Dr. Hiroyuki Yoshihara, MD, PhD, is an orthopedic, spine, and scoliosis surgeon practicing at LIJ FH. is a 15th generation physician who comes from a family that has a history of practicing medicine that dates some 500 years back to the time of the Samurai Age. An earlier generation served a feudal lord as a physician in the Sadohara domain. He emigrated to New York from Japan after earning his medical degree at Nagoya City University Medical School and became one of Japan’s youngest Board-certified spine surgeons, before overseeing extensive research into regeneration of the post-injury spinal cord at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
His great grandfather studied at Osaka Medical School in 1877 at the age of 25.Photo courtesy of LIJ FH
“My great grandfather studied western medicine in the 1870s and then my grandfather became an orthopedic surgeon,” Yoshihara said of his family business. “I learned that my mother’s family have been physicians for more than 500 years and many of my closest relatives also practice medicine. I’m a 15th generation physician and 10 out of 18 children and grandchildren of my mother’s father are physicians. I have the same birthday as my grandfather so I knew at an early age that I was going to become a doctor, too.”
His colleagues became aware of the surgeon’s lineage when he joined the staff nearly two years ago.
His grandfather studied at Keio University; his family has a history of practicing medicine for 500 years, dating back to the Samurai Age.Photo courtesy of LIJ FH
Dr. Yoshihara’s family tree stretches back 2,000 years.Photo courtesy of LIJ FH
“When you bring it up, he lights up, because he’s so proud of his very long standing legacy that has been passed down for so many generations,” Dr. Isabella Park, LIJ FH Associate Medical Director, said. “It’s really remarkable. For so many generations, I’ve never seen anything like it. I get emotional just thinking about it. What an honor.”
With Asian Pacific American Heritage Month winding down, Northwell Health officials highlighted the profound impact Dr. Yoshihara has had doing dozens of speaking engagements each year at faith-based organizations including churches, mosques and temples, civic association meetings, and veterans groups lecturing about lower back pain prevention and treatment options, spine and joint health.
“As an orthopedic spine surgeon, I find immense joy in educating people about spinal health and alleviating their concerns,” Dr. Yoshihara said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to connect with the community, sharing knowledge that empowers them to take control of their well-being. Together, we can provide the support needed to foster healthier, more active lives.”
Northwell Health Vice President of Ambulatory Service Nirmal Pandya has accompanied Dr. Yishihara to many of his speaking engagements.
“He’s an orthopedic surgeon who focuses on the spine, and what’s really cool about him is he’s willing to go into the community and educate a lot about back health and spine health across the various communities of Central Queens,” Pandya told QNS. “He has a spine-like replica that he goes around with and he uses that skeleton to present with to build awareness in the community at a time where Queens now ranks first in life expectancy among the five boroughs. The age now is 81.3, so that’s a lot of aging people, and while he specializes in older people, he also handles patients of all ages.”
He brings a 3-D printed spine model showing vertebrae with a bulging disc as part of his presentations.Photo courtesy of LIJ FH
But he is passionate about educating the elderly.
“A lot of the geriatric communities, they think, ‘oh no, I can’t move with back paint,’ and they just accept it as part of getting older and it’s absolutely not,” Park said. “Quality of life is really important, and there’s so much more sophisticated options out there and that’s what he tries to tell the community is that there are good options and that there’s some new ways to help with recovery and prevention.”
Longer life expectancy means more older adults have back pain associated with aging degeneration and they are used to more conservative treatment such as medication, physical therapy and injections, Dr. Yoshihara told QNS.
“But some of them still have a lot of pain, a lot of symptoms after those treatments, and those patients can get good improvement from the surgery, even elderly patients in their 70s and 80s,” he said. “Now I do spine surgery on patients in their 90s, as long as the patient is healthy and in good spirits.”
As an orthopedic spine surgeon, Dr. Yoshihara takes immense joy in educating elderly people and immigrants about spinal health and alleviating their concerns.Photo courtesy of LIJ FH
He shares a common bond with the immigrant community, too.
“Not just Asians. Queens is full of immigrants from all over the world and I too am a recent immigrant to the United States so I understand what they are feeling,” Dr. Yoshihara said. “I felt a deep concern about how immigrants are being treated by the current government. But. For many what I can do is meet every patient with compassion, and the very best care I know how to provide.”
For many, that means helping restore quality of life through spine surgery.
“Queens is one of the most diverse immigrant communities in the world, and many of my patients are recent immigrants who may also also be carrying uncertainty and anxiety,” he said. “I believe it’s important to support them not only through medical care, but also by sharing strength, hope and reassurance through my own commitment and energy.”