Founder, Deuk Joint Institute & Deuk Spine Institute · Creator of Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® · Board-Certified Neurosurgeon & Minimally Invasive Joint Specialist
“Excellence is not given, it is earned.” Dr. Deukmedjian earned his status as a world-class surgeon through years of hard work and dedication to excellence in patient care. His father, Dr. Aria Deukmedjian MD, taught his son the most important lesson in medicine, “Always do what is best for your patients and you will be rewarded with their enduring gratitude.” Medicine has changed dramatically over the last 50 years but one thing remains true, the doctor-patient relationship is sacred. The foundation of that relationship is based in trust and sacrifice.
Neurological Surgery
University of Florida, Shands Hospital
Jan 2004
Ranked #1 in the world
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian was fortunate to be accepted into the top 7-year neurological surgery training program at Shands Hospital headed by preeminent neurosurgeon, Dr. Albert Rhoton MD. While at the University of Florida Department of Neurosurgery, the faculty was comprised of top neurosurgeons in their field including Dr. Arthur Day, Dr. Bill Friedman, Dr. Richard Fessler, Dr. Parker Mickle, Dr. Jeff Henn, Dr. Steven Lewis, Dr. Robert Mericle and Dr. Steven Roper. During his neurosurgical training, Dr. Deukmedjian became an expert in various neurosurgical fields including spine, neurocritical care, skull base, cerebrovascular, neuro-endovascular, pediatric, brain lesions, functional neurosurgery and pain. While in residency, the National Institute of Health (NIH) awarded Dr. Deukmedjian a fully funded 2-year research fellowship in epilepsy neurosurgery. Dr. Deukmedjian completed his board-certification in neurosurgery and is a Fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.
University of Southern California (USC)
Jan 1997
Ranked #15 in the world
Dr. Ara Deukmedjian graduated from USC school of Medicine with “Highest Distinction” also ranked #1 by grades in his class of 170 students. Dr. Deukmedjian was appointed “junior AOA” and soon after elected President of the USC chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA), the national honor society for medical schools. Dr. Deukmedjian received many honors and awards in medical school including the Barbara Monroe Pathology Honor Award for the student with the highest test scores in pathology. Dr. Deukmedjian’s academic performance earned him Phi Beta Kappa national honor society and selection for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology award with a trip to Walter Reed Army Hospital. In 1995, Dr. Deukmedjian was recognized by pathology chairman and author Dr. Clive Taylor for scoring the only perfect score on the pathology final exam at the end of the year, a first in the 100+ year history of the school. Dr. Deukmedjian won the annual Retzius Neuroanatomy competition held every year at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles. Dr. Deukmedjian was promoted to neuroanatomy faculty during his 4th year in medical school and received his entire 4th year of medical school tuition free, also a first for the University of Southern California to offer this opportunity to one of its own exceptional medical students.
University of California, San Diego
Jan 1993
Ranked top 30 in the world
Dr. Deukmedjian graduated Lutheran High School of Ventura County as valedictorian and attended the University of California campus in San Diego for undergraduate studies in Biochemistry-Cell Biology and Chemistry, obtaining degrees in both. While at UCSD, Dr. Deukmedjian played competitive soccer, DJ at the school radio station, was elected sophomore senator and served in student government, co-founded the Armenian Student Organization, joined a fraternity Delta Sigma Phi, volunteered in Dr. Jay Seegmiller’s Alzheimer Disease Research lab, volunteered in the UCSD burn ICU and served on the UCSD admissions committee.
Most spine and joint surgeons, handed a worn or painful joint, reach for the same answers their training handed them: replace it, fuse it, move on. Dr. Ara Deukmedjian, MD, built his career on a different instinct — find the nerves actually carrying the pain and treat those, preserving the patient’s own joint. That instinct is the foundation of Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy® and of Deuk Joint Institute.
Decisions like that aren’t made in an operating room. They’re formed decades earlier — in libraries, in research labs, and on soccer fields — by a mind unwilling to accept “this is how it has always been done.” The three-part biographical series below traces how that mind was built.
Part One: Before the Scalpel begins in Thousand Oaks, California, with a five-year-old who noticed the people other children walked past — those in wheelchairs and on crutches, unable to live free of pain. Combined with a father who rebuilt a medical career from nothing after immigrating from Egypt, that early empathy became the foundation for everything that followed.
Part Two: Medical School at USC Keck is the chapter most patients never hear. While classmates were still being evaluated, Dr. Deukmedjian was helping evaluate them — appointed to the USC Keck School of Medicine Admissions Committee as a student, and named Assistant Professor of Neurosciences before completing residency.
Part Three: NASA, Florida, and the Founding of Deuk is where the surgeon you know today emerged. During his neurosurgery residency at the University of Florida, Dr. Deukmedjian served on the NASA Spaceflight Medical Team across four Space Shuttle missions between 2001 and 2004. In 2004 he founded Deuk Spine Institute with his wife, Sun Deukmedjian, PA, just down the road from Kennedy Space Center — and from that practice came his minimally invasive procedures: Deuk Piriformis Release®, Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy®, and Deuk Laser Disc Repair®. Today, through Deuk Joint Institute, Deuk Plasma Rhizotomy treats arthritic knees, hips, shoulders, and other peripheral joints — relieving chronic pain while preserving the patient’s natural joint.
Tang So Do Karate (Green Belt) 1996-1997
Cultural Programming Board – Chairman 1990-1991
Melbourne
Deuk Joint Institute · A Division of Deuk Spine Institute
7955 Spyglass Hill Rd, Melbourne, FL 32940
Our physicians personally evaluate every MRI to identify your pain generators.
NIH: National Research Service Award (NRSA, F-32) 9/27/2000, Principal Investigator, 12/2000- 12/2002.
Awarded by National Institute- Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH for “Interactions Between Heterophic and Dysplastic Cortex”: NIH/NINDS grant #: 1 F32 NS11129-01
USC School of Medicine Gross Head and Neck Anatomy Instructor
Faculty Instructor for 6-week Head and Neck Gross Anatomy Course for Year 1 U.S.C. Medical Students 1997
NASA Space flight Medical Team 2001-2004
Kennedy Space Center for STS 97, 105, 107, 108
President of U.S.C. Chapter 1996-1997
ALPHA OMEGA ALPHA
America’s “Top Surgeon” Award by Consumer Research Council 2009 – 2013
Most Compassionate Physician (vitals.com) 2011, 2012, 2013
Graduated USC School of Medicine with “Highest Distinction” 1997
USC School of Medicine overall class rank: #1 of 170 students, class of 1996
