A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Dr. Shields received a degree in science from Wofford College. He went on to complete his Doctor of Medicine and a Doctor of Philosophy from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston. Dr. Shields also received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Dr. Shields underwent neurosurgery internship and residency training at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a subsequent postdoctoral fellowship in Functional Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

As a Board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Shields has developed both clinical and research interests at academic medical centers with ongoing research collaborations with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).