James Pierce, MD

Fellowship-trained and board certified in pediatric surgery, general surgery and surgical critical care by the American Board of Surgery, Dr. James Pierce joined Valley Children’s Specialty Medical Group as a pediatric surgeon in August 2014.

Previously, Dr. Pierce worked as a general surgeon, trauma surgeon and critical care hospitalist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Over the years, he has held several instructor positions, including teaching anatomy and physiology for nine years at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, teaching introduction to clinical medicine at University of Southern California, and most recently as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the California Health Sciences University here in Clovis, California.

Dr. Pierce has completed a number of research projects in his field and presented his work across the country. He has published his work in various peer-reviewed publications, including Trauma Acute Care Surgery; Journal of Pediatric Surgery; Pediatric Surgery International; and Pediatric Surgery. He also has authored several book chapters on related topics.

Dr. Pierce is a member of various professional organizations, such as America Pediatric Surgery Association, American Academy of Pediatrics (Surgical Section), the Society of Graduate Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons (ACS). His current quality and safety work is as the surgeon champion for the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program - Pediatrics (NSQIP) at Valley Children's Healthcare, as a member of several quality consortiums, and working to build a ACS verified Children's Surgical Program.

Dr. Pierce received his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He completed the following residencies: general surgery, LA County + University of Southern California, Los Angeles; surgical critical care, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; and pediatric general and thoracic surgery, IWK Health Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He did his fellowship in pediatric surgery at IWK Health Centre in Halifax.

As his daughters continue to grow up and graduate, when at home he has taken to caring for his 10 cats: Elena, Vlad, Ivan, Yuri, Tatiana, Svetlana, Katya, Sergei, Ilya, and of course, Dymka.