A True Hands-On Learning Experience!

Sep 30, 2022

This past week, world-leading neurosurgeons from the US and Europe taught at the OMI. After more than 40,000 medical experts chose top hospitals in the world based on specialty, the neurosurgery service at Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University Irving Medical Center at NewYork-Presbyterian University emerged at the top of the global list for 2022, ranking #1 in the world according to Newsweek magazine.

33 fellows from 25 various countries, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Nigeria, Romania, Turkmenistan, and more, had the honor of learning from expert faculty. Dr. Roger Härtl, Director of Neurosurgery Spine at Weill Cornell Medicine served as course director alongside Dr. Claudius Thomé, Director and Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Innsbruck, who served as co-course director. Additional faculty included Dr. Massimo Balsano, Dr. Kai-Ming Fu, Dr. Harry H. Gebhard, Dr. Sebastian Hartmann, Dr. Andreas Korge, Dr. Lawrence G. Lenke, Dr. Lynn McGrath, Dr. Bernhard Meyer, Dr. K. Daniel Riew, Dr. Dexter Sun, and Dr. Michael S. Virk.

A very dynamic and compact schedule covered 19 didactic lectures, including topics such as Spinal Tumors, Lateral Approaches to the Spine, 6 Ts of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery, Adult Spinal Deformity Classifications, and more. Four hours were dedicated to fellows’ case presentations, in which fellows shared about their own career experiences. It is usually a great experience for fellows to hear about cases from all over the world!

A true highlight of the week was the cadaver lab on Wednesday at Paracelsus Medical University, which gave fellows the opportunity to focus on O-Arm Spinal 3D Navigation, Microscope Lumbar Decompression, as well as Microscope and Cervical Decompression and Fusion. It was a true hands-on learning experience which really strengthened the fellows’ surgical skills! We are especially grateful to Igor Belusic’s leadership from Medtronic and to René Stanke and Marie-Theres Schmid from Zeiss for their support in ensuring the wet lab took place successfully.

Tuesday and Friday afternoons offered the group a much-needed break to rest and see a bit of Salzburg, and Thursday evening brought a classical chamber music concert to Schloss Arenberg, an exclusive event just for the OMI!

The OMI is thrilled to have Weill Cornell and the Medical University of Innsbruck as a long-time partners and is proud of the outstanding healthcare they provide!

Medtronic