Dr. Montes obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology
at the University of Texas at Dallas in 1981 and his Medical Degree from
the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston in 1986. He then
moved to Los Angeles were he did both his Internship and Pediatric Residency
at the Los Angeles County Pediatric Pavilion, University of Southern California
Medical School, and graduated in 1989. After his pediatric residency, he
continued his postgraduate education with a Fellowship in Pediatric Rehabilitation
Medicine at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, one of the premier rehabilitation
hospitals in the nation.
Dr. Montes remained at Rancho for a total of seven years,
at which time he was the Medical Director of the Pediatric Spinal Cord
Injury Program. During this time he also developed an interest in the field
of childhood injury prevention and was elected Chairperson of the Injury
Prevention Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics, Los Angeles
Chapter. He served as the chairperson from 1991 to 1998. In 1991, he founded
a youth program called Los Angeles Teens on Target. This program trained
youths to become peer mentors and advocates for the prevention of firearm
injuries. The program received a Presidential Award and was recognized
as one of the top violence-prevention programs in the United States.
In 1997, he was recruited by Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
to become the Medical Director of the Rehabilitation Department and was
appointed Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine
at the University of Southern California.