Ronald F. Young
M.D., F.A.C.S. Neurosurgeon
Thousand Oaks, California
Dr. Ronald Frederick Young is a neurosurgeon, a teacher, an editor, a medical copywriter, and a chief operating officer of a medical corporation (neurological surgery) in Thousand Oaks, California.
He has more than 40 years of experience in the field of neurosurgery, board-certified with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Young serves as the medical director of Gamma Knife Center, Swedish Hospital in Seattle, Washington. He is also the medical director for neurosurgery at the Gamma Knife Center of Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, California. He is a licensed physician and surgeon by the Medical Board of California.
He is a recipient of numerous awards and accolades from academic, professional, and related organizations in the US and abroad. Dr. Young is a who’s who, pertaining to his appearance on Marquis Who’s Who and similar national directories of notable personages and professionals in their fields.
Dr. Young is the former president of the Society of University Neurosurgeons, Western Neurosurgical Society, and Southern California Neurosurgical Society.
His teaching appointments and visiting professorships have allowed him to teach in the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, and China. He acted as a special consultant on Gamma Knife technology to the Republic of Singapore. Since 1989, he has served as an extramural grant reviewer of the Food and Drug Administration’s Public Health Service.
Dr. Young is well-published with more than a hundred peer-reviewed articles and book chapters to date. He has presented his research to professional societies’ meetings and conferences, with current projects centered on the outcomes of Gamma Knife treatment for chronic pain.
Get to know Dr. Young’s educational background, professional activities, and personal interests, as stated below.
Educational
Dr. Young obtained his doctor of medicine degree from the State University of New York in Buffalo (SUNY) in 1965, having previously attended the same academic institution for his bachelor’s degree in biology.
He completed his straight surgical internship at the University of Minnesota in 1966. He underwent his residency training in neurosurgery at VA Hospital in Long Beach, California (1966–1967) and SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York (1969 to 1973).
Work Experience
Teaching. Dr. Young held academic appointments in 25 years. He served as an assistant professor in neurosurgery at SUNY Upstate Medical Center from 1973 to 1977 and associate professor in the same medical center between April to June 1977.
He joined UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California as an associate professor in surgery/neurosurgery in 1977. After three years, he was appointed professor at the same School of Medicine, where he stayed until 1985.
In 1986, Dr. Young moved to the School of Medicine of the University of California, Irvine, where he held numerous positions until 1998. His very first appointments were as professor of surgery/neurosurgery and chief of the Division of Neurosurgery between 1986 and 1992. He served as the Department of Surgery’s acting chairman from 1989 to 1990. He served as professor and acting chair of the Department of Neurosurgery for about a year (1992–1993). For five years leading to 1998, he was a clinical professor in Neurosurgery at the said school of medicine.
Visiting professorships. In addition to the above academic appointments, he was invited to teach in colleges and universities in and outside the US.
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In 1982, he returned to SUNY as a Visiting Professor and taught at St. Elizabeth’s Hos[ital in Ravensburg, West Germany.
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In 1983, he was at Regional Neurosurgical Hospital in Bologna, Italy; VISP General Hospital in VISP Switzerland as a visiting scholar.
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In 1985, he presented at the University of Lyon, University of Grenoble, and an annual meeting all in France. At the University of Beijing in China, he had a presentation on robotics in neurosurgery.
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In 1988, he was a visiting professor of the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of California, San Diego.
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In 1990, he was a visiting professor and Elizabeth C. Crosby lecturer (see awards listed below)at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Section of Neurosurgery and Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology).
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In 1991, he was a visiting professor at the University of Vermont (Section of Neurosurgery).
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In 1992, he was at SUNY, Health Science Center, Department of Neurosurgery.
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In 1998, he was at the University of British Columbia, Department of Neurosurgery.
Hospital appointments. Since 1982, Dr. Young has served in various medical facilities. His earliest hospital appointments between April 1982 and March 1993 were the following: associate staff status at Memorial Hospital Medical Center, consulting staff at Memorial Miller Children Hospital, reciprocal privileges at Women’s Hospital in Long Beach, California, and attending neurosurgeon at Memorial Hospital Medical Center in Long Beach.
These are his subsequent appointments:
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Courtesy Staff Neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (1991–1993)
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Medical Director of the American Gamma Knife Network in Newport Beach, California (1996–2001)
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Co–medical director of the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, California (1998–2001)
Current positions. Since 1993, Dr. Young has served as the medical director of the Northwest Hospital Gamma Knife Center and Northwest Hospital Neuroscience Center in Seattle, Washington. He has served as an attending neurosurgeon at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, California, since 1999.
Dr. Young has a practice in California with previous medical license credentials in New York, Hawaii, Vermont, Washington.
Appointments and Affiliations with Scientific Societies
Dr. Young holds or has held significant positions with the following organizations:
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Secretary, American Academy of Pain Medicine (1991)
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Section on Pain, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons
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Chairman (1991–1992)
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Program committee (1988–1992)
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Vice chairman (1989–1990)
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Board of directors (1987–1990)
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Program committee (1982)
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Marshals committee (1981)
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Local arrangements committee (1979)
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American Pain Society
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Associate chairman (1986), Scientific Program Committee, annual meeting
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Scientific and Professional Ethics Committee (1986–1988)
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California Association of Neurological Surgeons
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Congress of Neurological Surgeons/American Association of Neurological Surgeons
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Joint Committee on Devices and Drugs (1986–present)
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Chairman, Glossary and Definitions Section, Joint Committee on Standards for Stereotaxis (1994)
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Society of University Surgeons
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President (1996–1997)
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President-elect (1995–1996)
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Vice president (1994–1995)
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Secretary/treasurer (1991–1993)
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Member at large, Executive Committee (1989–1990)
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Chairman, Membership Committee (1986–1988)
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President, Southern California Neurosurgical Society (1986)
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Western Neurological Society
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President (1993–1994)
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Vice president (1990–1991)
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Chairman, Membership Committee (1985–1990)
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Program Committee (1985–1987)
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Alternative representative to Western Societies of Neurological Science (1981–1982)
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Chairman, International Leksell Gamma Knife Society (1994)
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Scientific advisory panel on Neurosurgery, California Medical Association (1986–1993)
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Assessment panel, American Medical Association Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technology (DATTA) (1994)
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Delegate, American Joint Committee on Cancer (1986)
His other affiliations, past or present, are as follows:
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International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society
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The Society of Neurological Surgeons
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Washington State Medical Association
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Trigeminal Neuralgia Association, Medical Advisory Board
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Society of Neurological Surgeons of Orange County
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Research Society of Neurological Surgeons
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New England Neurosurgical Society
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King County Medical Society
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American Board of Forensic Medicine
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American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery
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American College of Surgeons
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American Academy of Neurological Surgery (resigned)
Awards
Dr. Young was awarded the Irving F. Heyman Award in Clinical Neurology by the State University of New York in 1965. He was honored with the Elizabeth Crosby Medal by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1990, and the Lauds & Laurels Award, Professional Achievement by the University of California, Irvine, Alumni Association in 1992. He received a Kongress Medal from the German Neurological Society in 1982.
In 1996 alone, he was included in the national directory of Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals, The Best Doctors in America, and American Registry of Who’s Who in Leading Professionals & Executives. This recognition continued with a Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare (1997–1998) and Who’s Who in America (2000–2004).
He was an awardee of the American Medical Association (AMA)’s Physician’s Recognition Award (PRA) from 1998 to 2001.
Publications
Dr. Young has published close to 100 articles in scientific journals, 53 book chapters, as well as 54 manuscripts, abstracts, and brief communications. The abovementioned tally of his works does not include manuscripts that are in progress and for submission. In 1981, he co-wrote a book titled Spinal Cord Injury: Case Studies.
Deep brain stimulation in the management of pain, treatment of chronic pain, and other applications has been one of Dr. Young’s foremost research areas, covering it in his articles and presentations.
He has also provided editorial services in several capacities throughout his career. He served as the associate editor of PAIN, the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). He acted as contributing consultant for Neurosurgical Consultations and was a member of the editorial board of Neurological Research.
Dr. Young served as ad hoc editorial reviewer for the US Food and Drug Administration and journals: Bulletin of the Los Angeles Neurological Societies, The Journal of Radiosurgery (where he sat as a member of the editorial review board), Archives of Oral Biology, Neurological Research, Headache: The Journal of Headache and Face Pain, Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, Experimental Neurology, Surgical Neurology, Neurosurgery, Science,Cancer, and Brain Research.
Currently, Dr. Young is a medical copywriter in the field of medical devices after retiring as a neurosurgeon in 2018. At that time of his retirement, his experience in neurosurgery totaled 45 years.
More information on Dr. Young:
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