Meet Dr. McAllister

David R. McAllister, MD is a native of Southern California and has been a member of the full time faculty at UCLA Health since 1998. Dr. McAllister is Chief of the Sports Medicine Service, Professor and Vice Chair for Academic Affairs in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon with subspecialty Board Certification in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine. Dr. McAllister also serves as the program director of the sports medicine fellowship at UCLA which trains orthopedic surgeons to become sports medicine specialists. In addition, he is responsible for teaching UCLA medical students and orthopedic surgery residents.

Dr. McAllister provides care to athletes of all skill levels including professional, collegiate, high school, and recreational athletes. He is the Head Team Physician for the UCLA Athletic Department. He has extensive experience caring for athletes in a variety of sports including football, basketball, soccer, gymnastics, volleyball and track. He has also served as a team physician for the 2002 United States Figure Skating Championships. He was the medical director and team physician for the 2004 United States Golf Association Senior Open Tournament. He was a team physician for the 2015 Special Olympics and was the head team physician for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2016-2018. As a recognized expert in sports medicine, Dr. McAllister routinely treats patients from other areas of the state, the region and the world.

He specializes in all areas of orthopedic sports medicine and has special expertise in knee ligament injuries, meniscus injuries and articular cartilage problems. He has extensive clinical and research experience in the area of knee ligaments as well as biomechanics including ACL, PCL and posterolateral corner reconstructions. He has lectured extensively on these topics both nationally and internationally. In addition, he has published multiple original manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. McAllister belongs to many national and international societies and has held leadership positions/committee positions in the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), International Society of Arthroscopy, Knee Surgery, and Orthopaedic Sports Medicine (ISAKOS), and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS). Dr. McAllister routinely serves on the faculty for courses designed to educate other orthopedic surgeons in the area of sports medicine. He also serves on the editorial board of numerous orthopedic publications.

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APPOINTMENT

TRAINING

FELLOWSHIP

1997-1998, Orthopaedic Sports Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

INTERNSHIP & RESIDENCY

1992-1997, Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, Irvine Medical Center

MEDICAL SCHOOL

1988-1992, The Ohio State University, College of Medicine

UNDERGRADUATE

1984-1988, University of California, San Diego