[Alex]

#34313

This is just more of a curiosity issue, but if I were to go to a university hospital and schedule a surgery with Doctor A., does this mean that Doctor A. will specifically do the surgery or is it a possibility that he will observe and have a resident do the surgery?

This isn’t an issue with my recent surgery as the surgeon was not affiliated with a university but I was wondering if that does occur or if it needs to be disclosed in advance that someone else may be involved to some extent in the process.

Before I had surgery I did read reviews of several surgeons and one review said she she had issues and was asking about what happened and the surgeon replied that he had just been observing but didn’t perform it. Yikes.

[Donald Corenman, MD, DC]

#34314

There are times at a teaching hospital where the surgery might not be performed by the attending surgeon. In general, now-a-days the surgeon has to be present for the critical parts of the case but the fellow or resident would probably do the approach (exposure) and the closure. Then the fellow would assist or even do the actual surgery under the watchful eye of the attending.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.
 
Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

[Author]

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