About

About Me

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, treating patients across the full range of musculoskeletal and pain conditions, from acute injury to chronic pain that has gone years without resolution. Alongside his clinical work, Dr. Kasendorf teaches at three osteopathic medical schools, serves as a board examiner for his specialty boards, and consults on medicolegal matters as an independent medical examiner and expert witness. His practice rests on a principle held since residency: treat what a patient has lost the ability to do, not the label attached to their condition.

A Career Rooted in Osteopathic Medicine

Roger Kasendorf, DO, earned a Bachelor of Science in Nutritional Science from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1999, an early sign of interest in how the body functions as a whole rather than as separate parts. He went on to the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Old Westbury, New York, receiving his Doctor of Osteopathy degree in 2003.

Dr. Kasendorf completed a traditional rotating internship at North Shore University Hospital at Plainview, followed by a residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, New York, where he served as Chief Resident from 2006 to 2007. He holds board certification from the American Osteopathic Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and from the American Osteopathic Board of Pain Management, and he is licensed to practice in California, Nevada, Texas, Wyoming, and Alaska.

Clinical Practice

Roger Kasendorf, DO has practiced physical medicine, rehabilitation, and pain management on both coasts. He operated his own practice, Roger Kasendorf, DO, PC, from 2009 through 2015 in Long Beach, New York, and La Jolla, California, and served as physiatrist and Director of Sports Medicine at Coastal Pain and Spinal Diagnostics in Carlsbad, California. Since January 2026, he has practiced with Ortho 1 Medical Group.

Dr. Kasendorf has maintained an affiliation with Scripps Memorial Hospital since 2014. His clinical work covers 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, and uses Botox in treating migraines and muscle spasticity. For diagnosis, he relies on electrodiagnostic evaluation with EMG and musculoskeletal ultrasound.

Treating Function Rather Than Labels

The question at the center of Roger Kasendorf, DO's clinical approach is one many patients are never asked: what, specifically, has become difficult? Some patients cannot manage a flight of stairs. Others cannot sit at a computer through a workday, or get out of bed without a long and painful start. Dr. Kasendorf treats those functional losses as the target, rather than stopping at a diagnosis that names a condition without addressing what it has taken away.

That approach requires understanding how tendons, ligaments, joints, muscles, bones, nerves, and the brain work together. Dr. Kasendorf builds treatment strategies around those relationships, working toward functional improvement while addressing the root cause of the discomfort rather than masking it. He also treats medicine as a team effort, coordinating with physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other physicians so a patient's plan reflects more than one set of expertise.

Medicolegal Consulting and Independent Evaluation

Since 2016, Roger Kasendorf, DO has maintained a legal consulting practice, Kasendorf Consulting, serving as an osteopathic and pain medicine expert witness. He consults in matters involving 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.

Dr. Kasendorf 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 for workers' compensation claims and insurers, has served as a Qualified Medical Examiner with CME/Arrowhead since 2022 and in utilization review with EK Health since 2015, and was an invited speaker at the California Applicant Attorney Association in 2026.

The work draws on the same clinical foundation as his patient care. Roger Kasendorf, DO bases his opinions on clinical experience, scientific literature, and analysis rather than advocacy, and much of what he offers attorneys is the ability to translate complex medical evidence into terms judges, juries, and insurers can follow.

Teaching and Academic Appointments

Roger Kasendorf, DO has served since 2016 as an Associate Assistant Professor at Midwestern University, Western University of Health Sciences, and Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine. He was previously Associate Program Director at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine from 2018 to 2021, and earlier at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine with Long Beach Medical Center from 2009 to 2012, where he was also a Clinical Assistant Professor from 2008. He was named Attending of the Year at Long Beach Medical Center in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Dr. Kasendorf has lectured extensively on acute and chronic pain management. He was an invited national CME speaker at the American Osteopathic Association national conventions in 2014 and 2016, a CME speaker at the Western States Osteopathic Medical Society Annual Assembly in those same years, and an invited CME speaker for the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California in 2024 and 2025. He delivered keynote addresses at Nassau University Medical Center Grand Rounds in 2007 and 2016.

Board Service and Professional Governance

Since 2023, Roger Kasendorf, DO has served as a board examiner and question writer for the American Osteopathic Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and the American Osteopathic Board of Pain Medicine, contributing directly to how the next generation of specialists is credentialed, and as a medical board reviewer for the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.

Dr. Kasendorf chaired the American Osteopathic College of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation National Conference in 2018 and was a board member of the Osteopathic Medical Education Conference from 2017 to 2019. He holds memberships in the American Osteopathic Association, the American Osteopathic College of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine, and the International Association of Pain.

Published Work and Recognition

Roger Kasendorf, DO has contributed to the clinical literature in his field, including a 2021 case report on the long-term effects of gadolinium deposition disease presented at the AAPM&R Annual Assembly, published work in Practical Pain Management on treating chronic pain with the OSKA Pulse device, and a co-authored case report on atypical diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis.

Dr. Kasendorf 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

Roger Kasendorf, DO continues to practice in the San Diego area, holding to the standard he has applied throughout his career: measure success by what a patient can do again, not by how thoroughly the condition has been named. The board certifications, the clinical practice on both coasts, and the examiner roles he now holds all point in the same direction, toward a physician who treats his specialty as something to be advanced rather than simply practiced.

That commitment shows in the students he teaches, in the standards work he does for his specialty boards, and in the medicolegal matters where careful analysis carries real consequences. For Roger Kasendorf, DO, the measure of the work has not changed: a patient walking out with more of their life available to them than when they walked in.