Steven D. Waldman, MD, JD is Director of the Headache and Pain Center in Leawood, Kansas and Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri. A pioneer in the specialty of pain management, Dr. Waldman has served as a mentor, innovator, and teacher for an entire generation of pain management specialists. He was one of the first physicians in the United States to engage in the full-time private practice of pain management and was among the first to advance the idea that pain management was a specialty in and of itself rather than a small part of another specialty.
Dr. Waldman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geosciences from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and was admitted in 1973 as one of the first 100 students to its new medical school. After earning his MD, he began his residency in Anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where he served in numerous leadership positions and was elected by his peers to the post of Fellows Association President.
In recognition of his groundbreaking work and achievements, Dr. Waldman has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades during his career in pain management, including the UMKC Alumni Achievement Award for service to the University and School of Medicine. He is also the recipient of the coveted UMKC Medical Humanities Award in recognition of his role in helping found the Sirridge Office of Medical Humanities and Bioethics at the UMKC School of Medicine and his teaching efforts in this area. Dr. Waldman has received nominations for the Mayo Clinic Alumni Achievement Award, the UMKC School of Medicine Take Wing Award, and the UMKC Legacy Award.
Dr. Waldman’s many publications, which have helped further define the specialty, include the 3rd editions of Atlas of Pain Management Injection Techniques, Atlas of Common Pain Syndromes and Atlas of Interventional Pain Management. He also published the Atlas of Uncommon Pain Syndromes, Pain Review, Imaging of Pain and Physical Diagnosis of Pain.