Consultation
About

A surgeon's job is not
to be busy. It's to be right.

I'm Arash Sayari — a fellowship-trained spine surgeon practicing in Chicago. I treat cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine conditions using both the most advanced techniques available and the oldest tool in medicine: paying attention.

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Dr. Arash Sayari portrait
A. Sayari, MD Chicago · 2024
The training

From Westwood to
the Loop — by way of
Miami and Los Angeles.

I grew up wanting to understand how bodies fail and how to help them heal. That curiosity took me through UCLA, then medical school at the University of Miami (Alpha Omega Alpha, Magna Cum Laude), then an orthopaedic residency at Rush University here in Chicago — where I was later named Teacher of the Year in 2021.

After residency, I completed a spine surgery fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, training under some of the most respected spine surgeons in the country on robotics, motion preservation, and minimally invasive technique. I returned to Rush as faculty to build a practice that combines that technical training with an active research agenda — and above all, a patient-first approach.

  1. 2022 —
    Midwest Orthopaedics at Rush
    Faculty, Spine Surgery · Chicago, IL
  2. 2021–22
    Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
    Fellowship in Spine Surgery · Los Angeles, CA
  3. 2016–21
    Rush University Medical Center
    Orthopaedic Surgery Residency · Chicago, IL
  4. 2014–15
    USC Keck School of Medicine
    Research Fellow, Spine Surgery · Los Angeles, CA
  5. 2011–16
    University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
    Doctor of Medicine · Miami, FL
  6. 2007–11
    University of California, Los Angeles
    B.S., Magna Cum Laude, University Honors · Los Angeles, CA
Philosophy

Evidence,
restraint,
and time.

01

Listen first.

Most of what I need to know shows up in the first fifteen minutes of conversation — before I've looked at a single MRI. I don't rush that part.

02

Operate only when necessary.

The best operation is often the one not performed. When surgery isn't the right answer, I'll tell you directly and help you find a better path.

03

Preserve what's working.

Minimally invasive and motion-preserving techniques when the anatomy allows — smaller incisions, faster recovery, more of your own spine kept intact.

04

Never stop learning.

I write, present, teach, and review. Medicine moves fast; my patients deserve a surgeon who moves with it.

Beyond the OR

Family, fútbol,
fiction, and the occasional long flight.

Outside the hospital, I'm a husband and father first. I travel when I can, follow the beautiful game closely, and believe strongly in the restorative powers of a long walk and a very strong cup of coffee. My patients often hear about these things — I think they matter.

  • EN English · native
  • FA Farsi · native
  • ES Spanish · conversational
45+
peer-reviewed works
9
reviewed journals
∞
patients first