Shemaiah Holness

Hailing from the South East, Dr. Holness has been a practicing Physical Therapist for over a decade.  Early on in his professional career, he was constantly reminded of the challenges facing the underserved minority population while at Grady Memorial Hospital, in Atlanta, Georgia.  Once the trust of his patients was obtained, they would often voice their skepticism for the quality of care they would receive while in the current health care system.  “They do not care about us,” due to the lack of representation for health care providers that “looked like me,” was often the resounding phrase.  During Dr. Holness’ time in West Los Angeles, an environment ripe with patients from various cultural, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds, was the theme of persistent pain and various viewpoints of pain brought to the forefront of his thought for clinical management. This was a turning point in relating and reflecting upon his experiences with a majority minority population in Georgia with his current population.

Dr. Holness is a dual board-certified specialist in Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy.  He attended the University of North Carolina as an Orthopedic Physical Therapy Resident (2016) and a graduate of the Kaiser Permanente Sports Rehabilitation Fellowship program (2017).  In 2019, he also received his certification in Pain Science by the University of South Australia at Adelaide.

Currently, Dr. Holness practices at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles, where he mentors in the Orthopedic Residency and Sports Fellowship program.  He has worked closely with the chronic pain population, and has a keen interest in the management of the chronic pain population and the role of chronic pain in athletes.