Neil Kahanovitz, M.D.
Living the Dream – From Circus to Surgery

When Dr. Neil Kahonovitz was 10 years old, he decided that “there were only two things he wanted to be when he grew up: be an orthopedic surgeon and a circus performer.”

He’s lived both dreams.

Dr. Kahonovitz is internationally known as a spine surgeon and lecturer. He performs minimally invasive spine surgery at Short Hills Surgery Center on an outpatient basis to remove herniated lumbar discs – what people often call “slipped discs.” “This sort of surgery used to mean a couple of days in the hospital; now the patient can be home in five or six hours,” says Dr. Kahonovitz. “The Center’s facilities are superb, and the staff is uniformly excellent.”

Dr. Kahonovitz worked his way through the University of Maryland Medical School by traveling around the United States as a circus performer. First as a clown in a trampoline act and briefly as an aerialist, he continued to perform after medical school and during vacations. During his residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles he became part owner of an elephant act, which he sold after his fellowship.

Dr. Kahonovitz’s interest in show business goes beyond the circus. He produced the musical, Pageant, in London’s West End, where it was nominated for two Olivier Awards (equivalent to Broadway’s Tony), and later mounted the show in Chicago as well. But his first love remains orthopaedics. He has served as Chief of Back Surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City, as Director of Spine Surgery at the Washington (DC) Hospital Center and as President of North America Spine Society. He is currently writing a book for the general public on the care and treatment of low back disorders based on his years of medical expertise and his varied life experiences.