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Robert K. Kerlan (May 13, 1922 – September 8, 1996) was an American orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine who, along with Frank Jobe, was co-founder of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. He treated numerous star athletes during his career and was regarded as a pioneer in the discipline of sports medicine.
Kerlan attended UCLA where he started college as a basketball letterman, but eventually gave up playing. He completed his studies from the University of Southern California, graduating from the USC School of Medicine in 1948.
Kerlan was the doctor who diagnosed Dodgers star pitcher Sandy Koufax with traumatic arthritis in his left elbow. Additionally, he also treated tennis star Rod Laver, and basketball star Elgin Baylor, amongst others.
Kerlan remained active in his sports medicine practice despite a long-standing case of arthritis that required him to use crutches periodically for years, and permanently after 1977. He was also a clinical professor in the USC Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and later became founding member of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.
In 1996, he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
The day after his death, the Los Angeles Dodgers lowered the flags at Dodger Stadium to half-mast and held a minute's silence in honor of Kerlan.
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