/cu/Files/Content/740887/CVSummer03.pdf|author=Joan C. McKinney|title=Campbellsville University presents first Algernon Sydney Sullivan Awards|publisher=Campbellsville University|accessdate=October 16, 2019}}</ref> |