Phaniraj Iyengar

Dr. Iyengar grew up in Goa, on the west coast of India and graduated from the Goa Medical College then affiliated with the University of Bombay in January 1988. He trained in India and the UK initially in Surgery and Neurosurgery before moving to the US in 1995. He then completed a transitional internship followed by a two-year preliminary residency in surgery before switching to Neurology and completed his Neurology residency and Chief residency at UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA. He completed a Vascular Neurology fellowship at the Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ in June 2002. Dr. Iyengar is passionate about stroke and has been the medical director of stroke programs both on the West and East coast leading them to be certified as Primary and Comprehensive Stroke Centers.

Raj has worked in multiple health systems including Kaiser Permanente, Trinity Health, Atrium Healthcare/CHS and now HCA Healthcare. Dr. Iyengar is a Vascular Neurologist and is currently a full time Medical Director of the Centennial Comprehensive Stroke Center at TriStar Centennial Medical Center, Nashville, TN. Prior to this he was the medical Director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at HCA Healthcare’s Sunrise Hospital, Las Vegas, NV for nine years. He has also been an intermittent Physician Reviewer for DSC Stroke programs for The Joint Commission since 2013. He is currently a core faculty member teaching at the TriStar Neurology Residency Program and is an Associate Professor of Neurology and the Neurology Clerkship Director for the Clerkship Phase in the Foundational and Clinical Sciences (FCS) Department.  

Dr. Iyengar is board certified in Neurology, Vascular Neurology, Neurocritical Care, Brain Injury Medicine, Neuroimaging, and in Health Quality. He is currently licensed as a physician in the states of Nevada, Tennessee, and Connecticut. He also holds an MBA in Healthcare from WGU Nevada and is a Certified Physician Executive (CPE) by the AAPL. He is also a yellow belt certified in Rapid Process Improvement, the Joint Commission’s change management program. Dr. Iyengar is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) in London, an overseas fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, (FRSH), in London., and a fellow of the American Board of Healthcare Quality and Utilization Review Physicians (FABQAURP). He is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology, American Heart Association, the Neurocritical Care Society and American Association of Physicians of India.