Worcester doctor named clinician of the year

Courtesy of the Massachusetts Medical Society Dr. Sara Shields of the Family Health Center of Worcester was named the 2017 Community Clinician of the Year by the Worcester District Medical Society, the local division of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

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By Emily Micucci

Members of the Worcester District Medical Society, the local division of the Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) have named Dr. Sara Shields the 2017 Community Clinician of the Year, according to a statement Wednesday.

Shields has worked as a physician at the Family Health Center of Worcester since 1995. According to the MMS, she is being honored for “dedication to the Worcester community, her commitment to excellence in all areas of maternal and infant care, her care of the disadvantaged and underserved, and her involvement in … regional, national and international community service activities.”

Shields launched the Family Health Center’s participation in a program called Centering Pregnancy, a national program that includes group prenatal visits and has been shown to reduce preterm birth among low-income women, the MMS said.

The Community Clinician of the Year award was established in 1998 to recognize a physician from each of the MMS’ 20 districts who made significant contributions to the community. Shields will receive her award at the Worcester District’s annual meeting on April 12 at the Beechwood Hotel in Worcester.

Board-certified in family medicine, Shields is also a clinical professor of family medicine and community health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. She serves as chair of the Worcester Health Baby Collaborative, group she joined in 2001.

Shields received her medical degree from the University of California at San Francisco in 1989 During a fellowship in maternal and child health at Brown University, she earned a master’s degree in community health.