Dr. Andrew Kochan was introduced to medicinal research beginning at an early age through his father, who at that time a graduate student in microbiology at Stanford University. The future Dr. Kochan would accompany his father to the laboratory and observe techniques and the rigorous thinking of scientific investigation. As a teenager Dr. Kochan worked in the immunology research laboratory taking care of the animals used for immunologic experiments. He "recieved" from his father the desire to explore new concepts and satisfaction that comes from investigating and proving or disproving an idea. Thus a youth, Andrew Kochan was privileged to receive an excellent inspiration and education in pre-medical sciences.

Dr. Kochan received his M.D. in 1977 from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. after graduating cum laude with a B.A. in Chemistry from Miami University in Ohio. Following medical school he did a flex/surgical internship at Valley Medical Center in Fresno. Dr. Kochan then completed a two year Research Fellowship in the UCLA Department of Orthopedic Surgery Bioengineering Laboratory where he authored and co-authored two research papers on anterior cruciate injuries which were published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. He did his residency in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Southern California /LA County Medical Center and Northridge Hospital Medical Center under the directorship of Dr. Renee Calliet.

As a part of his residency training from 1981 to 1984 Dr. Kochan was evaluating and attempting to treat patients who were having chronic pain and the social and physical problems that resulted from inadequate treatment and over or under medication. As an athlete in high school and college, Andrew Kochan played basketball and threw the javelin and discus. An injury to his anterior cruciate ligament and three subsequent surgeries made him acutely aware of the discomfort and disability of patients living with musculo-skeletal injuries. Thus, his frustration over modern medicine's inability to relieve the pain and suffering of many of his patients led him to examine complementary healing modalities -- years before this trend became fashionable. Dr. Kochan discovered first-hand that certain complementary therapies are effective for reducing symptoms of painful conditions in cases where pharmacologic drugs and surgery have failed.

Dr. Kochan began practicing prolotherapy -- an innovative non-surgical treatment for pain -- twenty years ago, well before its present-day surge in popularity. About fifteen years ago Dr. Kochan incorporated apitherapy, particularly bee venom therapy, into his practice as a treatment for chronic pain. His clinical success with both prolotherapy and apitherapy, along with the impressive results from his preliminary research studies on bee venom therapy for shingles pain, inspired him to open the Kochan Institute of Healing Arts Research in 2000. Today, Dr. Kochan is a leading international authority in apitherapy . In his current role as President of the American Apitherapy Society, Dr. Kochan continues to promote public and professional awareness about the medicinal value of honey bee venom and other substances produced by bees for a wide range of disorders. For more information on his involvement in apitherapy, click here.

Dr. Kochan holds membership in the Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi societies and is an active member of the American Medical Association, American Association of Orthopedic Medicine, American Apitherapy Society, American Pain Society, and the Los Angeles County Medical Association. He has been a Board certified physician in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation since 1989. He is on staff at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and a Clinical Instructor at the University of Southern California School of Medicine. His past positions include Medical Director of the Head Trauma Rehabilitation Center at Synergos Neurological Center at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, CA, Medical Director at the Orthopedic Hospital RehabCare in Los Angeles, and a staff physician at Northridge Hospital Medical Center-Chronic Pain Program.

Dr. Kochan has been in private practice since 1984. He remains committed to furthering research and sound clinical practice in integrative pain medicine that combines conventional and proven complementary approaches to relieving acute and chronic pain. His training in complementary modalities includes coursework in osteopathic manipulation at Michigan State University and acupuncture through the UCLA School of Medicine. In addition, Dr. Kochan has studied under the tutelage of nationally prominent nutritionists such as Dr. W. Harold Kristal, a world-renowned expert on Metabolic Typing and Biochemical Individuality.

Dr. Kochan serves as a volunteer physician with the Hemwall-Hackett Foundation, an organization based in Madison Wisconsin that is dedicated to prolotherapy public education and health care programs for under-served populations. He has traveled to Honduras to perform prolotherapy and other pain treatments free of charge for indigent patients in local, peasant communities.

Dr. Kochan, a sports enthusiast, enjoys mountain biking, scuba diving, magic and racing his 1968 Porsche.

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. 1969-73 (Cum Laude)

Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi

USC School of Medicine, Clinical Instructor, 9/83-present

Diplomate, Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 5/89

Northridge Hospital Medical Center

American Medical Association
American Association of Orthopedic Medicine
American Apitherapy Society, Vice President
American Pain Society
LA County Medical Association

Northridge Hospital Medical Center, Center for Rehabilitation Medicine, 7/81-7/84

J.R. Grunwell, Andrew Kochan: “A Novel McLafferty Rearrangement of Alkyl Sulfinyl Amines”, Journal of Organic Chemistry, 38, 1610, 1973.