Roger Kasendorf, DO Physician Roger Kasendorf, DO, is a board-certified osteopathic physician and physiatrist specializing in pain management, physical medicine, and rehabilitation. He practices in the San Diego area and treats a broad range of musculoskeletal and pain conditions, from acute injuries to chronic pain that has remained unresolved for years. In addition to clinical practice, he teaches at three osteopathic medical schools, serves as a board examiner for his specialty boards, and provides medicolegal consulting as an independent medical examiner and expert witness. His approach has remained consistent since residency: focus on what a patient has lost the ability to do rather than only on the label given to the condition.
A Career Rooted in Osteopathic Medicine He earned a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Science from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1999. This educational path reflected an early interest in understanding how the body functions as a whole rather than viewing its parts separately. He continued his education at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, New York, where he earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree in 2003. He completed a traditional rotating internship at North Shore University Hospital in Plainview. He then completed a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Nassau University Medical
Center in East Meadow, New York, serving as Chief Resident from 2006 to 2007. He holds board certification from the American Osteopathic Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Osteopathic Board of Pain Management. He is licensed to practice in California, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, and Alaska.
Clinical Practice He has practiced physical medicine, rehabilitation, and pain management on both coasts. From 2009 through 2015, he operated his own practice in Long Beach, New York, and La Jolla, California. He also served as a physiatrist and Director of Sports Medicine at a practice in Carlsbad, California. Since January 2026, he has practiced with a medical group. He has maintained an affiliation with a hospital since 2014. His clinical work includes osteopathic manipulation, acute and chronic pain management, arthritis and rheumatological conditions, cancer pain management, regenerative medicine, and rehabilitation services. He performs trigger point, joint, spinal, facet, and hyaluronic acid injections. He also uses Botox to treat migraines and muscle spasticity. His diagnostic work includes electrodiagnostic evaluation with EMG and musculoskeletal ultrasound.
Treating Function Rather Than Labels A central question in his clinical approach is what, specifically, has become difficult for the patient. Some patients may struggle to manage a flight of stairs. Others may be unable to sit at a computer throughout the workday or to get out of bed without a long, painful start. He focuses treatment on these functional losses rather than stopping at a diagnosis that identifies a condition without addressing what it has taken away from the patient. This approach requires an understanding of how tendons, ligaments, joints, muscles, bones, nerves, and the brain work together. He develops treatment strategies based on these relationships to improve function while addressing the root cause of discomfort rather than simply masking it. He also views medicine as a team effort and coordinates with physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other physicians to ensure a patient's treatment plan reflects multiple areas of expertise.
Medicolegal Consulting and Independent Evaluation Since 2016, he has maintained a legal consulting practice and has served as an osteopathic and pain medicine expert witness. His consulting work involves pain medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, musculoskeletal disorders, spinal conditions, interventional pain management, personal injury, medical malpractice, disability and impairment, causation, standards of care, and life care planning.
He provides independent medical evaluations, case merit reviews, medical record reviews, expert reports, depositions, and trial testimony for both plaintiff and defense in civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings. He has conducted numerous independent medical examinations and qualified medical evaluations involving workers' compensation claims and insurers. He has served as a Qualified Medical Examiner with CME/Arrowhead since 2022 and has worked in utilization review with EK Health since 2015. He was also an invited speaker at the California Applicant Attorney Association in 2026. His medicolegal work draws from the same clinical foundation used in patient care. He bases his opinions on clinical experience, scientific literature, and analysis rather than advocacy. An important part of this work is translating complex medical evidence into terms that judges, juries, and insurers can understand.
Teaching and Academic Appointments Since 2016, he has served as an Associate Assistant Professor at three osteopathic medical schools. He previously served as Associate Program Director at an osteopathic medical school from 2018 to 2021. Earlier, he held the same role at another osteopathic medical school with a medical center from 2009 to 2012, where he had also served as a Clinical Assistant Professor from 2008. He was named Attending of the Year at the medical center in 2010, 2011, and 2012. He has lectured extensively on acute and chronic pain management. He was an invited national CME speaker at national osteopathic conventions in 2014 and 2016. He also served as a CME speaker at an annual osteopathic medical society assembly in those same years and as an invited CME speaker for an osteopathic physicians and surgeons organization in 2024 and 2025. He delivered keynote addresses at medical center Grand Rounds in 2007 and 2016.
Board Service and Professional Governance Since 2023, he has served as a board examiner and question writer for his physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain medicine specialty boards. Through these responsibilities, he contributes directly to the process for credentialing future specialists. He also serves as a medical board reviewer for the state osteopathic medical board. He chaired a national physical medicine and rehabilitation conference in 2018 and served as a board member of an osteopathic medical education conference from 2017 to 2019. His professional memberships include national organizations representing osteopathic medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation, ultrasound medicine, and pain.
Published Work and Recognition He has contributed to clinical literature in his field. His work includes a 2021 case report on the long-term effects of gadolinium deposition disease presented at the AAPM&R Annual Assembly. He has also published work in Practical Pain Management concerning the treatment of chronic
pain with the OSKA Pulse device and co-authored a case report on atypical diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. He was named a La Jolla Top Doctor in 2020, 2021, and 2022. He was recognized as a California Top Osteopathic Physician in September 2020, listed by Continental Who's Who in 2020, and named Best Osteopath at the 2021 GHP Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Awards.
Looking Ahead He continues to practice in the San Diego area while following the standard that has guided his career: measure progress by what a patient can do again rather than by how thoroughly a condition has been named. His board certifications, clinical experience on both coasts, and current examiner responsibilities reflect a career that combines patient care with continued involvement in his specialty. His commitment is also reflected in the students he teaches, the standards work he performs for his specialty boards, and the medicolegal matters in which careful medical analysis can have significant consequences. For Roger Kasendorf, DO, the measure of his work remains centered on helping a patient leave with more of their life available to them than when they arrived.