Nikola Dragojlovic, DO

Associate Professor & Residency Program Director
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Educational Philosophy

Working with medical students and residents has been a passion of mine since I was a resident and fellow at McGovern. It requires us to pass the best of our training and skills on to the next generation of physicians, through example and mentorship. This is my teaching philosophy – create encounters where trainees are engaged, active in patient care with autonomy, working through both simple and complex patient care questions, demonstrating and then enhancing their knowledge and competency along the way.

Biography

Nikola Dragojlovic, DO is an associate professor and residency program director in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He serves as Clinical Chief for Neuromuscular Rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann, helping patients recover from polytrauma, workplace accidents, and complex medical courses. He received his medical education at New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (2012), and completed residency training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (2016) at McGovern Medical School, and stayed for fellowship training in Brain Injury Medicine (2017).

Outside of his clinical practice, he is co-chair of the Association of Academic Physiatrists’ Residency Recruitment Subcommittee. In this role, he authored best practice guidelines for physiatry graduate medical education recruitment, published on application trends and match outcomes in physiatry, and authored the specialty’s first Standardized Letter of Evaluation.

Current Teaching Responsibilities

Introduction to working with People with Neurologic Disabilities  (10 sessions per year)

Residents teaching on inpatient rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann (3-5 months per year)

Coordinating hands-on workshops for physical examination and procedural skills for residents in PM&R at UTHealth Houston  (2-4 workshops per year)

Clinical Interests:

  • inpatient rehabilitation after organ transplantation
  • outcomes and best practices in graduate medical education recruitment

Honors and Awards

Chief Resident, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, UTHealth Houston; 2015 – 2016
Martin Grabois, MD Esteemed Resident Award, UTHealth Houston; 2016
Physician Educator Certificate Program Award, UTHealth Houston; 2017
Fellow, American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; 2017
TIRR Physician of the Year Nominee; 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022
TIRR Physician of the Year Award; 2019
McGovern Medical School Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award; 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2025
McGovern Medical School Dean’s Esteemed Educator Award; 2025
TIRR Employee of the Month Award; March 2022
UTHealth Houston PM&R Faculty Educator of the Year Award; 2023
UTHealth Houston PM&R Outstanding Service Award; 2025
Visiting Professorship, Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar; 2025
Academy of Master Educators, UTHealth Houston; 2025

Selected Publications:

  1. Garcia AJ, Dragojlovic N, Verduzco-Gutierrez M. The Impact of the ACGME/AOA Single Accreditation System Merger on PM&R Applications and Match Rates: An Analysis From 2012 to 2024. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2025 Oct 20. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002887. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41248255.
  2. Dragojlovic N, Romanoski NL, Bolger A, Friedlander T, Helkowski W, Huss SA, Jenkins JG, Knowlton T, Nguyen DH, Rand SE, Raum G, Sullivan W, Tonkin BK, Escalon MX. Association of Academic Physiatrists Residency and Fellowship Program Directors’ Resident Recruitment Subcouncil Position Paper on Residency Recruitment. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2024 Jun 1;103(6):561-565. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000002447. Epub 2024 Jan 24. PMID: 38363773.