Home Our Pain Specialists Anil K. Sharma, MD

Anil K. Sharma, MD

Dr. Anil K. Sharma is the founder and President of Spine & Pain Centers of New Jersey and New York. He received his fellowship training in Pain Management at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Dr. Sharma has been recognized for excellence throughout his career in medicine. After graduating as Valedictorian of his class from MGM Medical College, he received the esteemed Robert Dripps Award for Best Resident at Monmouth Medical Center, where he continues today as Director of Pain Management. Subsequently, Dr. Sharma was named Best Graduating Fellow at the Cleveland Clinic. His elite status was confirmed by his rating as a "Top Doc" by New Jersey Monthly magazine from 2011 to 2020, and he was profiled on the front cover in 2014. Castle Connolly also named him as the top doctor in the NY metro area every year since 2014.

Dr. Sharma specializes in the use of minimally invasive techniques to treat spinal pain. He has performed over 70,000 spinal procedures in his 28 years of clinical practice. His expertise ranges from diagnosing complicated and rare cases to pinpointing the source of back, neck, and other chronic pain conditions. He is a leading practitioner of state-of-the-art techniques. He has been on the faculty of several national and international spine meetings and has taught other pain physicians complex and challenging procedures. He has also overseen numerous cadaver courses aimed at teaching new and innovative technologies for treating spinal disorders.

Dr. Sharma is a published author and experienced educator in spine care. He has written chapters in textbooks and has published several review articles in significant spine journals. He recently published several clinical guidelines through the North American Spine Society. The most recent one, which took over 4 years, is "Diagnosis and Treatment of Low Back Pain". Dr. Sharma is a very active member of the North American Spine Society and the International Spine Intervention Society and sits on several key committees.

Dr. Sharma is affiliated with most of the area's major medical centers. As testimony to his high level of devotion, compassion, and competency, Dr. Sharma's many patients include medical colleagues and their families, and countless referrals from current and former patients who have found relief of spinal pain through his care.

Education

• Fellowship - Pain Management - 7/94 to 9/95
  The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio
  Award for Best Graduating Fellow
• Chief Resident - 1993 to 1994
  Robert D. Dripps Award for Best Graduating Resident
• Residency, Anesthesiology - 7/91 to 6/94
  Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, New Jersey
• Internship - 7/90 to 6/91
  Nassau County Medical Center, East Meadow, New York
• Medical School
  Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, Indore, India
  Valedictorian

Board Certifications

• American Board of Anesthesiology
• Certificate of added qualifications in Pain Management
• American Board of Pain Medicine

Professional Highlights

Castle Connolly Top Doctors: 2014 to 2020

NJ Monthly

• "Top Doctor" in Pain Management 2011 to 2020
• Featured on the Front Cover in 2014

International Spine Intervention Society

• Vice-Chairman of the Standards Committee 2012, 2013
• Vice-Chairman of Appropriate Use Criteria 2012, 2013
• Co-Chairman of Annual Conference 2012, 2013
• Member - Standards Committee 2010 - present
• Member - International Education Committee 2015

North American Spine Society

• Spine Line editorial Board- 2007 - 2013
• Spine Journal- reviewer - 2014
• Evidence-Based Clinical Guidelines Committee - 2007-present

New Jersey Society of Interventional Pain Physicians

• President 2007 - 2009

New Jersey Society of Interventional Pain Physicians

• Board Member 2009 - 2013

Monmouth Medical Center

 

• Director of Pain Management 2003 - present

Specialty Interest

Diagnosis and treatment of spinal pain using the most advanced minimally invasive techniques with the goal to avoid major spinal surgery.

Publications

• Author: Book Chapter, "Interventional Pain Management - A Practical Approach"
• Author: Book Chapter, "Symptom Oriented Pain Management"
• Author: North American Spine Society publication, "Spinal Injections and Anticoagulants"
• Author: North American Spine Society publication, "Radiofrequency Denervation"
• Co-Author: North American Spine Society Clinical Guidelines, "Diagnosis and Treatment of Cervical Radiculopathy From Degenerative Disorder"
• Co-Author: Spine Intervention Society, "Practice Guidelines for Spinal Diagnostic and Treatment Procedures" 2nd Edition
• Co-Author: North American Spine Society, "Review and Recommendation Statements for Discography"
• Co-Author: North American Spine Society Clinical Guidelines, "Diagnosis and Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation with Radiculopathy"
• Co-Author: North American Spine Society Evidence-Based Guidelines, "Diagnosis and Treatment of Adult Isthmic Spondylolisthesis"
• Co-Author: North American Spine Society Evidence Based Guidelines, "Diagnosis and treatment of Low Back Pain"

Presentations

• "Functional Anesthetic Discography", March 8, 2010, Symposium Presentation Cleveland Clinic's 12th Annual Pain Management Symposium, Coronado, CA.
• Cadaver Course and Faculty Speaker, March 9, 2010, Cleveland Clinic's 12th Annual Pain Management Symposium, Coronado, CA.
• "Medial Branch Block and Radiofrequency Comprehensive Literature Review" - Faculty Speaker August 8-10, 2011 ISIS 19th Annual Scientific Meeting, Chicago, IL.
• "Discogenic Pain" and Cadaver Workshop - International Faculty FIPP Exam Course, March 10, 2012, Mumbai, India.
• "Validity of Lumbar Discography" Faculty Speaker July 18, 2012, ISIS 20th Annual Scientific Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.
• "Complications of Discography" Faculty Speaker July 18, 2012, SIS 20th Annual Scientific Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.
• "Current Review of Anticoagulants and Spinal Injections" - Faculty Speaker July 18, 2012, ISIS 20th Annual Scientific Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.
• "Evidence-Based Medicine Course" - Faculty Speaker July 17, 2012, SIS 20th Annual Scientific Meeting, Las Vegas, NV.
• "Evidence-Based Medicine Pre-Conference Course" - Faculty, 24th Annual Meeting, North American Spine Society, Dallas, TX.
• "Systematic Review of Fluoroscopic Guided Interlaminar Epidural Steroid Injection" - Faculty speaker July 2014 ISIS 21st Annual Scientific Meeting, Orlando, FL.
• "Fundamentals of Evidence-Based Medicine" - Course Instructor, North American Spine Society Annual Scientific Meeting, November 2014, San Francisco, CA.
• "Evidence-based guidelines for spinal injections" Speaker -International Society of Study of Pain Annual Meeting, February 2015, Indore, India.
• "Disc FX" - Speaker, International Society of Study of Pain Annual Meeting. February 2015, Indore, India.
• "Cadaver Course, Spinal Injections" - Instructor, International Society of Study of Pain Annual Meeting, February 2015, Indore, India.
• "Needle Placement" - Speaker, American society of interventional Pain Management meeting, February, 26th, Orlando, FL.
• "Cadaver Course, Endoscopic Spine Procedures" - Instructor, American Society of Interventional Pain Management Meeting, February 27 and 28th, Orlando, FL.
• "Mechanism of Actions - Steroids" - Faculty Speaker, July 21, 2016, SIS 20th Annual Scientific Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
• " Radiofrequency Ablation - New Advancements" - Faculty Speaker, International Society of Study of Pain-Annual Meeting. January 2018, New Delhi, India.