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About

About

S.K. Radhakrishnan

S. K. Radhakrishnan began his career as a physical therapist in India before relocating to the United States. With 13 years of experience as a contract physical therapist in the Midwest, he pursued physician assistant (PA) training at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, from 2002 to 2004 and served as the class vice-president. During this time, he was honored with the Physician Assistant Foundation Scholarship at the 2004 Donors & Scholars Luncheon. He was also selected by the Wayne State University PA Program Faculty as the student “most likely to achieve clinical excellence while advancing the ethics and standards of the profession,” receiving the prestigious “Professionalism Award” for the Class of 2004.

In 2004, he joined Duke University Hospital after being accepted into the Duke Postgraduate PA Surgical Residency Program. Upon completing the residency program, he began his career as a neurosurgical PA under the mentorship of Dr. Allan Friedman in the Department of Neurosurgery. Throughout his career, he has been committed to educating and mentoring future healthcare professionals, actively contributing to the training of Duke PA students.

S.K. Radhakrishnan’s contributions to patient care and education have been widely recognized. In 2006, he was awarded the “Duke Strength, Hope, and Caring Award” for his exceptional provision of compassionate care. In April 2018, he received the “Meritorious Service Award” for his distinguished service at Duke. In August 2019, he was honored with the “Henry ‘Buddy’ Lee Treadwell Award” in recognition of his excellence in teaching at the Duke Physician Assistant Program. He served as the program director of the Duke Postgraduate PA Surgical Residency Program from 2013 to 2023, where he played a pivotal role in securing the program’s accreditation by the ARC-PA. Currently, he holds the position of administrative chief and clinical neurosurgical PA in the Department of Neurosurgery. He remains dedicated to educating and mentoring neurosurgical residents and PA surgical residents.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, he has contributed to several volunteer initiatives, including working with the Special Olympics and participating in Duke Global Health’s neurosurgery mission trips to Uganda. Through this website, he offers complimentary guidance and support to pre-PA and pre-med students aspiring to pursue a career as a physician assistant. He became a U.S. citizen in October 2010. Outside of his professional work, he enjoys cooking, tennis, carrom-board, and writing. His first novel, I Have No Earthly Idea, was recently published.

S. K. Radhakrishnan author