Transitions: Comings and Goings, Appointments and Promotions

Department of Medicine

Helen Shields, MD

Helen Shields, MD, joined BWH in January as associate chief of the Division of Medical Communications and a senior physician in the Division of Gastroenterology.

Since she arrived at BWH, Shields has set up within the Division of Medical Communications a coaching and consultative service for improving teaching and communication skills at the faculty, fellow, resident, and medical student levels. This service, named "Teaching Well Matters," highlights the concrete emphasis the Department of Medicine has placed on excellence in teaching and communication skills at BWH and Harvard Medical School.

Shields earned her medical degree from Tufts University Medical School and completed her internship and first year of residency in internal medicine at the Tufts-New England Medical Center. She was a senior resident and then chief resident in medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Shields completed her fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Pennsylvania.

She was recruited to the Division of Gastroenterology at Washington University and Barnes Hospital in St. Louis from 1977 to 1983. Shields was then recruited to the Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School in February 1983.  In 2010, Shields was promoted to professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is the first faculty member at Harvard Medical School to be promoted to full professor on the Teaching and Educational Leadership Track.