Sheela Rao, MD, MACM, MPH

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Get to know Pediatrician Dr. Sheela Rao, who serves patients in Los Angeles, California.

An academic pediatrician, Dr. Rao is an attending physician working within the Division of General Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

The Division of General Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provides comprehensive diagnostic and treatment services that begin at birth and continue throughout childhood and adolescence. The expert physicians, nurses and support staff provide patients and their families with a wide range of well-child care, acute care and specialty services in a family-centered atmosphere. In addition, they have particular expertise caring for children with special health care needs and developmental disabilities, the economically underprivileged, and victims of child abuse and neglect.

Since beginning her career at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Dr. Rao has worked in the interdisciplinary format of the CHLA Foster Hub clinic where pediatricians join with psychologists to complete initial health assessments of children entering the foster care system. 

Very committed to facilitating education and advocacy for vulnerable populations of children, she has conducted and published interdisciplinary research on populations traversing through child welfare systems. She has also served as a training presenter for training sessions for health professionals within the context of the Los Angeles Department of Public Health & the Los Angeles Department of Child and Family Services. 

A 2001 graduate of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Rao went on to perform her internship and residency in pediatrics at Saint Christopher’s Hospital for Children. She then went on to earn her Master of Academic Medicine degree and her Master of Public Health degree, both from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.

An active member of the Academic Pediatric Association, the doctor is board-certified in pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP). The mission of the ABP is to advance child health by certifying pediatricians who meet standards of excellence and are committed to continuous learning and improvement.

A lifelong learner, educator, and mentor, Dr. Rao is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Clinician Educator) at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Since joining the faculty in 2006, she has taught pediatric residents at all levels of training in both inpatient and outpatient clinical settings.

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends individuals be under pediatric care up to the age of 21. Pediatricians provide medical care to people ranging in age from newborns to young adults. They are trained to examine, diagnose, and treat children with a wide variety of injuries and illnesses through all of their developmental stages, as they grow and mature.

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