The Doctor’s Pain Points

  JULY 2, 2022 I have to admit that I had no idea what a pain management physician was when I entered medical school. Truth be told, I did not even know that such a specialty existed. It all makes so much sense now but at the time I had not a clue. It was not until my later years of medical school that my career as I know it really started to take shape. At first, I wanted to be a heart or brain surgeon but then changed and set my sights on being an orthopedic surgeon. However, through fate, misfortune, or God’s calling, I did not match into orthopedics and instead trained in anesthesiology. It was during my anesthesiology training that I set my sights on being a “pain doctor.” As an anesthesiology-trained interventional pain specialist, I serve patients at the intersection of orthopedics, rehabilitation, counselor, diagnostician, and coach. I enjoy the work that I do and how I am able to help people. The interplay of pharmacological and biological knowledge and the technical sk...

As a physician, I am often faced with decisions that affect how someone lives. I work as a pain management specialist and it is my job to help diagnose and treat the person’s pain. There is never enough time or enough answers from the tests to make a perfect diagnosis or formulate a perfect treatment plan. Even so, within this imperfect system, I strive to develop a plan that makes sense for each patient. It is exciting and difficult. It is an honorable mission and I am thankful to use my mind and my hands to improve the lives of so many others.  Because of the subjective nature of pain and an individual’s experience, there is no such thing as a copy-and-paste approach to pain management. Yes, there are protocols and guidelines that inform physicians and medical professionals on how to treat similar disease states. But we have to apply that general knowledge to each patient to make a plan that makes sense. And over time, as the pain changes, so too, does the treatment plan. I coun...

  Dr. Ruben G. Alexander, M.D. is board-certified in anesthesiology and the sub specialty of interventional pain management. He has been practicing in the Las Vegas area since 2017. Dr. Alexander graduated as the valedictorian from Morehouse College with a perfect 4.0 GPA in the rigorous biology department. The next stop for Ruben was in Philadelphia. While in Philly, he attended the Ivy-League institution, The University of Pennsylvania. He completed medical school at Penn as a 21st Century Gamble Scholar extolling the virtues of scholarship and community involvement. He served as co-chair of Penn’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association and as a member of the Student Standards Committee. He had fun while in med school too by playing on the intranet-mural flag football team. After Dr. Alexander completed medical school, he competed an internship in general surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2012, Dr. Alexander left Philadelphia and went to B...