NFF National Scholar-Athletes
A three-year letterman at defensive tackle for the University of California Davis, Michael Shepard helped the Aggies to a 22-9 record, two Northern California Athletic Conference titles and an appearance in the Division II Playoffs in 1989 while earning honors as the team’s most outstanding sophomore. After earning First Team All-NCAC honors in 1990, he was named a co-captain for his senior season. An Academic All-American, Shepard compiled a 3.93 GPA in biochemistry and received the W.P. Lindley Award as the team’s top scholar-athlete. He earned his M.D. in 1996 from UCLA, where he also completed his residency and fellowship. After a second fellowship at the American Sports Medicine Institute, Shepard joined the Orthopedic Specialty Institute in Orange County, Calif.
Shepard serves as a team physician for the USA men’s and women’s volleyball teams and accompanies them in their international competitions. He is also a team physician for the University of California Irvine, Chapman University and Santa Ana Junior College. Shepard has presented his research at numerous national and international scientific meetings and 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.
Shepard is a board certified member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the MLB Team Physicians Association. He lectures and teaches about the special needs and care of athletes to orthopedic surgical residents, surgeons, therapists and athletic trainers. In 2008 and 2011, he was awarded UC Irvine’s Volunteer Faculty Teaching Award, given to the most outstanding faculty member who is not at the university in a full time capacity. Shepard is a faculty member for the Kaiser Permanente Sports Fellowship, where he coordinates the sports coverage and the on field management of the Fellows.
