Dr. Roslyn Migdale,
M.D., D.C. (she/her)
Dr. Roslyn Migdale is a fellowship-trained interventional pain physician with a background that is, by any measure, extraordinary. She holds both a Doctor of Medicine and a Doctor of Chiropractic — one of a vanishingly small number of physicians in the country with both credentials — and has spent more than fifteen years treating patients across every modality the field has to offer.
Her path to pain medicine was not planned in a pre-med classroom. It was forged across a decade on the cliffs of Big Sur, in the treatment rooms of a Monterey orthopedic practice, through the grief of a devastating personal loss, and through a moment of personal healing that changed everything she understood about what medicine could do.
She is currently completing an ACGME-accredited Pain Medicine Fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, and joins Ascent Pain Solutions in Austin, TX in July 2026.
Why She Does
This Work
Before the degrees and the fellowship, there was a story that made all of it necessary.
Dr. Migdale's commitment to alternative and interventional pain management — her deep conviction that opioids cannot be the primary answer to chronic pain — is not academic. It is intensely, irreversibly personal.
Her foster brother, Wes, suffered a catastrophic chainsaw accident that severed his thigh and calf. During his recovery, he was prescribed narcotic painkillers. The medications worked — at first. But his reliance on them persisted long after his physical wounds had healed. In a desperate attempt to manage pain that would not relent, Wes began obtaining medication outside of medical supervision.
He died of a fatal overdose.
Wes's death was not simply a tragedy. It became a defining purpose. Every alternative modality Dr. Migdale has studied, every procedure she has mastered, every patient she advocates for — all of it runs through the understanding that pain medicine done well can save lives that opioids alone cannot save. She is not in this field despite that loss. She is in this field because of it.
When Medicine
Transformed Her Own Life
For years, the physical demands of being both a massage therapist and a chiropractor had taken a quiet toll. Years of improper body mechanics built up while treating patients had led to severe, worsening pain in her left wrist. Adjusting patients — the core of her livelihood — had become a source of excruciating pain. The prospect of being unable to continue in either of her chosen professions was no longer abstract. It was imminent.
Then she received a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection — a treatment using a natural substance derived from her own body. She was astonished. A simple, minimally invasive procedure changed everything. The pain that had threatened to end her career was gone. She could work again.
The experience was a revelation. Coming from a background with no training in such treatments, she suddenly understood with total clarity what interventional medicine could do — not just for patients in the abstract, but for a real person, in real pain, facing a real crisis. That understanding became her new calling. She enrolled in medical school.
"I was astonished that such a simple, body-consistent injection could dramatically alter a person's life. Mastering this technique was not just a professional necessity. It was my life's new calling."
A Career Built
From the Inside Out
Dr. Migdale's path to pain medicine was shaped by every environment she passed through — and she passed through remarkable ones.
It began on the cliffs of Big Sur, where a young Roslyn Migdale served as a certified massage therapist on the Esalen Institute Massage Crew for seven years. She also managed a five-acre organic produce farm — leading a team of nine to grow vegetables for over 350 people daily. She lived in a tipi she built herself from poles she had cut down, ate only what she grew, and developed a foundational conviction in food as medicine that has never left her.
It was at Esalen that she first encountered the transformative power of chiropractic care. That encounter changed everything. She left Big Sur for Palmer College of Chiropractic West in San Jose, served on the Sports Council, volunteered at the Iron Man Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, and provided free chiropractic care to homeless veterans through the Emergency Homeless Consortium.
After graduating in 2008, she built Migdale Chiropractic within the Monterey Peninsula Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Institute — a practice treating over 6,000 patients alongside orthopedic surgeons, physiatrists, and pain specialists. She became a Qualified Medical Examiner for the California Workers' Compensation Board, and earned certifications in the Graston Technique and Active Release Technique.
Migdale Chiropractic ran 2008–2016. Over nearly a decade, Dr. Migdale treated 6,000+ patients, earned her QME certification, consulted for the CSUMB Athletic Department, and built a YouTube channel with a Graston demonstration surpassing 225,000 views.
During her chiropractic years, she began shadowing a physiatrist every weekend for a full year — witnessing procedures that transformed patients' quality of life. That year crystallized her decision to attend medical school.
She earned her M.D. from the American University of Antigua with clinical clerkships through Florida International University, served as 4th Semester Vice President, and volunteered for ten days with Global Brigades in rural Honduras, providing primary healthcare to communities with almost no medical access.
She then completed a four-year PM&R residency at Corewell Health / Beaumont in Taylor, Michigan — serving as team physician for the Michigan Catholic High School Football League, leading a QI initiative that implemented the Frasier Free Water Protocol into Epic system-wide, and earning her Medical Acupuncture certification at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada (2024).
She is currently finishing an ACGME-accredited Pain Medicine Fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, with comprehensive training in fluoroscopic- and ultrasound-guided procedures, neuromodulation, functional restoration, and multidisciplinary pain management. She joins Ascent Pain Solutions in Austin, TX in July 2026.
From Big Sur
to Austin
A winding path is not a detour — it's the education. Three decades of patient care across disciplines, environments, and continents.
"Dr. Migdale is not just practicing medicine — she is committed to transforming the lives of those afflicted by chronic pain."
— Razmig Haladjian, M.D., Medical Director · Michigan Interventional Pain Center · Corewell Health"Dr. Migdale relieved thirty years of shoulder pain. I've seen many other doctors who temporarily relieved the pain, but she cured it. She rates high on my 'Personal Heroes' list."
— Howard Morton, Patient · Monterey Peninsula Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Institute"Her approach to care is dedicated to listening, understanding concerns and lifestyle needs, improving health and staying well."
— Dr. Michael Klassen, Director · Monterey Peninsula Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine InstituteThe Person Behind the Physician
Medicine is what Dr. Migdale does — curiosity, warmth, and a love of life are who she is.
Outside the procedure suite, Dr. Migdale is Roslyn — wife, gardener, cook, athlete, animal lover, and someone who believes that understanding what a patient values outside the clinic is just as important as what happens inside it.
She and her husband Jayson Elliott share their home with an opinionated pair of Siberian kittens and a gentle giant — a white Standard Poodle whose enthusiasm for life rivals Dr. Migdale's own. The household is, by all accounts, wonderfully lively.
Her roots run deep into the natural world. She tends orchids, prepares vegan meals, and has never fully left the organic farm in Big Sur where she first understood what food and land and community can do for a person's health. Her current favorite author is Hermann Hesse.
Dr. Migdale is excited to plant roots in Austin, TX — a city that matches her energy: bold, warm, creative, and always moving forward.
Learn More or Get in Touch
Explore Dr. Migdale's credentials and research, or reach out directly.