Karen Myung, MD, Ph.D., MBA, FAAOS, is a board-certified pediatric orthopedic surgeon specializing in scoliosis, kyphosis and other spinal deformities and pediatric orthopedic trauma.
Dr. Myung attended Washington University in St. Louis as an Arthur Holly Compton scholar, and earned her medical degree and her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Iowa. She completed her orthopedic surgery residency at the University of Wisconsin, followed by a fellowship in pediatric orthopedic surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). She served on the surgical staff as an attending surgeon at both CHLA and the University of Southern California, where she published many articles related to pediatric spinal deformity.
Dr. Myung continued her academic and surgical career at the Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, specializing in scoliosis and other pediatric spinal deformities, and developing process improvements in pediatric patient care delivery. She earned her MBA at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, while developing a high-volume pediatric spinal deformity program with an emphasis on patient-centric, value-based care. With more than 2000 major spine surgeries performed and many peer-reviewed publications written, Dr. Myung has also served on national quality and safety committees as an active member of the Pediatric Orthopedic Society of North America and the Scoliosis Research Society. Her practice experiences include academic Level 1 pediatric trauma centers, community-based hospitals, private practice and a mid-sized charity-based healthcare organization. She also works with pediatric orthopedic and spine surgeons from India and the United States in a mission-based program where their surgeries profoundly impact the lives of children in Ahmedabad, India.
Throughout her medical career, Dr. Myung has been focused on the operational development of pediatric spine programs and also integrated healthcare systems. She has emphasized the delivery of high-quality and safe care in a value-efficient manner in many differing hospital and practice environments. With this attention to the patient experience, routine pediatric scoliosis surgeries are now performed with less blood loss, improved pain control, decreased lengths of stay, and faster return to sports without compromising safety, regardless of the healthcare setting and its resources. As her career has expanded, her interests in operational management continue to flourish. She is now a healthcare business surgeon-consultant at Surgical Directions, LLC.
