Anesthesiologist and interventional pain management specialist Brian Ogan, MD, has known all along what he wanted to do with his life: be a doctor and help people.
Dr. Ogan didn’t let being the youngest in his high school class stop him from beating others to the finish. He graduated at age 17— and with 45 advance placement credits for college. The suburban Chicago native then buzzed through the University of Illinois in three years, which enabled him to enter the University of Illinois College of Medicine at age 20. He went on to complete a residency in anesthesiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, an affiliate of Northwestern University, because he liked the way anesthesiology combined physiology and pharmacology.
While at Northwestern, Dr. Ogan was fortunate to work with several well-published physicians who left an impression on him regarding interventional pain management. He was drawn to the subspecialty because of those doctors’ influence, the ongoing patient interaction the field offers, and the hands-on nature of the work. Dr. Ogan then completed a fellowship in pain management.
Dr. Ogan finds tremendous satisfaction in helping people with chronic and debilitating pain improve their quality of living. “In 1998, while I was in medical school, the pain management field was evolving. In pain management, I am able to work with people who are in a great deal of mostly neurological pain by giving them relief for several months at a time. I might only see them three times a year, but they are off pain medications and free of the side effects of medication, and they are living the life they intended,” he added.
He joined Sarah Bush Lincoln recently in the Interventional Pain Management Clinic housed in the SBL Bonutti Clinic building at 1303 West Evergreen Ave., Effingham. However, he’s been in private practice first in Champaign and then in Effingham since 2005.
“Everyone has a unique story, and my goal is to be able to give them functionality and mobility so they can return to what they enjoy doing,” he said. “I can tell people what their blood pressures are, but I cannot rate their pain for them. Pain is subjective and what might be intolerable for one person is a relief in pain for another. My most successful patients seem to have the best outlooks on life,” Dr. Ogan explained.
To help diagnose and accurately treat his patients, Dr. Ogan relies on technology such as guided imaging, ultrasound and fluoroscopy. “I strive to maximize all options before performing any surgical procedures,” he said. Dr. Ogan hopes to begin regenerative medicine using stem cells and platelet injections that enable the body to generate new tissue and begin healing itself.
To make an appointment with Dr. Ogan at Interventional Pain Management, call 217 347-2332.