Michael Shepard. MD

Orthopaedic Surgeon

Dr. Shepard is a board certified Orthopaedic Surgeon with subspecialty in Sports Medicine and Arthroscopic Surgery. His special emphasis is on the care of the overhead athlete. Dr. Shepard's clinical expertise includes elbow and shoulder injuries of the overhead athlete, complex knee reconstruction, and cartilage reconstruction.

Dr. Shepard is associate team physician for the University of California, Irvine with Carlos Prietto, M.D. He also cares for the Chapman University and the Santa Ana Junior College athletic teams with Miguel Prietto, M.D. Dr. Shepard devotes Friday nights to multiple local high school football games and treats high school, college, and professional athletes throughout Southern California.

Dr. Shepard grew up in Tustin and attended Foothill High School. Dr. Shepard graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of California, Davis with a degree in Biochemistry and was also captain of the football team, an All American, and the recipient of the Woody Hayes Award as the nation's top Division II scholar athlete. Dr. Shepard graduated from the UCLA School of Medicine with AOA honors. He earned the McGraw Hill Scholarship as the top medical student in the basic science years. Dr. Shepard completed his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA and completed a fellowship in Orthopaedic Basic Science Research at UCLA. Dr. Shepard completed a second fellowship in sports medicine with world renowned Orthopaedic surgeons James R. Andrews, M.D. and William Clancy, M.D. at the American Sports Medicine Institute. At ASMI and now at Orthopaedic Specialty Institute, Dr. Shepard participates in the care of athletes from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA, and the PGA / LPGA tours.

Dr. Shepard has contributed significantly to the research of sports medicine. He has presented his research at numerous national and international scientific meetings. He has been the lead author on numerous publications regarding such topics as the generation of labral lesions in the thrower's shoulder, elbow biomechanics, the diagnosis of meniscal injuries, the forces seen in ACL grafts, and the reconstruction of the posterolateral ligamentous complex of the knee. In 2000, he received the Hip Society's Frank Stinchfield Award for outstanding contribution to Orthopaedic research.

Dr. Shepard is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. He lectures and teaches about the special needs and care of athletes to Orthopaedic surgical residents, surgeons, therapists, and athletic trainers.

Dr. Shepard's outside interests include spending time with his family, participating in all sports, fly-fishing, paddling, photography, travel, and his English bulldog named Stumpy.

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