Dr. McAllister is a native of Southern California. After being born and raised in Claremont, he attended Univeristy of California, San Diego where he obtained a B.A. in physiology in 1988. In 1992, he graduated from the Ohio State University with a M.D. degree and started a residency in orthopaedic surgery at Univerisity of California, Irvine.

After completing his orthopaedic training in 1997, he moved on to the Cleveland Clinic Foundation for a sports medicine fellowship under the supervision of Dr. John Bergfeld. While in Cleveland he became especially interested knee ligaments and completed a number of studies relating to the PCL.

In 1998, he accepted a full-time faculty position in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA where he continues to work. In addition to running a busy sports medicine practice, he is actively involved in research and in the education of medical students, residents, and fellows. He has continued to study knee ligament injuries and new methods of PCL and PLC reconstruction. He is also interested in tissue engineering and has designed a series of projects focusing on engineering of an ACL graft substitute.

He is currently an associate team physician with the UCLA Athletic Department and serves as team physician for the men's & women's soccer team, women's gymnastics team, and the men's & women's track teams.