Jeffrey Chen, MD, MHS
- Pain Management Specialist
- Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
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Jeffrey Chen, MD, MHS, MS, is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain management physician. As a pain management specialist, Dr. Chen evaluates, diagnoses and treats all forms of acute and chronic pain. His expertise includes conservative treatment of low back and neck pain, non-surgical orthopedic conditions and sports injuries. He is the director of Regenerative Pain Medicine and the associate program director for the Pain Medicine Fellowship at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Dr. Chen cares for individuals at UC San Diego Health's Center for Pain Medicine, where he provides numerous treatment options aimed at reducing and eliminating suffering, and improving function in individuals with spine-related pain, joint and musculoskeletal pain or pain due to surgery, injury, and neuropathy and nerve damage. He limits the use of oral pain medications in favor of comprehensive multidisciplinary pain management approaches.
He is particularly interested in spinal cord stimulation, interventional spine procedures, regenerative medicine (bone marrow aspiration concentrate (BMAC), platelet rich plasma therapies (PRP), VIA Disc intervertebral disc regeneration), neuromodulation for chronic pain, intrathecal baclofen therapy for severe spasticity, radiofrequency neurotomy, image-guided Interventions, and ultrasound-guided and fluoroscopically-guided procedures. He also has a background in electrodiagnostics (electromyography and nerve conduction studies). Dr. Chen performs advanced interventional procedures including trialing and implanting spinal cord (SCS), dorsal root ganglion (DRG), and peripheral nerve (PNS) stimulators; minimally invasive lumbar decompression (MILD), Vertiflex interspinous spacer implants (ISS), Intracept basivertebral nerve ablation, and percutaneous tenotomy (Tenex).
An associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Chen instructs pain medicine fellows, as well as medical students, anesthesiology residents, emergency department residents, family practice residents, and internal medicine residents in their musculoskeletal and pain rotations. Dr. Chen is also an instructor for the UC San Diego Physician Assessment and Clinical Education (PACE) Program for both pain and physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians. His research interests include spinal cord stimulation, regenerative medicine and health care outcomes.
Prior to joining the Center of Pain Medicine, Dr. Chen was an attending physician in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, where he instructed orthopedic residents.
Dr. Chen completed his fellowship in pain medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and his residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at University of California, Los Angeles and VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. He holds a bachelor of arts (BA) degree from Columbia University, master of science (MS) in physiology from Georgetown University School of Medicine and master of health science (MHS) in health policy and management, with a focus on health finance from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Chen earned his medical degree from University of Kansas School of Medicine. He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine.
Dr. Chen is a member of numerous medical organizations, and currently active in the American Academy of Pain Medicine, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the International Association for the Study of Pain, and North American Neuromodulation Society. He is a consultant for the San Diego Padres and previously consulted for the San Diego Chargers.
Outside of work, Dr. Chen is a competitive tennis player and swimmer. A lifelong athlete, he understands the importance of returning to an active lifestyle, and strives to improve functional outcomes while providing excellent patient care.
UC San Diego Health Links
For more information, see Center for Pain Medicine.
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