Fellows and Young Spine Surgeons’ Courses in U.S., Europe

American and European fellows and spine surgeons, along with luminaries from the medical device industry, will be on hand for the upcoming fourth Annual Spine IEP Fellows & Young Surgeons’ Course, to be held in Scottsdale, Arizona, November 21-23, 2014. The three-day course has been developed specifically to educate spine fellows and young surgeons on current topics pertaining to the practice of spine surgery as well as to assist attendees with the transition from fellow to practicing surgeon.

The highly interactive course—led by Frank Phillips, M.D., Professor and Spine Fellowship Co-Director for the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago—will conclude with question/answer sessions and panel discussions. Fellows and young surgeons will also conduct didactic sessions with course sponsors. Sponsors include Medtronic; Globus; Baxano; SI-Bone; Mizuhosi; Biomet; Orthofix; Spinal Elements; K2M; Stryker Spine; Paradigm Spine; Titan Spine; DJO; LDR; SpineGuard; Richard Wolf; VTI; Pacira; 4Web; Medicrea; NuTech; Alphatec Spine.

The course, which should draw at least 50 fellows, is open to spine fellows & young surgeons from both the 2013/14 and 2014/15 academic years.

Dr. Phillips told OTW, “The combination of experienced surgeons as well as faculty that have been in practice for only a few years provides the course attendees with varied perspectives on patient care as well as practice management challenges.”

And over in Europe, up and coming surgeons can attend the second Annual Spine IEP Fellows & Young Surgeons’ Course, a three day event to be held in Amsterdam from October 17-19, 2014. In attendance will be surgeons from Europe’s top spine centers and hospitals, representing over seven countries. The course has been developed specifically to educate spine fellows and young surgeons on current topics in spine surgery as well as to assist attendees with the transition from academics to practicing surgeon.

The format for this course is highly interactive—all sessions will conclude with question/answer sessions and panel discussions. Fellows and young surgeons will also conduct didactic sessions with course sponsors. Sponsors include Biomet Spine; K2M; NuVasive; RTI Surgical; Maquet; Orthofix and SpineGuard. As with the U.S. event, this course is open to spine fellows and young surgeons from both the 2013/14 and 2014/15 academic years.

The course, which is expected attract at least 35 fellows, draws the industry’s most prestigious faculty and is directed by Jean-Charles Le Huec, M.D., Professor, Chairman Spine Unit and Orthopaedic Department, Bordeaux University Hospital, Bordeaux, France.

Dr. Le Huec told OTW, “In Europe the challenges facing young spine surgeons when going from academics into practice vary from country to country. One common problem is the variable exposure to the different surgical technologies. For example, their academic program may only do open spine surgery without minimal access spine surgery. According to price lists for implants certain products are not available in some countries. One of the purposes of the IEP Young Spine Surgeons Course is to provide these young surgeons the opportunity to learn about other technologies and establish relationship with key opinion leaders to facilitate case discussion and potential fellowships.”