Carol Shields

About Carol Shields

Chief, Ocular Oncology Service, Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Profile 

The Ocular Oncology Leader 

Since 1984, Carol Shields has been at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, USA. First arriving as a resident and staying there ever since, Carol Shields has been involved in the development of the Wills Eye Ocular Oncology Service, widely believed to be one of the leading centers for ocular oncology in the world. She is the author of hundreds of scientific articles and textbooks, many of which were co-written with her husband, Jerry Shields. Two of those publications have become required reading for the field (Intraocular Tumors. An Atlas and Textbook (3rd ed., 2016) and Eyelid, Conjunctival, and Orbital Tumors. An Atlas and Textbook (3rd ed., 2016).

What is particularly striking about Carol Shield’s career is the extent to which, through her efforts (alongside her husband and their many students and fellows), ocular oncology has been placed upon a foundation of rigorous evidentiary authentication. Her publications, which often detail years of painstaking experience and experimentation on the ground, have been of colossal benefit to ophthalmologists and have helped save the sight – and lives – of innumerable patients. By following the work of Carol Shields over the last few decades, we gain some perspective on how ocular oncology has advance and how dramatically outcomes for patients have improved. As far back as 1989, Carol Shields detailed the ways in which enucleation rates were dropping, thanks to early detection and new treatments developed by her and Jerry Shields. Her 1997 survey of uveal metastases has become a touchstone for the field as a whole, and her work since 2018 has racked up over 30,000 citations. Beyond her staggering professional contributions, her tireless commitment to her fellows, ocular oncologists worldwide, and, above all, to her patients have all been mentioned in her multiple Power List nominations. It is for these reasons – and so many others – that we induct Carol L. Shields into The Ophthalmologist Power List Hall of Fame. 

Awards and Honors

2003 – Donder’s Medal Award, Dutch Ophthalmological Society
2011 – Academic All-American Hall of Fame 
2011 – Life Achievement Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology 
2011 – Philadelphia Magazine, “Top Doctors” 
2014 – Castle Connolly, America’s Top Doctors
2016 – ASRS Founders Award  
2021 – “America’s Best Eye Doctors” Newsweek
2023 – Theodore Roosevelt Award, NCAA
2023 – The Ophthalmologist Power List Hall of Fame

Specialization

Ocular Oncology

Education

Undergraduate, University of Notre Dame – 1979

University of Pittsburgh Medical School – 1983

Residency, Wills Eye Hospital – 1987

Fellowship

Wills Eye Hospital, Ocular Pathology – 1988

Moorfields Eye Hospital London, Orbital and Eyelid Tumors and Reconstruction – 1988

Wills Eye Hospital, Ocular Oncology – 1989