CAROLYN SHEPHERD, M.D., '79

The Humanitarian Award, established in 1990, was created to give recognition annually to an alumna/us of UC Davis School of Medicine or the UC Davis Medical Center for outstanding contributions to their community through distinguished public service.

For the past sixteen years, Dr. Shepherd has served as medical director of Clinica Campesina in Lafayette, Colorado. Clinica is a nonprofit community health center dedicated to providing healthcare access to low income, uninsured and other underserved populations. When Dr. Shepherd agreed to become Clinica's medical director in 1988, she joined a lone nurse practitioner. Together they managed to provide 7,000 medical visits a year to just under 1,800 individuals. Dr. Shepherd has been the key to expanding the size and scope of services provided by Clinica and managing 60,000 visits a year for 18,000 people. She has built a small community clinic into a group of clinics caring for many people and has dedicated her career to implementing innovative models of care that improve the health status of the underserved. Dr. Shepherd resides in Boulder with her husband, Dr. John Shepherd, a UC Davis School of Medicine alumnus. They have two daughters in college. Please join us in honoring our alumna, Dr. Shepherd, for her leadership and dedication.