Dr. Don Shields graduated from University of Utah School of Medicine in 1971. Following a residency in Pediatrics at the LAC-USC Medical Center, he returned to the "U" for residency in Neurology and Fellowship in Pediatrics Neurology under the tutelage of Dr. Patrick Bray. In 1976 Don was recruited to UCLA and became chief of Pediatric Neurology in 1980.
During his 25 year tenure as division chief, his research and patient care focused on “Improving the lives of the unfortunate children afflicted with catastrophic childhood epilepsy.” Don and the division developed a national and international reputation for epilepsy research and patient care, notably in the surgical approach to medically intractable epilepsy in very young children and development of anticonvulsant medications.
He has trained more than 40 child neurologist residents and pediatric epilepsy fellows, several of whom are now national and international leaders in child neurology and pediatric epilepsy. He has received numerous teaching awards including two Pediatric and two Neurology teaching awards from the residents. At the 2010 commencement, he received the UCLA School of Medicine Sherman Mellinkoff Faculty Award given for “Dedication to the art of medicine and to the finest in doctor-patient relationships.”