Dr. Choll Kim graduated cum laude from Harvard Medical School and completed his fellowship training in complex spine surgery at the Mayo Clinic. In addition, he is double-board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Board of Spine Surgery.

Dr. Kim is an internationally recognized expert in the field of computer-assisted minimally invasive spine surgery. He has trained and continues to train specialists throughout the country on the safe and effective application of state-of-the-art techniques using image guidance and navigation technologies.

Dr. Kim utilizes a broad range of minimally invasive treatments to effectively treat all aspects of complex spinal disorders, including herniated disks, spinal stenosis, adult scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, traumatic injuries, tumors, and infections throughout the entire spine from the neck to the low back. He is one of only a handful of surgeons in the world to master laser endoscopic spine surgery (LESS), a state-of-the-art minimally invasive procedure that effectively treats herniated disks, radiculopathy and sciatica. The LESS procedure can be performed under local anesthesia, in a same-day setting and with a small stab incision that is covered with a bandaid.

A leader in his field, Dr. Kim is the founder and past-president of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (SMISS), the founder of Minimally Invasive Spine Centers of Excellence (MIS-COE), the chair of the MIS Committee for the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery (ISASS), the director of the Advanced Spine & Joint Institute at Alvarado Hospital and an associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego.

Furthermore, Dr. Kim is a a past voting member of the FDA Orthopedic Devices Panel, which reviews all new spinal technologies. He has designed minimally invasive instrumentation used by surgeons around the world. Dr. Kim is an active member of the North American Spine Society (NASS) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), and a fellow of the Scoliosis Research Society. Dr. Kim has over 200 publications and presentations.

Jennifer Hanley has been practicing full time as a board-certified Physician Assistant since 2008. She worked initially in internal medicine and joined Dr. Choll Kim’s minimally invasive spine practice in 2011 where she serves as his first assistant in surgery. She has extensive knowledge of spine surgery and manages all aspects of inpatient and outpatient care. She has participated in numerous publications and has also been an active member of the Physician Assistant Committee at Alvarado Hospital, the North American Spine Society, and the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery since that time. Jennifer was drawn to the field of spine surgery due to the holistic approach needed to maintain optimal spine health and believes that modeling health promotes wellness for patients.

Jennifer Blevins is a board-certified Physician Assistant at Excel Spine Center. She completed her training at University of California, Davis and earned her Physician Assistant Certificate in 2009. Jennifer has worked in a variety of health care settings including 7 years in an internal medicine practice in Sacramento and originally moved to San Diego to work as a Physician Assistant in a plastic surgery practice. She has been working with Dr. Choll Kim in his minimally invasive spine surgery practice since 2017. She has extensive knowledge of spine surgery and manages all aspects of patient care, including a spine-sex medicine program with San Diego Sexual Medicine.

McKenzie Kerr is a board-certified Physician Assistant who graduated Summa cum laude from Loyola Marymount University. She completed her training at University of St. Francis in Albuquerque, New Mexico and earned her Physician Assistant Certificate in 2020. Kenzie has a strong interest in the musculoskeletal side of medicine and has always had a personal interest in spine. She worked in physical therapy for years before PA school and showed a commitment to service by volunteering in local emergency departments, food banks, and retirement homes.