Individualized spine treatment and care

Handpicked by Robert S. Bray Jr., M.D., to join the elite DISC team, Dr. Shifflett uses leading-edge techniques to treat patients with a variety of spinal conditions, including scoliosis, stenosis, disc herniation and degenerative disc disease. Whether Dr. Shifflett provides nonsurgical care such as stem-cell injections or innovative procedures like artificial disc replacement, he does so with compassionate care and understanding.

  • 2022-2023 Los Angeles Magazine’s “Top Doctors”
  • 2023 Selected as Southern California Super Doctors Rising Star
  • 2023 Orange County Medical Association’s Physician of Excellence Award

Dr. Shifflett’s medical training began at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and high honors. Then he came west to the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and graduated with the highest distinction. From there, he went east to complete both an internship and orthopaedic residency at the Hospital for Special Surgery, affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System and Weill Cornell Medical College. The next phase of Dr. Shifflett’s training took him to Japan for a traveling orthopaedic surgery fellowship. Dr. Shifflett returned to the U.S. to serve his second fellowship, this time at Rush University, in Chicago, where he focused on minimally invasive and complex spinal surgery.

 



Dr. Shifflett has been invited to speak at numerous conferences, written multiple medical journal articles, and received a variety of grants and awards for leading-edge research and clinical studies. He is a member of several prestigious medical organizations, including the Society for Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery, North American Spine Society, AO Spine North America, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, American Medical Association, California Medical Association and Los Angeles Medical Association.

An avid sportsman, Dr. Shifflett particularly enjoys golf. He also likes spending time with his wife and daughter.

 

Dr. Shifflett in the News

HuffPost: 10 Mindless Habits That May Be Causing You Back Pain

Patch: Local Surgeon Served as Team USA Doctor for Recent Celebrity Golf Cup

HealthCentral: 10 Steps to Sleep Better When You Have Ankylosing Spondylitis

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Education

Fellowships

  • Rush University Medical Center, Chicago — Adult and Pediatric Spinal Surgery
  • Traveling Fellowship: Keio University Medical Center, Murayama Medical Center, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Meijo Hospital, Japan — Complex Surgical and Reconstructive Spinal Surgery

Residency

  • Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City
  • Orthopedic Surgery

Internship

  • New York-Presbyterian Hospital/New York Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York City
  • General Surgery

Medical School

  • University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine
  • With highest distinction

Undergraduate

  • University of Virginia, Charlottesville
  • With high honors

Awards

2023 Los Angeles Magazine’s “Top Doctors”

2023 Selected as Southern California Super Doctors Rising Star

2023  Orange County Medical Association’s Physician of Excellence Award

2022 Los Angeles Magazine’s “Top Doctors”

“20 Under 40” Award Winner, North American Spine Society

Young Surgeon Travel Fellow Grant Recipient, State of Surgery Think Tank

Scientific Paper Award, Eastern Orthopedic Association Annual Meeting

Fellow, AO Spine North America

Scientific Poster Award, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting

Spine Service Research Grant, Hospital for Special Surgery

Thomas Wickiewicz, MD Resident Research Grant Recipient

Andrew N. Swanson, MD Traveling Spine Fellowship Scholarship

Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, USC Keck School of Medicine

Dean’s Recognition, USC Keck School of Medicine

Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholar

Walker Foundation Scholarship for academic achievement

Dean Carmen A. Puliafito Scholarship for academic excellence

Medical Faculty Wives and Friends Scholarship for academic excellence

Medical Faculty Donor Scholarship for academic excellence

Roger Egeberg Scholarship for academic achievement

Balch Scholarship for excellence in extra-curricular service

Dale E. Wilson Scholarship for academic excellence

Frederick Napier Elliott Award for Excellence in the art of medicine

The Purple Shadows Community Service Honoree

Dean’s List, University of Virginia

Specialties

Minimally invasive spine surgery

Microscopic spinal surgery

Reconstructive spinal surgery

Minimally invasive transformaminal lumbar interbody fusion

Lateral interbody fusion

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF)

Extreme lateral lumbar interbody fusion (XLIF)

Cervical laminectomy and fusion

Lumbar microdiscectomy

Lumbar microdecompression

Reconstructive spine surgery

Posterior cervical formaminotomies

Laminoplasty

Artificial disc replacement

Rizotomies

Facet-joint replacement

Facet joint injections

Stem cell injections