MY BACKGROUND
Dr. Nitin Kukkar is trained in the latest minimally invasive spine surgery techniques, and now brings these skills to the people in the San Antonio TX area.
A humble beginning This town is his last stop on a long journey that began in a humble town in Northwestern India.
“I grew up on a farm — we had about 100 acres — with cattle, camels, horses, and sheep,” he recalls. “We grew crops, plus my father worked in a sugar factory and my mom was an English teacher. My hometown is not too unlike San Antonio: a good combination of city life with a small-town feel with no heavy traffic, and access to everything you need within minutes.” The decision to pursue medicine came largely due to an injury his father sustained. Involved in a near-fatal jeep accident in 1985, his father’s quality of life decreased due to knee injuries, causing him to become bedridden.
Unfortunately, his condition worsened because there were no skilled orthopedic surgeons in town. After years of suffering, his father left their small town for specialized advanced treatment. With specialized care, his father began to recover and overcame his prolonged injuries. Dr. Kukkar was grateful, but, perhaps more importantly, he realized the value of accessibility to qualified physicians in all towns, big or small, and the impact it has on the overall health of the individual and the community. Dr. Kukkar completed his medical schooling and exclusive residency in the heavily populated area of Delhi, where he practiced general orthopedics and trauma. The experience would prove to be of great value, although Dr. Kukkar was looking to expand his horizons. He goes on to say, “I wanted more than what Delhi could offer. Even though the country’s capital had all the amenities you could imagine, I wanted to excel further in the field of orthopedics and continue learning more complex diseases and methods of treatment.” So, leaving Delhi behind, Dr. Kukkar embarked on a long medical journey that would eventually take him halfway around the world. Dr. Kukkar applied for a few fellowships, getting one at Columbia University in New York and later, one at Harvard University near Boston. While at Harvard, Dr. Kukkar started to concentrate more in spinal disorders. It was the work he was doing on the spine that really fulfilled and satisfied his growing interests. With intentions to specialize on the spine, Dr. Kukkar sought more training and was accepted to the spine fellowship program in Springfield, Illinois.
Working under spine surgeons Drs. Freitag and Gabriel in Springfield, Dr. Kukkar not only experienced the best years of his training, he found specializing in the spine was the purpose for which he had been seeking.
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He finally decided to start Texas Spine & Orthopedic Surgeons to be able to better serve his patients where he has control of all aspects of the patient outcomes.
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