Terrence T. Kim, MD is an Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon at the Cedars-Sinai Spine Center. He specializes in cervical, thoracic and lumbar disorders of the spine, degenerative disorders, spinal trauma, adult and pediatric deformity, spinal oncology, minimally invasive surgery and surgery with image guidance and computer-assisted navigation.
Dr. Kim has made several discoveries in both the Orthopaedic and Spine literature. His research started in spinal trauma, but has more recently encompassed degenerative spine, complex scoliosis spine and adult deformity. Dr. Kim’s work has been accepted and presented at both national and international meetings, and he is the author of numerous peer-reviewed spine-related articles and book chapters.
Dr. Kim was born in Chicago, Illinois and is one of five siblings. After graduating as a Dean’s Scholar from Cornell University, Dr. Kim attended the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, where he earned his medical degree. He completed his residency in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Maryland/Shock Trauma Hospital. He served as the Academic Chief Resident his final year-responsible for resident teaching and education. While in residency, he also trained in Pediatric Spine, Complex Adult Spine and Musculoskeletal Oncology at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Dr. Kim completed his fellowship in spinal surgery at the Cedars-Sinai Spine Center under the guidance of several world-renowned spine surgeons including: Drs. J Patrick Johnson, Robert S. Pashman, Srinath Samudrala and Neel Anand. He has received extensive training in both Orthopaedic and Neurosurgical spine surgery techniques during his fellowship and continues to combine them in his minimally invasive, degenerative and deformity practice.
Currently, Dr. Kim serves as a staff physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and is a candidate member of the Spine Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. His research interests are comprehensive and reflect his specialties in the areas of spine surgery. These interests include minimally invasive surgical procedures, motion preservation technology, cervical spine deformity correction, developing a classification for adult scoliosis, outcomes in spondylolisthesis patients, and emerging technology in CT-image guidance and computer-assisted navigation surgery. In addition to his research duties, he also participates in daily training of post-graduate fellow surgeons and residents at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
Dr. Kim is a member of several professional societies including the North American Spine Society (NASS), Scoliosis Reseach Society (SRS) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). He is fluent in conversational Korean.