Dr. Jason Mazzarella, DC, DAAPM, DCAPM, DAAETS, FIAMA, MVC-FRA, CATSM, CBIS, CMVT, CPM, CK, BSc Kin, BSc HPA

Healthcare Education

Doctor of Chiropractic – New York Chiropractic College

Fellowship in Medical Acupuncture – International Academy of Medical Acupuncture

B.S. Kinesiology Movement Science – The Pennsylvania State University

B.S. Health Policy & Administration – The Pennsylvania State University

12 Pain Management Certificates – American Medical Association

6 Pain Management Certificates - American Academy of Family Physicians

Whiplash and Brain Traumatology Certificate – SRISD

Motor Vehicle Crash Forensics Risk Analysis Certification – SRISD

Elite Sports Science Rotation – United States Olympic Training Center (NY)

VA Chiropractic Internship – Buffalo New York Veteran’s Hospital

Certified Kinesiologist - Ontario Kinesiology Association

Certified Brain Injury Specialist - Brain Injury Association of America

Diplomat American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress - AAETS

Certified Pain Management - AAETS

Certification in Acute Traumatic Stress Management - AAETS

Diplomate American Academy of Pain Management - AAPM

Diplomate Canadian Academy of Pain Management - CAPM

Crash (Event) Data Retrieval Certification - CATAIR/Crash Data Specialists

Crash (Event) Data Technician Certification - CATAIR/Crash Data Specialists

Accident Investigation - Northwestern University

Advanced Whiplash and Brain Traumatology - SRISD

Hospital Experience

Over the last 10 years Dr. Mazzarella has had the opportunity to see the healthcare system from both the financial and clinical side of healthcare.

As a student at Penn State University, Dr. Mazzarella applied for and was accepted into an Internship atWindber Medical Center where he was involved in Business Development. Dr. Mazzarella, through his internship participated in several projects including Hospice, HealthStyles (physical and cardiac rehabilitation), and the Dr. Dean Ornish Program.

The Dr. Dean Ornish Program was developed in California by Dr. Dean Ornish. This program was a nutritional program designed to help patients with severe heart disease. Dr. Mazzarella worked along with others at Windber Medical Center and Walter Reed Medical Center to bring this program to the east coast and give severe heart disease patients a chance at a healthier happier life.

Dr. Mazzarella was also involved in several clinical rotations in hospital settings. Dr. Mazzarella was a student intern at the Buffalo New York Veterans Hospital and Erie County Medical Center . Dr. Mazzarella was involved in externships with Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center and Prince William Health Systems.

Dr. Mazzarella, after a competitive application process was the first of his class to be accepted and participate in ground-braking new Chiropractic and Orthopaedic internship program through New York Chiropractic College and the Buffalo New York Veterans Hospital (1). The benefit of this program is that it provides chiropractic students with the opportunity to share common educational ground with medical students, thus helping to bridge the clinical gap between the two healthcare fields (2).

Dr. Mazzarella’s VA internship experience provided him with approximately 270 clinical hours of patient care and management in a hospital setting dealing with patients suffering from chronic pain, disability and post traumatic stress (1). In addition, he was exposed to approximately 80 hours of orthopaedic patient management and surgical observations under the supervision of Dr. Israel Ziv, Head Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Buffalo New York Veteran’s Hospital and liaison between the chiropractic and orthopedic fields (1).

Lastly, his VA internship training provided him with approximately 40 hours of research training which has helped him develop skills that he now uses in his own medical/chiropractic sponsored seminar series on whiplash treatment and traumatology (1).

The VA internship program is the basis for which Dr. Dunn, staff chiropractor at the Buffalo New YorkVeterans Hospital is using to develop the first Chiropractic Residency Program (1).

Dr. Dunn made the following statements in regards to the internship program the Dr. Mazzarella was part of.

“The significance of this VA chiropractic internship is that it represents the only educational opportunity of its kind currently available to chiropractic student interns (1)”

“The implications of the VA chiropractic internship program are significant with relation to research, the development of a chiropractic residency program within the VA Health Care System (1)”

1. Dunn, AS: A Chiropractic Internship Program in the Department of Veteran Affairs Healthcare System: J. Chiropr Educ Vol. 19, No 2: 2005

2. Dunn, AS: A survey of chiropractic academic affiliations within the department of veteran’s affairs health care system. Chiropr Educ. 2007 Fall; 21(2): 138–143

Clinical Experience

REHABILITATION EXPERIENCE

Dr. Mazzarella has over 3000 hours of clinical training under the supervision of a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapist treating patients suffering from whiplash, chronic pain, post traumatic stress disorder, shoulder/knee injuries, and post surgical cases such as shoulder reconstruction, knee reconstruction, and amputee’s functional rehabilitation.

In addition, Dr. Mazzarella was selected into a clinical rotation at the United States Olympic Training Facility in Lake Placid New York. This rotation concentrated on sports medicine and the rehabilitation of elite athletes. During Dr. Mazzarella’s stay at the Olympic Training Facility, he was introduced to different training and rehabilitative techniques to help speed up the recovery process and prevent future injury and pain.

Dr. Mazzarella now uses some of these techniques in treating his patients that are suffering from whiplash and chronic pain injuries.

WHIPLASH EXPERIENCE

Dr. Mazzarella has devoted his career to whiplash injuries, both in treating patients suffering from this disorder and teaching healthcare providers about the basic principals of this injury and how to use a multidisciplinary approach to care to help alleviate symptoms in a time frame that is quicker then the current guidelines.

Dr. Mazzarella’s training involves over 50 post graduate courses (approximately 400 credit hours), on whiplash, whiplash traumatology, and whiplash treatment. Including a certificate in whiplash and brain traumatology and a specialized certification in motor vehicle crash forensic risk analysis.

In addition, Dr. Mazzarella currently reviews approximately 1500-2500 peer reviewed literature articles on whiplash, whiplash associated disorders, and pain management each year, so that he can keep up with the most up-to-date information to better serve his patients and the doctors taking his post graduate continuing education courses.

During Dr. Mazzarella’s whiplash training, he also attended the 2006 International Whiplash Conference held in San Diego California and participated in crash test studies involving pedestrians.

Dr. Mazzarella stated, “This Conference provided attending physicians that opportunity to see first hand live full scale human volunteer crashes at low speed. By having the opportunity to actually see how the injury mechanism occurs, I believe that I can now provide a more complete and detailed treatment plan for my patients. This will hopefully not only decrease the chance of the patient developing chronic pain, but also decrease the duration of care needed by each patient due to the specificity of the treatment plan I can develop for each individual person. Each person is unique and each person’s treatment plan should be unique and detailed to their needs to receive the best results possible.”

Dr. Mazzarella's whiplash specific training includes:

Crash (Event) Data Retrieval Certification - CATAIR/Crash Data Specialists

Crash (Event) Data Technician Certification - CATAIR/Crash Data Specialists

Accident Investigation - Northwestern University

Advanced Whiplash and Brain Traumatology - SRISD

Whiplash and Brain Traumatology - SRISD

Motor Vehicle Crash Forensics Risk Analysis - SRISD

Certification Motor Vehicle Trauma - AAETS

Dr. Mazzarella, in addition to his whiplash academic and clinical training has taken several other relevant certification courses in regards to whiplash they are:

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Applied Behavior Analysis

Brain Injury and Rehabilitation: An Overview.

Brain Anatomy and Function

PAIN MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE

Dr. Mazzarella has both clinical and academic experience in treating patients suffering from chronic pain and disability.

Dr. Mazzarella has achieved Diplomat status with the American Academy of Pain Management and the Canadian Academy of Pain Management as well as has received a certification in chronic pain management by the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress.

During Dr. Mazzarella’s clinical rotations at the Buffalo New York Veteran’s Hospital, he was directly involved in patient care for both chiropractic patients and orthopedic patients. This provided Dr. Mazzarella a unique opportunity to treat patients suffering from severe chronic pain, post traumatic stress disorder, and cognitive impairments in a hospital setting.

Academically, Dr. Mazzarella has taken approximately 40 post graduate course on several different topics in pain management. He also has 12 certificates in pain management from the American Medical Association including the following topics:

Pathophysiology of Pain and Pain Assessment

Overview of Management Options 2

Barriers to Pain Management and Pain in Special Populations

Assessing and Treating Pain in Patients with Substance Abuse

Assessing and Treating Pain in Older Adults

Pediatric Pain Management

Assessing and Treating Persistent Nonmalignant Pain, An Overview

Assessing and Treating Persistent Nonmalignant Pain, Common Persistent Pain Conditions

Assessing and Treating Neuropathic Pain

Overview and Assessment of Cancer Pain

Cancer Pain: Pharmacotherapy

Management of Cancer Pain: Other Analgesic Approaches and End-of-Life-Care

In addition, he has taken 5 post graduate pain management courses form the American Pain Society.

Due to Dr. Mazzarella’s clinical and academic work in pain management and treatment he is currently listed on the following pain web sites under pain clinics:

Canadian Pain Society

Canadian Pain Coalition

Pain.com

American Academy of Pain Management

BRAIN INJURY EXPERIENCE

A great number of people suffer traumatic brain injury from MVA, slip and falls and work related accidents. Over 30% of mild traumatic brain injuries occur from motor vehicle accidents. The most common result is that the person experiences lowered concentration, trouble reading, mental slowness, and sleep disruption. The difficult part of brain injury is that after an injury you can appear normal to friends, family and even your doctor.

Dr. Mazzarella’s training involves several post graduate courses as well as a Certification from the Brain Injury Association of America. Dr. Mazzarella has taken several post graduate courses covering topics associated with traumatic brain injury including the following:

Ontario Brain Injury Association: Module 1- 7
Brain Injury Association of America
Traumatic Brain Injury Assessment, Impact and Recovery
Lifestyle Medicine for Stress Management
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury
Applied Behavior Analysis
Brain Injury and Rehabilitation
Brain Anatomy and Function
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Recognizing and treating insomnia in primary care practice
Recognizing and Treating Insomnia
Neurology

Dr. Mazzarella is also a member of the following organizations:

TRAUMATIC STRESS EXPERIENCE

Dr. Mazzarella has been involved with the evaluation and treatment of Traumatic stress disorders throughout his career with both whiplash/motor vehicle accident patients and as an intern at the Buffalo New York Veteran’s Hospital.

Traumatic stress refers to an overpowering experience that effect both the mind and the body. Traumatic stress can occur due to motor vehicle accidents, sports injuries, and in general with work/financial stressors or in reaction to chronic pain. This traumatic stress or trauma will affect each individual person in a unique way. Some of those who have undergone trauma can rebound quickly while other may take days, weeks, months or even years before seeing signs of recovery. Motor vehicle accidents can be a traumatic event due to the injury itself, dealing with the insurance companies, lawyers and treatment facilities in general and due to the lack of overall understanding of the injury mechanism as may special imaging tests are not sensitive enough to show “whiplash type injuries”. In addition traumatic stress has been shown to elevate symptoms of pain in those suffering from chronic pain, pain lasting longer then 3-6 months (in general).

Dr. Mazzarella’s has taken several post graduate courses covering topics associated with traumatic stress and has obtained the following Certificates/Certification listed below:

Certification in Pain Management (CPM*)
Diplomat Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (DAAETS*)
University of Texas Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Brain Injury Association of America

Dr. Mazzarella is also a member of the following organizations

American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress
Brain Injury Association of America

*The National Center for Crisis Management

in collaboration with The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

Healthcare Education

Hospital Experience

Clinical Experience

Certificates and Teaching Experience