Page 19 - Outstanding Women Friendly Physicians (2)

Not only does Dr. Eli provide all of the options on the market for with the American Board of Orofacial Pain, is the Director of the
sufferers of Sleep Apnea, if it is not available he has been known Headache and Facial Pain Center: A very specialized program,
to create it; as proven by several patents he has acquired for but one that is often the last hope for patients who have found
apparatus to help his patients. One such item is an easy cleaning no relief from the numerous doctors who have attempted to help
mechanism for the Cpap tubing and mask. He has also created a solve their problems.
“TMJ quick splint” which provides temporary relief for his patients I asked Dr. Eli how most of his patients found out about his ser-
while their permanent TMJ apparatus is being made at the lab. vices, “I am a quaternary care physician. Most patients will start
This is not the only condition that Dr. Eli addresses in his practice; with their primary care doctor, who will refer them to a specialist,
he is the Director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center. As Dr. if this specialist cannot find the cure, the patient will be referred to
Eli explains, “Our practice is limited to the diagnosis and treat- an even more specifically trained physician. If this doctor cannot
ment of head, neck, facial pain, temporomandibular joint disorder find the answer they then will get my input.”
(TMJ), and the treatment of sleep disorder breathing.” With such One of Dr. Eli’s patients nominated him as an Outstanding Women
Friendly Physician, based on her experience. She
shared with us, “What truly impressed me about Dr. Eli
was how he just sat back and listened to my experiences
and my problems, never rushing me, but paying close at-
tention to every detail I shared about the treatment I had
received prior to visiting his office. It wasn’t until I was
completely done explaining the various doctors and other
professionals to whom I had already been referred, that
Dr. Eli even began to provide his input in what my next
treatment method should be. This was the first time I had
ever been to a doctor who was so patient and willing to
hear me out before deciding upon a treatment program.
He is truly unique and wonderful and thanks to him I am
pain free today.”
I shared this accolade with Dr. Eli who went on to explain,
“I know it sounds like I am patient's and in some cases
I am, but unless I hear the patients entire history that
led him or her to my office, am I able to put the pieces of

a specialized practice I was curious as to how Dr. Eli chose this
path in medicine.
Dr. Eli has a unique medical practice considering that his initial
profession was in the dental field. Although he breezed through San Diego Woman
dental school and loved the profession, he decided that this
was not enough. Once you meet Dr. Eli, you will understand
that it is apparent he does not settle for the ordinary. Dr. Eli
found himself drawn to the issue of pain management. As a 19
trained dentist he decided to further his education in post-doc-
toral studies on TMJ and pain management issues dealing with
the head, face and neck.
When he decided to pursue this subspecialty the year was
1990 and there were only three such training programs in the
country that took dentists and gave them a post doctoral educa-
tion in head and neck pain management. These three programs
only accepted two candidates per year. When Dr. Eli gradu-
ated his program at UCLA, he was only one of six experts in this the puzzle together to come up with a game plan to help fix their
new specialty. Even today there are only 7 such programs which problem. If a patient found me directly I would not be as effective,
makes him one of only about 40 doctors with the level of train- since the information that I gather during this initial consultation
ing in the country. After completing his degree, and knowing that tells me what has been done, what worked and what failed miser-
there were so few specialists, he decided to leave Los Angeles ably.” As modest as Dr. Eli appears, several of our readers felt that
and venture to San Diego which was lacking in his specialty. His this was not only a practice done for his benefit, but it also made
first staff position was at Scripps La Jolla. At the time Scripps was his patients feel hopeful and involved in their own treatment plan
one of the only hospitals with a pain center. He held the position of and recovery.
head and neck consultant for the Scripps pain center. At the time The father of two college aged girls, Dr. Eli spends his free time
there were only seven practitioners in San Diego in the field of doing one of his favorite things, flying or golfing. With all of the
pain management and Dr. Eli was the only one who was a trained good that Dr. Eli does in his practice I believe a major part of it is
dentist. Dr. Eli explains, “When UCSD founded their pain center due to his unconventional training, and treatment which some-
and started educating their staff in pain management as a subspe- times involves creating solutions to existing products in the market
cialty, I was brought on staff to help train their doctors in this area.” place. I commented during our conversation that what I thought
Loma Linda University also found Dr Eli’s expertise invaluable, was great about the doctor was the fact that he was so sensitive
and invited him to join their staff as well, leaving him commuting to his patient’s needs and was always willing to look outside the
from San Diego one day a week to serve his patients in his former box to come up with a solution to help them, whether with pain
home town. With three prestigious hospitals utilizing his services issues or sleep apnea concerns. He smiled and said four simple
Dr. Eli spent a lot of time commuting between hospitals. words which truly describe Dr. Eli’s approach, “There is no box”
With all of this experience behind him, today Dr. Eli, a Diplomate