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Phone: 276-679-8890 David Sheppard, D.O. is a board certified Internal Medicine physician who practices with a group based at Norton Community Hospital in Norton, Virginia. Community Physicians includes four internists, one family physician, a family nurse practitioner and an adult nurse practitioner. All the clinicians are involved in precepting residents and teaching medical students. Dr. Sheppard was born in Madison, West Virginia in 1974 and has been married to Carla Sheppard since 1997. The Sheppards have two children, Macey (b. 2001) and Garison (b. 2004). Apart from the practice of General Internal Medicine, spending time with his family is Dr. Sheppard’s favorite pursuit. He also enjoys hunting, fishing, golf and other outdoor activities. Educated in West Virginia, Dr. Sheppard attended the University of Charleston from 1993 to 1995 before graduating from Marshall University (Huntington) with a B.S. in Biology in 1997. From Marshall, he went to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, where he graduated as a Doctor of Osteopathy in 2001. Dr. Sheppard moved to Norton, Virginia in 2001 to enroll in the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Norton Community Hospital. He finished residency training in 2004 and chose to remain in Norton, where he joined Community Physicians. Community Physicians is a teaching practice affiliated with the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine (CSOM) in Pikeville, Kentucky and the Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) in Blacksburg, Virginia.
About 75% of Dr. Sheppard’s patients are adults over the age of 60; the remainder is comprised of younger adults. He estimates that 70% of his patients are covered by Medicare or Medicaid, that 20% are covered by private carriers, and that about 5% are uninsured. Dr. Sheppard sees about 20 patients a day in the office. Community Physicians has a computerized management information system that can track the number and diagnoses of patients seen by residents. There are high speed Internet connections in the office as well as on the hospital premises. The practice has direct access to the University of Virginia Health System through the telemedicine program, which allows local physicians to consult in real-time with sub-specialists at UVA. Telemedicine also creates access to medical education programs such as grand rounds, case conferences and lectures at PCSOM, VCOM, UVA, and other medical schools. Dr. Sheppard has Medicine and ICU/CCU privileges at Norton Community, where he rounds on 5-6 patients a day. Procedures done in the hospital include stress testing and placement of central lines. He is on call one night a week and one weekend every two months. Residents who train with Dr. Sheppard can expect to provide more hands-on care than in their home teaching hospitals. There is great demand for medical care in Norton, so there are plenty of patients to share with medical students and residents.
Specialties on staff are Anesthesia, Cardiology, Dentistry, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Gastroenterology, Inpatient Rehabilitation, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Occupational Medicine, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Radiology/Nuclear Medicine, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Psychiatry and Urology. Norton Community is one of two hospitals in the City of Norton, the other being Mountain View Regional Medical Center. The Southwest Virginia Regional Cancer Center is also located in Norton. Residents who train with Dr. Sheppard may choose to stay in one of the area motels – Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, Days Inn, or Super 8. Local people also offer room and board in their homes. Unless demand for short-term rentals is unusually high, GMEC should be able to let a furnished house or apartment with standard amenities. Norton lies in a long narrow valley overshadowed by the spectacular northern face of Stone Mountain. The city boundaries extend to those of the neighboring Town of Wise. The two municipalities share a population of around 12,000. The population of Wise County is 39,573. The economy is diverse, a change from its one-time dependence on coal mining and other extractive industries. Major sectors of the economy include: educational, health and social services (24%), retail and wholesale trade (17%), agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishing, and mining (11%), construction (7%), arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services (7%), public administration (7%), manufacturing (6%), and professional, scientific, management, and administrative services (5%). Two four-lane highways intersect in Norton (U.S. 23 and U.S. 58 Alternate) and offer easy access for travelers throughout Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky. There are four shopping centers in the Norton/Wise area with department stores, groceries, discount stores, and specialty boutiques. There is a two-screen cinema in one of the shopping centers. American, Chinese, Mexican, and Italian “sit-down” restaurants vie with fast food vendors for dining dollars. The Virginia/Kentucky “Opry” in downtown Norton showcases bluegrass, gospel, and country music acts on weekends and a Pro-Art Association based at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise offers a broad spectrum of cultural entertainments throughout the academic year.
See the county/city profiles for Norton and Wise County for more information about the surrounding community.
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Ronald David Sheppard, D.O.
Dr. Sheppard works in an office setting from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. His office is in one of the medical arts buildings on the campus of Norton Community Hospital. Dr. Sheppard has exclusive use of two exam rooms and there is a surgical suite for minor surgeries. Typical procedures performed on the premises include skin biopsies, skin lesion removal, and laceration repair. The practice has a medical lab of moderate complexity. Patients go to the hospital for x-rays. Community Physicians participates in the Pharmacy Connect program, which links low income patients to pharmaceutical companies for donated medicines. 
Norton Community Hospital is a 129 bed acute care hospital under the governance of a community-based Board of Directors. Its history traces back to 1949, when three physicians established the Miners Hospital in a Norton mansion. Now in a modern, newly renovated facility, hospital services include emergency care, critical care, medical, surgical, pediatric, obstetric, and inpatient rehab nursing care, pharmacy, radiology, medical laboratory, nutrition, hyperbaric treatment, and a range of cardiopulmonary and rehabilitative therapies. Norton Community also operates a regional lung center, a regional rehab center, dialysis services, a sports and occupational medicine clinic, a durable medical equipment service, and a home nursing program. 
Norton has two city parks with well-equipped playgrounds in the downtown area. High above the city streets on Stone Mountain are the Flag Rock and High Knob recreation areas with facilities for hiking, biking, swimming, picnicking, and fishing. From a fire tower on High Knob, visitors can enjoy an awesome 360-degree view of the surrounding countryside. Just on the other side of Stone Mountain are Bark Camp Lake and High Knob Lake, both created by dams built to store municipal water supplies and prevent flash floods.