The department of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R)/pain medicine is committed to fulfilling the mission of Loma Linda University School of Medicine (LLUSM) by providing excellent whole person care to our patients; teaching medical students, residents, and fellows; and fostering an environment of inquiry for advancements within our fields of expertise.

After nearly two years of navigating the constantly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the PM&R/pain medicine department has accommodated the numerous inpatient and outpatient restrictions and changes with a sustainable hybrid model of patient care that combines in-person visits and procedures with video/telehealth encounters. Our clinics are currently seeing 40% of our patients in person and 60% through telehealth.

Our training programs have also adapted to a hybrid virtual environment with a mix of in-person and virtual lectures, conferences, meetings, and celebrations. Our 2020 graduation celebration was a virtual event, and well-received. Thankfully and wonderfully, our 2021 graduation was held in person and received glowing feedback and appreciation from our socially-distanced attendees. Our PM&R residency program and pain medicine fellowship continue to achieve and maintain full ACGME/RRC accreditation. We are excited to share that our pain medicine fellowship training program recently expanded to five fellows per year, with considerable support and initiative from our Loma Linda VA pain medicine core faculty. Our pain medicine fellows have benefitted from Eugene Pak, MD, taking on more responsibility in his role as associate program director for our multidisciplinary fellowship. In 2020, Samuel Lee, MD, accepted the role of PM&R residency program director with enthusiasm. Our residents (and department) have been blessed by his commitment, tireless work, attention to detail, and concern for their wellness. Our current PM&R residency program has 19 residents and a high number of applicants annually. We have pursued a robust number of research projects under the direction of Duc Tran, MD, PhD, assistant director of research.

Over the past several years, our department has been fortunate to recruit and retain outstanding faculty members who embrace our mission. Our general PM&R faculty include Victoria Tran, MD, and Samuel Lee, MD. Our brain injury subspecialists are Duc Tran, MD, and Christopher Tarver, MD. Our pediatric PM&R subspecialist is Thaddeus E. Wilson ’06. The pain medicine subspecialty team consists of Justin Hata, MD, (PM&R/pain), Scott R. Strum ’90 (PM&R/pain), and Eugene Pak, MD, (neurology/pain).

Recently, our department has expanded our service reach to include Riverside University Health System, with inpatient coverage of both PM&R and pain medicine, as well as an outpatient pain clinic. We have also continued to support the Social Action Community Health System with an ongoing outpatient pain clinic providing much needed services to underserved communities. In continued partnership with Totally Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, new pediatric rehabilitation programs have been developed and strengthened.

Our faculty actively participate in LLUSM teaching. Dr. Pak and Dr. Wilson serve as LIFE Community leaders, and they truly enjoy engaging with our medical students. Their interactions include mentoring and teaching, orientation to religion and medicine, and providing support and coaching in resilience. Dr. Tarver serves as the evidence-based medicine director and provides significant teaching services with an annual didactic series.

Loma Linda University Health has been recognized by Newsweek as one of America’s Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers 2021. This prestigious award is presented by Newsweek and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. Our center is among the nation’s top inpatient rehabilitation facilities based on quality of care, quality of service, quality of follow-up care, and accommodation and amenities. Our rehabilitation services are located at Loma Linda East Campus.

Moving forward, we are eager to continue serving the people of the Inland Empire and the students of LLUSM with excellence.

Dr. Hata has served as chair of the PM&R department since 2015. In his limited spare time, he can be found spending time with his family, practicing the gentle art of Jiu-Jitsu and the not-so-gentle Mixed Martial Arts.

PHYSICAL MEDICINE AND REHABILITATION FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS:

 Eugene Pak, MD

Dr. Pak joined the faculty at Loma Linda University School of Medicine (LLUSM) in 2017 and currently serves as assistant professor in the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, specializing in pain management.

Dr. Pak attended Northwestern University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in neuroscience along with a master’s in neuroscience and physiology. He went on to medical school at University of Illinois at Chicago, graduating in 2001. After completing a preliminary year in internal medicine at Evanston Northwestern Hospital, Dr. Pak pursued a neurology residency at Yale New Haven Hospital and subsequently took a neuromuscular fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He then served as an attending neurologist at Columbia University, followed by seven years of private practice in Texas and a pain management fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center before joining us here at LLUSM.

As a skilled clinician, Dr. Pak has contributed greatly to our department. His expertise in interventional pain management and spine/neuromuscular disease diagnosis and treatment are essential to our mission to serve our patients well. He prioritizes taking an active role in serving our student body and serves as associate program director for the pain fellowship training program—working closely with the pain fellowship trainees on a daily basis, including a weekly board review. In addition, Dr. Pak has taken part in the LIFE Community mentor program for LLUSM students since 2018.

Dr. Pak’s  interests outside of medicine include running and exploring other cultures. Moreover, he enjoys spending time with his young children in the Loma Linda community with his wife, Charity.

Duc A. Tran, MD, PhD

Dr. Tran’s life work and primary interest is in treating patients who have suffered severe traumatic brain injury leading to disorders of consciousness.

He earned his medical degree along with his PhD in molecular biology at Boston University School of Medicine. After graduating, Dr. Tran continued his training in rehabilitating patients after catastrophic injury during his physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tran remained at Harvard Medical School for fellowship and subsequently became board-certified in brain injury medicine. He went on to earn a certification in biostatistics from Harvard University in order to bolster his potential in medical research.

Since joining the faculty of Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 2015, Dr. Tran has been an integral part of our department. He has taken on many leadership roles within the physical medicine and rehabilitation department in the last seven years. He currently serves as research director, associate program director, and medical director of both Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation and the Advanced Neuro Recovery Center at Loma Linda University Medical Center. In addition, he is a textbook author, contributor to the Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology, journal author, journal reviewer, PhD thesis chair, and principal investigator on multiple research grants. Dr. Tran is also a Loma Linda University Healing Hands Honoree, a patient-nominated honor.

In his limited spare time, Dr. Tran can be found building steampunk bookshelves and concocting instapot recipes.