EINAR OTTESTAD - MD, FIPP, CIPS

DIRECTOR OF ACUTE PAIN SERVICES AND CLINICAL PROFESSOR AT STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Dr. Ottestad, a native of Norway, moved to Houston, TX at age ten. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX and a medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. After internship at UT Health Science Center, Tyler, TX, he completed his residency in Anesthesia, followed by a Pain Medicine fellowship, at Stanford.

“I decided to devote myself to alleviating pain after watching my father struggle with poorly treated cancer pain when I was a medical student. I had just finished a pain management rotation at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and, as my father's advocate, I was able to convince his doctors to treat the pain more aggressively. This allowed him to increase his level of function and have a better quality of life with his family,” says Dr. Ottestad. "This experience motivated me to help alleviate pain in others.”

Dr. Ottestad joined Stanford faculty in 2007 and became Director of the Acute Pain Service in 2009. As such, he manages acute, post-operative pain, acute-on-chronic inpatient pain consults, and cancer pain at Stanford Hospital. He is committed to the Stanford Pain Center’s multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach when treating clinic patients with chronic pain. Dr. Ottestad possesses expertise in ultrasound-guided procedures in treatment of pain. Ultrasound imaging allows accurate imaging of soft tissues such as muscles, tendons, and nerves that are difficult to identify using only x-ray imaging or anatomic landmarks. This imaging is useful both diagnostically as well as therapeutically when specific, targeted treatment is needed in an area of pain.

Dr. Ottestad enjoys spending time with his family and good friends. He enjoys traveling to meet his Norwegian relatives in other warm climates. He collects and watches films with his wife and friends, is a voracious reader of fiction novels, and he is a connoisseur of food and little-known restaurants.

He has been invited to over 100 conferences in over 30 countries. You can find a comprehensive list by clicking here.