Cherian K. Sajan, MD

About

Dr. Cherian K. Sajan is driven by the ability to make a difference in people’s lives and to watch a patient enjoy some of the things that people otherwise take for granted. “Helping people love life again is what I enjoy the most about my work,” he said.

With an interest in sports growing up, musculoskeletal medicine and pain management has always enthralled Dr. Sajan. After spending his undergraduate studies focusing on physics, chemistry, math and biology, he graduated from St. Joseph’s College in Bangalore, India.

St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, India served as the site for his medical degree as well as his internship and one of his Residencies that was focused on Orthopedic Surgery. He then completed an Internship in Internal Medicine followed by a Residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. He finished his Fellowship in Interventional Pain Management at the National Pain Institute in Florida.

With a decade of practice experience, Dr. Sajan has served as Medical Director for the National Pain Research Institute since 2014. “Having a great team to work with is what adds color to my canvas,” he says.

When discussing the future of pain management, Dr. Sajan is excited about the shift from invasive surgeries with long recovery periods, to minimally invasive procedures, providing patients superior results along with a greater quality of life.

As part of individualized treatment plan development for patients, Dr. Sajan notes that medication management is only a small ingredient of the various options that will be discussed. “The goal of treatment is to ensure a patient is provided the best quality of evidence based medical care, to ensure an improved quality of life and functionality, with the use of minimal amounts of medication,” he said.

Dr. Sajan believes pain management is a multi-modality field with the patient, physician and other providers being equal partners.

“Pain management is one of the few fields of medicine where the patient plays an equal, if not a greater part in the treatment plan, than the physician,” he said. “My philosophy is to explain to the patient the various options available and let the patient understand the implications, both positive and negative, of the various available choices. I believe that patients who are well educated about their condition, knowledgable about their treatment options, and have a clear understanding of the expectations from the treatment plan, usually have much better outcomes.”

After the last patient is seen for the day, Dr. Sajan can be found spending time with his family, exploring new places and watching sports.