Gary S. Shapiro, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Sports Medicine
Joint Replacement Surgery
Shoulder Surgery
Dr. Gary Shapiro is a fellowship-trained sports medicine orthopedic surgeon specializing in the care of athletes of all ages. Since starting his practice in 1993, he has helped numerous athletes return from potentially career-ending injuries to return to their dreams and achieve their goals. Injured athletes –youth, high school, college, and professional athletes - turn to Dr. Shapiro for his expertise in Sports Medicine.
Doctor Shapiro is board certified in orthopedic surgery (recertified in 2014), and a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery and Florida Orthopedic Association. He was named among the top orthopedic surgeons from 2013 - 2021 by Sarasota Magazine.
His interest in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine started after an injury sidelined him as a senior in high school in Cleveland, Ohio. He pursued his goal of becoming an orthopedic surgeon by studying mechanical and biomedical engineering at The Ohio State University. While at OSU, he was elected to the National Mechanical Engineering Honorary Society, the National Engineering Honorary Society, and the Pre-Medicine Honorary Society.
He earned his medical degree at Wright State University School of Medicine. There he was awarded the Silver Scalpel Award as the best surgical senior student as well as membership to the Medical Honorary Society, Alpha Omega Alpha. Dr. Shapiro completed his orthopedic residency at Wright State University, Miami Valley Hospital program in Dayton, Ohio, where he also published a study on results of two graft choices for ACL reconstruction.
Following his standard training, he spent one year at Stanford University performing a sports medicine fellowship. It was during his time at Stanford that Dr. Shapiro perfected arthroscopic laser techniques in the early 1990’s and published results on arthroscopic lateral release in the knee using the Holmium laser. He also performed the first meniscal transplant at Stanford University.
With more than 20 years’ experience in arthroscopic surgery, Dr. Shapiro specializes in fracture care plus knee, shoulder, ankle, and elbow surgery. He also performs minimally invasive knee arthroplasty (total and partial knee replacement), which is known for its muscle-sparing benefits, as well as shoulder arthroplasty, including total and reverse shoulder replacement surgery.
For knee injuries, Dr. Shapiro performs anterior and posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, meniscal repair, and advanced knee-preserving surgeries such as meniscal transplantation and autogenous and allograft cartilage transplantation. For shoulder injuries, he specializes in arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, labral repair, and capsule reconstruction for shoulder instability.
Dr. Shapiro has dedicated his career to serving local athletes by being actively engaged in community service to various sporting events and programs. He has served as volunteer team physician and medical director to athletic programs at Booker High School, Sarasota High School, and Riverview High School for more than 20 years.
In addition, Dr. Shapiro has coached Little League and AAU baseball. As an active high school baseball official, he has officiated the Florida All-Star Game, as well as state finals plus regional and district championship games.
In his free time, Dr. Shapiro enjoys saltwater fishing and horseback riding. He is married and has two boys.
