Charles Reitman, M.D.: 2024 Winner of NASS’s David Selby Award

Charles Alan Reitman, M.D., a member of the North American Spine Society (NASS) since 2001, has been honored with the 2024 David Selby Award for his contributions to the practice of spine surgery, both nationally and internationally.

The David Selby award is named in honor of David K. Selby, a pioneer in spinal medicine and surgery. The award is presented to spine surgeons and researchers who have made significant contributions to the science, art, and practice of spine care.

A Pillar of NASS

Reitman is professor and vice chairman of the department of orthopedics at Medical University of South Carolina, and co-director of the MUSC Spine Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

During his NASS membership, he has served on the Board of Directors from 2009 and 2022 and has fulfilled several administrative roles including Evidence Compilation and Analysis Chair, Research Council Director, Administrative Council Director and Education Council Director.

He also has served on the NASS Guidelines Committee, the Nominating Committee, Coverage Policy, and Payer Policy Review, and served as a program director for the NASS Annual Meeting and for the Spine Across the Sea and as program chair for the first International Annual Meeting in Bangkok.

“Charles Reitman is the quintessential surgeon and professor, He is extremely thoughtful and his dedication to promoting and advancing high quality spine care is a model for others to follow,” Christopher Kauffman, M.D., said in a statement.

“His commitment and contributions to NASS both nationally and internationally make him one of the pillars of which NASS will continue to build upon. We owe him many thanks and gratitude for his volunteerism and mentorship.”

On why NASS is such an important society, Reitman told Orthopedics This Week, “Different societies play different roles. In my opinion, NASS is the premier spine society. It does a lot more for practitioners and providers, including advocacy, policy perspective, and insurance coverage, things providers struggle with in daily practice.”

From PT to Spine Surgery

Reitman has a unique perspective into the world of spine surgery because of his background. He actually started out as a physical therapist before going back to school to become a spine surgeon.

He had his own physical therapy (PT) practice in California for 12 years after receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of California Davis, and many of his patients came to him with spine issues.

“A large part of my physical therapy practice was spine. I felt limited in what I could do as a PT,” he explained.

He decided to go back to school and earn his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine in the Texas Medical Center where he also completed his residency and fellowship. After graduating, he stayed on to teach and also served as the director of residency education for 11 years before moving to Charleston in 2015.

During his time in Houston, he served at the chief of orthopedic surgery at Ben Taub Hospital and as the department’s interim chairman for two years.

On looking back on the milestones in his long career, he said, “I always feel like I can do better. I just try to do my best. It is all about contributing to the profession, and how we treat patients.”

He added, “Training and mentoring young doctors is also very important. You have a greater impact because not only are you touching their lives, but also the lives of their patients as well as the young doctors they go on to mentor.”

Reitman said that while he has been taking on more administrative roles in recent years, he has been involved in developing appropriate use criteria for NASS.

“We have done a good job getting it launched and with succession planning,” he said.

At MUSC, he worked with Helix on a project which looks into how a person’s DNA affects their health. Helix is a leading population genomics company.

He has also worked with Medical Matrix Inc. (MMI), which specializes in clinical image analysis and interpretation for clinical trials, research studies and post-market initiatives. They are working on better understanding the stability and instability of spine.

MMI focuses on motion preserving technologies, including total disc replacement, disc repair, and dynamic stabilization therapies.

“Predictive analysis is very important. Spine surgery is always effective if we do [the] right procedure in [the] right patient. All these massive data should make us smarter—know better the patient selection and diagnosis. Decision-making should get better. We have always been very good at tech but continue to have difficulty in understanding the problem and the right treatment,” Reitman explained.

Reitman’s clinical experience includes treating a broad range of spinal disorders, including degenerative disease and deformities like scoliosis and kyphosis as well as spine tumors, fractures, and other injuries.

He has had his research published over 100 times and was the Deputy Editor for Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research and The Spine Journal.

The North American Spine Society is a medical society for health care professionals who specialize in spine care. The mission of the society, which was founded in 1985, is to promote evidence-based and ethical spine care.

The 2024 NASS 39th Annual Meeting took place September 25 through September 28 in Chicago at the McCormick Place, West Building.