About Dr. Foster
Rigorous training. A clear philosophy of care.
Dr. Jeff Foster is a board-certified interventional pain physician and the Director of Pain Medicine at Ascentist Interventional Pain in Leawood, Kansas. Fellowship-trained at the University of Kansas Medical Center and recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor, he built a practice on precise diagnosis and evidence-based care — informed, in part, by an athletic background that shapes the goal of your care: recovering function, not just tolerating pain.
The Path
A career built on medical excellence
Dr. Foster's career is defined first by the rigor of his medical training: board certification in both anesthesiology and interventional pain medicine — independently verifiable through the American Board of Medical Specialties — fellowship training at the University of Kansas Medical Center — one of the region's leading academic programs for interventional pain medicine — and recognition as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor. As Director of Pain Medicine at Ascentist Interventional Pain, he leads with a philosophy you'll feel in every visit: your treatment should restore function, not simply mask a symptom.
That philosophy was shaped well before residency. Before medical school, Dr. Foster earned a Master's degree in Bioethics — time spent thinking rigorously about how good decisions actually get made in medicine, especially when the "right" answer isn't obvious. It's a background you'll notice in how your treatment decisions get made: rather than being handed a single recommended procedure, you'll walk through the options, the evidence behind them, and the tradeoffs — together.
Osteopathic medical school reinforced a whole-person view of musculoskeletal and nervous system health. Anesthesiology residency — where he was elected Chief Resident — built the procedural precision and physiologic depth required for advanced interventional work. His fellowship in Interventional Pain Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center then sharpened that foundation into subspecialty expertise: the diagnosis and image-guided treatment of spine, joint, and nerve pain, trained at one of the country's leading academic centers for the field. He has also held faculty positions at Kansas City University (KCU) and the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC), teaching the next generation of physicians.
That training traces back to an earlier chapter: from 2004 to 2008, before medicine, Dr. Foster was a Division I football player at the University of Kansas, part of the 2008 Orange Bowl team. It was an early, hands-on education in how the body handles load, injury, and recovery — one formative influence, among several, behind an approach that treats your pain in terms of restoring function rather than simply treating a symptom.
Today, as Director of Pain Medicine at Ascentist Interventional Pain in Leawood, Kansas, Dr. Foster brings that full arc of training — bioethics, osteopathic medicine, anesthesiology, and interventional pain fellowship — to a practice built around one throughline: your care should improve your quality of life, not simply extend it or medicate around it.
Education & Training
Timeline
Athletics · 2004–2008
Division I Football, University of Kansas
Four years on the University of Kansas football team, capped by the 2008 Orange Bowl — an early, formative lesson in how the body responds to training load, injury, and recovery.
Undergraduate
B.S., Exercise Science
A foundation in human movement, physiology, and biomechanics — the scientific basis for thinking about pain in terms of function rather than symptoms alone.
Graduate Study
M.A., Bioethics
A deliberate detour before medical school, spent studying how decisions get made at the hardest points in patient care — and what it means to actually act in a patient's interest rather than simply treat a diagnosis.
Medical School
Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO)
Training grounded in a whole-person view of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems — the connective tissue, quite literally, between exercise science and clinical medicine.
Residency
Anesthesiology Residency, Chief Resident
Elected Chief Resident by faculty and peers — years spent building the procedural precision, physiologic judgment, and calm under pressure that interventional pain medicine demands.
Fellowship
Interventional Pain Medicine Fellowship, University of Kansas Medical Center
Advanced subspecialty training at one of the region's academic programs for interventional pain medicine — covering image-guided procedures, neuromodulation, and regenerative techniques used to treat spine, joint, and nerve pain.
Board Certification
Board-Certified in Anesthesiology & Interventional Pain Medicine
Dual certification reflecting both the foundational specialty and the pain subspecialty — the credential, and the standard, behind every recommendation made in clinic.
Recognition
Castle Connolly Top Doctor
A peer-nominated distinction awarded to physicians recognized by colleagues for clinical excellence in their specialty.
Practice Role
Director of Pain Medicine, Ascentist Interventional Pain
Based at Roe Clinic in Leawood, Kansas, with procedures also performed at Ascentist Hospital in Leawood, St. Mary's Pain Center in Blue Springs, Missouri, and Ascentist ASC, an ambulatory surgery center in Merriam, Kansas.
- Castle Connolly Top Doctor
- Recognized for clinical excellence in pain medicine View Castle Connolly Profile →
- Fellowship-Trained
- Interventional Pain Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center
- Director of Pain Medicine
- Ascentist Interventional Pain, Leawood, KS
- Chief Resident
- Anesthesiology Residency
- Division I Athlete
- University of Kansas Football, 2008 Orange Bowl Champion
Want to understand how your plan gets built?
You'll walk through a consistent clinical reasoning framework — from diagnosis to mechanism to treatment tradeoffs.