John Worley, MD

Dr. Worley grew up in Columbia and attended Rock Bridge High School where he was a member of successful basketball teams. This fueled his lifelong interest in staying active and sparked a desire to understand how the human body works. This combined with coursework, led him to a career in medicine as an orthopaedic surgeon.

After graduating from the University of Kansas, Dr. Worley returned to Columbia to attend medical school and complete residency training in orthopaedic surgery at the University of Missouri. After a fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he became sub-specialty trained in spine surgery, Dr. Worley joined Jefferson City Medical Group.

Dr. Worley’s goal at JCMG is to provide comprehensive spine care that is tailored to each patient’s specific needs and circumstances. As an orthopaedic spine surgeon, he provides multiple types of surgeries to restore mobility, alleviate pain, and improve the overall quality of life for his patients.

Outside of clinic and the OR, Dr. Worley enjoys spending time with his wife, Kaylee, their young children, and dogs. They especially enjoy family dinners, movie nights and days at the lake together. Dr. Worley enjoys staying active through weightlifting and golf and is a lifelong Mizzou Tiger and Kansas City Chiefs fan.

Dr. John R. Worley is Jefferson City Medical Group’s premier spine surgery specialist and has dedicated his career to providing comprehensive spine care and surgery to his patients. He has a special interest in motion preserving (non-fusion), minimally invasive, scoliosis, and revision surgeries.

“Spine-related pain is one of the most common reasons for disability and decreased quality of life in the world,” Dr. Worley notes. “My goal as a spine surgeon is to provide the best evidence-based and patient-centered care, whether that is surgical or non-surgical management, to help get my patients back to work and to the activities they enjoy.”

Dr. Worley treats a variety of spine conditions, such as neck and back pain, herniated discs, pinched nerves, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, spinal deformity (scoliosis), and spinal fractures. He also provides general orthopaedic trauma care.

As a part of JCMG Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, Dr. Worley provides cutting-edge spine surgeries. Common surgeries include minimally invasive decompression and discectomy, motion-preserving cervical disc replacement, anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), lumbar spine fusion through the anterior (ALIF), lateral (XLIF) and posterior (TLIF) approaches, cervical laminoplasty, and more. Dr. Worley’s goal is to provide patient-specific care in the most minimally invasive way possible.