Daniel K. Park, MD Board-certified Orthopaedic Spine Surgeon
Dr. Daniel K. Park is a board certified orthopedic spine surgeon at Midwest Orthopedics at RUSH. He is currently Professor in Orthopedic Spine Surgery at RUSH Medical College. He relocated to Chicago after spending 14 years at Corewell Health-William Beaumont Hospital where he served as Director of Minimally Invasive Orthopedic Spine Surgery. He was also the medical director of Orthopedic Spine Research Lab. Because of his vast skills in minimally invasive spine surgery, particular endoscopic spine surgery, Dr. Park was recruited back to join Midwest Orthopedics in 2026.
Dr. Park earned his bachelor of science degree at Emory University and then graduated from Duke University Medical School. He finished his orthopedic surgery residency at RUSH University in Chicago, Illinois and his spine surgery fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Park is recipient of various awards and honors, such as Edward D. Smith Emory scholar, Georgia HOPE scholar, Georgia Governor's scholar, William G. Anylan Duke Scholar, and Howard Hughes medical student research fellow. He is also a member of Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society and Phi Beta Kappa. He has also been selected to attend AAOS/OREF/ORS Clinician Scientist Development Program and the AOA-OREF Resident Leadership Forum.
Dr. Park's clinical and research interests are in all disorders of the spine, particularly in minimally invasive surgery and cervical spine. Prof. Park has been active in research since medical school and has been recognized for his research endeavors early in his academic career. He has been a recipient of the Talmage Peele Award at Duke University and won outstanding oral platform presentation at Duke Alpha Omega Alpha Research symposium. He was selected as best resident research three straight years at Rush University. He has presented his research at various national meetings including the Cervical Spine Research Society (CSRS), Lumbar Spine Research Society (LSRS), American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery (AAOS), and Howard Hughes Medical Institute medical student research symposium. Furthermore, Dr. Park was the first US surgeon to perform biportal endosocpic spine surgery and has published extensively on the outcomes of this procedure. He is the co-founder of the World Unilateral Bilateral Endoscopic (WUBE) America Society.
Lastly, Prof. Park is active in promoting spine care across the world. He was the spine section editor for AAOS orthoinfo website https://orthoinfo.aaos.org (a website of patient education) for many years and is on various committees of AAOS. He is a peer-reviewer for many international spine journals. Prof. Park is also involved in medical missions as he has gone on mission trips to Uganda and Guatemala. Through these mission trips and also teaching residents and fellows, many spine surgeons across the world have been taught by Prof. Park.
