Dr. Richard Kang, MD – Double Board-Certified Pain Management Physician

I treat a wide range of pain conditions, including chronic neck and low back pain, herniated discs, sciatica, spinal stenosis, joint arthritis of the knees, hips, and shoulders, sacroiliac joint pain, tendon and ligament injuries, neuropathic pain, and sports-related injuries. My goal is to provide minimally invasive, non-surgical options—such as image-guided injections, radiofrequency ablation, PRP, and longevity recommendations —before patients ever need to consider major surgery.

Originally, my intent was to become an orthopedic surgeon because I loved being in the operating room and I loved the culture. But then I realized what the reality was regarding their work, how it impacts their lifestyle, and I didn't want that for myself. Anesthesiology, I felt, was the next best option. As I went through my training with anesthesiology, I came to love the specialty, and I love the safety and the patient care aspect of it.

Eventually, I felt the need to be out of the operating room and actually interact with patients. That's where I discovered pain management, because it allowed me to be in the office, have the social interaction, and at the end of the day provide a service that contributes to patients' overall lives and satisfaction. I can see that I've definitely made a great amount of impact for my patients and provided them with the ability to have some semblance of normalcy in their lives, despite their pain.

For me, I think the biggest accomplishment was actually becoming a physician. I'm a board certified anesthesiologist. I'm certified in pain management. Probably one of the biggest highlights was becoming Chief Resident during my anesthesiology program, because it was voted on not only by my faculty, but also my peer residents, as opposed to just everyone being rotationally a Chief Resident, which is actually a voted on position by purists.

Outside of academic accomplishments, it's been more in my personal world of Jiu Jitsu--constantly improving in the ranks and making progress as a Jiu Jitsu practitioner. Honestly, though, my biggest success is meeting my wife and having my family. The rest is just paper. That really doesn't define me, but my family does.

I read a pretty impactful book called The Miracle Morning that has inspired my morning routine. Mel Robbins, a self-help guru, has this five second rule, the 5-4-3-2-1, where you just get up out of bed and get going. Being able to do this really stems from my sleep routine. I make it a priority to get a good number of hours of sleep and good quality of sleep each night. This allows me to wake up at 5:30, before the full house is awake, so I have a little bit of me time and can concentrate. I wake up, do my morning routine, I say a quick prayer, and I practice gratitude by picking five things that I'm feeling grateful for. I drink my athletic greens to get my hydration on and have a cup of coffee before doing meditation, journaling, and reading. This leaves me ready to tackle tasks at work.

Definitely my parents, who left their mother country with no money and no education. They had no family here in the United States of America, and they made something from absolutely nothing--with literally $100 to their names. They sacrificed everything for their children. My parents are amazing role models, and provide me with a great source of motivation and inspiration. I'm grateful that they actually took the chance, that leap of faith, to do what they did. Putting myself in that situation, I'm not sure if I would have had the courage to do it and I'm eternally grateful for that. This country provides so much opportunity, if you can just open your eyes and take advantage of it.