Robert E. Wailes, MD
Anesthesiology – Sub-specialty Pain Medicine
Medical Director, Founder, And Partner
Dr. Wailes is a pioneer in the specialty of pain medicine in Southern California. He is both a board-certified anesthesiologist with subspecialty designation in the specialty of pain medicine and board-certified by the American Board of Pain Medicine. He was the first pain physician in California to offer a high tech, free-standing, Medicare-approved outpatient surgical center to patients for advanced pain management procedures.
Dr. Wailes is a pioneer in the specialty of pain medicine in Southern California. He is both a board-certified anesthesiologist with subspecialty designation in the specialty of pain medicine and board-certified by the American Board of Pain Medicine. He was the first pain physician in California to offer a high tech, free-standing, Medicare-approved outpatient surgical center to patients for advanced pain management procedures.
Dr. Wailes has been focused on providing patients the highest level of care available, as well as contributing to advancing the pain medicine specialty through clinical research and state of the art education conferences for clinicians. He has had the vision to assemble a highly competent team of clinicians and staff to address the needs of our community and improve the quality of life in patients with even the most aggressive and complex pain conditions. Care has always been individualized to patients and a strong focus has been on restoring function.
Dr. Wailes has broadened his reach in his quest to help improve the quality of care provided by taking leadership roles locally and nationally. He serves as Chair of the California Medical Association Board of Trustees and nationally represents the American Academy of Pain Medicine at the American Medical Association. He has also served as President of the San Diego County Medical Society.
Dr. Wailes is well respected by his peers and has presented continuing education programs for clinicians on a variety of topics. He is an active member of the medical staffs at Scripps Hospital in Encinitas and at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside. He is also the Medical Director for the Ketamine Research Institute.
He has lived with his family in Carlsbad since starting his practice in 1984.
Meet Dr. Wailes
How Would You Describe Your Most Important Priorities When Evaluating A Patient?
It is a very challenging, yet rewarding experience to provide an excellent patient evaluation. Every patient is very unique and has many different facets that influence their presentation. I think it is extremely important to get an accurate and detailed history regarding the pain related problem, but also obtain an overall global picture of the patient’s situation. It’s a high priority to try to understand the patient’s living, social and family environment to better understand their responses to their pain-related problem. This very thorough and global evaluation also helps direct resources in the most appropriate and effective direction following the evaluation.
What Types Of Activities Or Hobbies Are You Interested In Outside Of Medicine?
I am a big believer in a balanced lifestyle. I like to balance the combination of family life, personal health, social life and professional life. A balanced lifestyle is challenging, since each of these areas are important priorities, and it takes discipline to make time for each one of these.
I also spend a tremendous amount of time volunteering with different medical societies. I hold, and have held, a number of different official positions within the California Medical Association (CMA), American Medical Association and the San Diego County Medical Society. I have recently been the president of the San Diego County Medical Society and currently am one of the trustees from San Diego representing our medical Society to the California Medical Association. In addition to being on the Board of Trustees for the CMA I am also on the board of directors for the CMA Foundation. This is a statewide nonprofit organization that aspires to provide greater access to public health projects and services among other contributions to the public well-being. I represent my national specialty organization, the American Academy of Pain Medicine, to the American Medical Association. I go to regular meetings to voice opinions and try to support greater access to health care for all Americans. I also spend a lot of time on legislative issues with frequent visits to our legislators from San Diego. I spent a fair amount of time in Sacramento and Washington DC promoting good public health causes.
I am especially attentive to my 3 children who are all pursuing their own dreams, including medicine and dentistry.
Other hobbies include golf, tennis and a variety of other sports. I work out on a regular basis. I am one of the 80% of all Americans who have back problems. If I do not exercise, my back becomes symptomatic, but if I exercise regularly my back does amazingly well. My personal experiences drive my encouragement for people to exercise, be active and live a healthy lifestyle.
If I have any free time after that, I enjoy socializing with friends and travel. I certainly keep very busy, but I am very grateful for a full and satisfying life.
Nathan Perrizo, DO
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation – Sub-specialty Pain Medicine
Assistant Medical Director, Partner
Dr. Perrizo’s unique and diverse background adds to the comprehensiveness of services provided at Pacific Pain Medicine Consultants. His career as a physician in California has been augmented by specialized training in osteopathy. Following his internship, he entered the United States Navy and served as a Medical Officer on USS NASSAU in Operation Iraqi Freedom. He ultimately advanced to Senior Medical Officer of USS CARTER HALL where he was the sole medical officer for hundreds of service members.
He had the critical responsibility to coordinate with the Commanding Officer when a crew members’ health superseded the ship’s mission.
After completion of his military service, Dr. Perrizo completed a residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at UCLA. He further specialized by taking a fellowship in Interventional Pain Management at UCLA, which included mentoring under internationally recognized experts in the field of pain management.
Dr. Perrizo is board certified in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and has subspecialty certification in Pain Medicine. He has special expertise in a variety of procedures including spinal cord stimulation, radiofrequency neurotomy, and fluoroscopically/ultrasound guided injections.
Dr. Perrizo is a wonderful teacher and has lectured in international forums. He spends time with patients educating them about their conditions and thoroughly discusses the various treatments that may be available for them. He also serves as a mentor for other physicians in cutting edge medical treatments and procedures. Dr. Perrizo further provides expert consulting to industry for expanded access to current treatments and guidance on the development of novel therapies.
Meet Dr. Perrizo
How would you describe your most important priorities when evaluating a patient?
When I evaluate a patient, I focus on the whole patient in order to develop the most appropriate treatment plan. I begin with a thorough evaluation in regard to their pain symptoms as well as their medical history and other symptoms. I then seek to understand the patient’s priorities by using a biopsychosocial model. With this approach, the emphasis is placed on determining what is important to the patient in terms of how they feel, what they are able to do functionally and how that fits into their belief system. Key components are the physical, social, psychological and spiritual domains. After a thorough physical examination and review of supporting studies, a detailed explanation of the patient’s pain is provided and then a comprehensive treatment plan is developed. This may include therapies, exercise, medications, psychological support, state of the art interventions and often coordinated care with other specialties. Reduction in pain, increase in function and an overall improvement in quality of life are the goals with each patient.
What types of activities or hobbies are you interested in outside of medicine?
I enjoy hobbies of jogging, basketball, cooking, skiing, traveling, and time with family.
Jeremy A. Adler, DMSc, PA-C
Pain Management PA / Doctor Of Medical Science
Chief Operating Officer And Partner
PA Adler was one of the first PAs nationally to practice in the specialty pain management and is a co-owner at Pacific Pain Medicine. After receiving his undergraduate degree locally at UCSD, he earned his PA degree in New York at one of the top public programs in the country, SUNY, Stony Brook. He graduated at the top of his class with a summa cum laude designation, completed a specialty Masters’ Degree in Pain Management/Physical Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and has earned a Doctor of Medical Science from the University of Lynchburg. He is a Founder’s Society member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine Foundation.
PA Adler has been an active advocate for appropriate pain care for all patients. He recognizes that people with pain can have markedly improved quality of life when multiple tools are utilized in a rational fashion. He has mentored under a national educator on interventional pain management and believes that the identifying an accurate diagnosis is key to developing a therapeutic plan. Despite controversies around opioid based pain medication, PA Adler believes that in well selected and monitored patients, these medications can be a part of a comprehensive treatment plan when certain treatment objectives have been achieved. He is a published author, lectures nationally on a variety of pain topics and is well respected by his peers. PA Adler is a co-author on evidenced based clinical practice guidelines jointly developed by the American Pain Society and American Academy of Pain Medicine on the use of opioids in non-cancer pain. He has also served as a course developer and presenter for the California Academy of PAs Controlled Substance Education Course which trains PAs on the use of controlled substances and increases the PAs scope of practice. He additionally has been passionate about increasing utilization of California’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database.
In additional to patient care and medical education, PA Adler has participated in healthcare leadership. He founded the San Diego Society of PAs and functioned as the President of the Society for 10 years. He has been elected to serve as President (2014-2015) for one of the largest state PA professional societies in the county, the California Academy of PAs. PA Adler was the inaugural President for the National Society of Pain Care Providers, is Vice-President of the Pain Medicine Special Interest Group at the American Academy of PAs and is a board member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine Foundation. PA Adler additionally holds leadership roles nationally within the American Academy of PAs.
Meet PA Adler
How would you describe your more important priorities when evaluating a patient?
I have a number of priorities when I first meet a patient. The first important step is to establish my role as a consultant to the patient for their health conditions. A trusting relationship, with open and honest communication, is fundamental; patients must trust that the information being provided is for their benefit. The second is the need for as an accurate a diagnosis as possible. The better the diagnosis, the more likely treatments will be successful. I also believe that patients should be treated as a whole person. Pain conditions can have significant impacts on people’s relationships, functioning, sleep, mood and essentially all aspects of one’s life, therefore I recommend patients participate in a comprehensive plan that incorporates as many tools to improve a patient’s life as possible. Tools may include procedures, medications, physical rehabilitation and behavioral approaches. All patients should have access to the available options to reduce pain and ease suffering.
What types of activities or hobbies are you interested in outside of medicine?
Outside of my practice, I spend as much time with my family in the outdoors as possible. We enjoy hiking, camping and sailing. As a youth I became an Eagle Scout and I am now able to share this knowledge with my boys who are both participating in the scouting program.
Michael E. Davis, PA-C
Pain Management PA / Partner
PA Davis started his career utilizing his general medicine training by practicing in the specialty of Family Medicine. Prior to his PA training he had extensive opportunities researching pre-clinical cardiac surgical approaches and investigative medical devices. He was fortunate to be part of the pre-clinical assessment of the DaVinci robot for robotic assisted surgery that has now been approved for human use.
After a couple of years of evaluating a wide variety of conditions in Family Medicine, he recognized that the impact of helping patients with pain was transformative for the patient and rewarding for the clinician. He transitioned his practice into full time pain management and mentored under national pain experts. He has now specialized in pain management nearly 10 years and has served patients with pain conditions in both California and New York. His experience in New York involved providing pain care within a state-of-the-art oncology center. PA Davis has brought a wealth of expertise to Pacific Pain Medicine.
PA Davis has focused on comprehensive care and appropriate medication management options. As a team member, PA Davis frequently coordinates care with other providers on our clinical team, referring providers and case managers. He has collaborated on developing protocol based approaches to patients who may be at elevated risk for medication abuse, but still need assistance for management of pain. PA Davis’ approach to patients is consistent, caring, and uniquely developed for each patient. He stresses the importance of the outcome of various treatments as justification for ongoing therapy. He endorses a full spectrum of treatments, including advanced pain therapies such as spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal drug delivery.
PA Davis has received exceptionally positive feedback from his patients and peers, some of whom have posted wonderful reviews on online review websites.
Meet PA Davis
How would you describe your most important priorities when evaluating a patient?
My experiences as a patient and as the family member of a loved one as a patient have significantly shaped how I interact and care for my patients as a healthcare provider. First and foremost, I want the new and established patient to know that we at Pacific Pain Medicine, as a team, want to help them. From the first call to set up an office visit to the last visit and everything in between, our goal is to help our patients. That is why we are in this field.
I feel that we accomplish this by listening to the patient, and how their pain affects them, their life, the lives of their friends and family members. Providing a thorough history and physical exam, working up the pain(s) with the goal of providing an actual diagnosis is very important. Once there is a diagnosis, the next step is empowering the patient with education on their condition, the reasonable treatment options available and maybe most importantly- realistic expectations.
What types of activities or hobbies are you interested in outside of medicine?
When I am not working at Pacific Pain Medicine, I enjoy spending time with my family. We like to take advantage of what we have here in Southern California and get out for hikes, camping and time at the beach. I personally enjoy disc golfing and home brewing beer any chance I get.
Lawrence Owusu, MMSc, PA-C
Pain Management PA
PA Owusu enriches the comprehensiveness at Pacific Pain Medicine with extensive experiences in surgery of the spine, brain and vasculature. After spending his childhood growing up in Oceanside, PA Owusu earned his undergraduate degree in physiological sciences at UCLA and then pursued his Masters’ degree at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. He grew up in a household with many family members practicing in medicine and science so his career choice was a natural fit.
PA Owusu initially entered clinical practice in the specialty of Vascular Surgery. As a PA, he would first assist in surgical cases and endovascular cases. To further develop his surgical skills, he joined a Neurosurgical practice focusing on disorders of the spine and brain. PA Owusu has personally assisted in the operating room on cases involving degenerative disorders of the spine, traumatic injuries, cancer and other complex spinal conditions. He has helped place surgical neuromodulatory devises (spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal drug delivery systems) for pain control within the spinal columns of patients with intractable pain.
PA Owusu’s training and experiences have provided a rich framework for the specialty of Pain Management with a deep understanding for the conditions our patients face and the multitude of treatment options available. He is compassionate and thoughtful in his approach to patients with complicated spinal disorders, as well as other pain management conditions. As a former collegiate long jumper, he understands the importance of body biomechanics and pain control. He maintains an active lifestyle.
Meet PA Owusu
How would you describe your more important priorities when evaluating a patient?
My most important priority when evaluating a patient is that they leave our office understanding the potential diagnoses causing their pain (if there is one). If they can conceptualize why they are experiencing their symptoms, then perhaps our management or treatment plan will make more sense to them. They also feel as if they are a part of the treatment plan rather than just the recipient. I really do love being the first one to diagnose their condition accurately, then offer appropriate options for treatment.
What types of activities or hobbies are you interested in outside of medicine?
Traveling, basketball, bicycling, and music.