Call (804) 330-0303Interventional Spine Care
Degenerated Discs, Bulging Discs and Herniated Discs. These are only a few of the conditions we can treat you for.
NASS Recognized Interventional Spine / MSK Fellowship
After 15 years of dedicated service, Dr. DePalma’s esteemed Interventional Spine Fellowship program retired as of the Fall of 2024. Over the years, this program has been instrumental in providing advanced medical care and fostering the development of future medical professionals. Virginia iSpine Physicians would like to thank all of our fellows who graduated our program for their hard work and we are excited for them as they continue to develop their careers and contribute to the field.
Past Fellows
2009
Brian Trussell, MD
Founder of Interventional Spine and Sports Institute in Hattiesburg, MS
2011
Thomas Saullo, MD
Spine and Scoliosis Specialists in Greensboro, NC
2012
Ben Laplante, DO
URMC Spine Center in Rochester, NY
2013
Derek Buck, MD
OrthoArkansas in Little Rock, AR
2014
Barry Sanderlin, MD
Carolina Orthopaedic Specialists in Hickory, NC
2015
Justin J. Gasper, DO
US Physiatry, Lake Saint Louis, MO
“Virginia iSpine interventional spine fellowship is a rigorous one year fellowship. The fellowship, under the guidance of Dr. DePalma, will prepare you for practice with real world experiences including managing a busy follow up schedule, hands on procedure training, and new patient experiences that incorporate the latest evidence based medicine. The fellowship is designed with graduated autonomy to ensure your success. I personally found it valuable to have so much exposure to a ‘real world’ functioning private interventional spine practice as opposed to a more academic program. When I joined my first practice out of training I was very comfortable managing complex spine patients because of my experiences gained through fellowship.”
2016
Daniel L. Kline, MD
Integrated Spine & Pain Services Division of Integrated Neurology Services, Alexandria, VA
“Working with Dr. DePalma definitely prepared me for practice. After completing the fellowship I started and am directing an interventional spine program at a non-profit hospital system. Hands on experience and an in depth knowledge of current evidence based practice are key to success but so are the business aspects that you will also gain from working with Dr. DePalma. Many of the things I learned while there have helped me grow the program. I would recommend without reservation, it’s a fantastic opportunity to learn from the best.”
2017
David B. Essaff, DO
Winchester Medical Center- Valley Health, Winchester, VA
2018
Shoji Ishigami, MD, PhD
West Virginia University Berkeley Medical Center, Martinsburg, WV
“The fellowship at Virginia iSpine Physicians has exposed me to a hybrid model of running an efficient private practice while practicing evidence based medicine with a strong academic influence.
This unique experience prepared me to start a new practice in an academic setting. Sharing the latest evidence based interventional spine care with the community is just as important as providing access to cost effective care in the community. Dr. DePalma not only prepared me with the biomedical and technical aspects of interventional procedures but also cultivated my development into a versatile spine specialist who can endure the challenging environment of academic medicine. Dr. DePalma gave me the opportunity to advance my career and I am very grateful that I have Dr. DePalma as a mentor.”
2020
Edward Lam, M.D.
Winchester Medical Center- Valley Health, Winchester, VA
2021
Ameer Ali, D.O.
Precision Spine Care, Lufkin, TX
“After completing fellowship, I feel confident with applying my newly acquired skills while exercising good clinical judgement rooted in evidence-based medicine. Additionally, given the fellowship is in a private practice setting, I developed a sound business sense with regards to billing etc. During fellowship, I did a high volume of procedures following SIS guidelines. Additionally, I was the Principal Investigator of a double-blind randomized controlled trial of an Intra-Discal procedure for the treatment of radicular pain. I was also a sub-investigator in several other research trials. The staff in the office is also very supportive and made my experience memorable. In summary, the ViSP fellowship under Dr. DePalma allowed me to develop the knowledge and skillset needed to be a sound Interventional Spinal physician. The mentorship I have gained in Dr. DePalma is invaluable and I strongly endorse Virginia iSpine Physicians for further fellowship training.”
Melissa Lau, D.O.
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
“Dr. DePalma’s fellowship at Virginia iSpine Physicians teaches fellows to adopt a systematic, evidenced-based approach to spine care. We develop the clinical and procedural acumen to care for complex patients. The year-long training created an invaluable foundation for launching my career. Fellows have access to the best of both worlds: by training in a private-practice based program that has a strong academic influence, fellows can seamlessly transition to any clinical practice afterwards.”
2022
Mir Namath Ali, D.O.
Precision Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in Washington, DC.
2023
Dan Nguyen, M.D.
Associate Professor/Interventional Spine and Pain at West Virginia University in Martinsburg, WV
Kelly R. Purcell, MD
Lehigh Valley Health Network in Lehigh Valley, PA
2024
Sushruth R. Moku, DO
Sophia S. Yae, DO
Published Papers
Papers fellows have written and published
- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, Saullo T. Multivariable analyses of the relationships between age, gender, and body mass index and the source of chronic low back pain. Pain Med 2012;13:498-506.
- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, Saullo TR, Laplante BL. Is the history of a surgical discectomy related to the source of chronic low back pain? Pain Phys 2012;15:E53-E58.
- Laplante BL, Ketchum JM, Saullo TR DePalma MJ,. Multivariable analysis of the relationship between pain referral patterns and the source of chronic low back pain. Pain Phys 2012;15:171-178.
- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, Saullo T. Structural etiology of chronic low back pain due to motor vehicle collision. Pain Med 2011;12(11):1622-1627.
- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, Saullo T. Etiology of chronic low back pain in patients having undergone lumbar fusion. Pain Med 2011;12(5):732-739.
- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, Trussell BS, Saullo TR, Slipman CW. Does the location of low back pain predict its source? PM R 2011;3(1):33-9.
- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, Saullo T. What is the source of chronic low back pain and does age play a role? Pain Med 2011;12(2):224-233.
- DePalma MJ, Ketchum JM, PhD, Queler ED, Trussell BS. Prospective pilot study of painful lumbar facet joint arthropathy after intra-articular injection of Hylan G-F 20. PM R 2009;1(10):908-915.
- Laplante BL, DePalma, MJ, “Spine Osteoarthritis.” Osteoarthritis supplement, PMR, USA;2012;4:S28-S36.
- DePalma, MJ, Laplante BL, “Interventional spine care.” (Chapter) In: Orthopaedic Knowledge Update, Spine. (Eds) Rao R., Smuck M, American Academcy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Press, USA; 2012; 121-146.
- Saullo TR, DePalma, MJ, “Preparation for interventional procedures.” (Chapter) In: Interventional Pain Medicine. (Ed) Gupta A., Oxford University Press, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 2012; 31-37.
- Trussell BS, DePalma, M.J., “Provocation discography evaluation of symptomatic cervical discs,” (Chapter) in iSpine: Evidence Based Interventional Spine Care, DePalma M. (Ed) New York: Demos Medical; 2011:302-309.
