Is A Spine Surgeon An Ortho Specialist Or A Neurosurgeon?

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Orthopedic surgery seems to be overlapping these days leaving many to wonder who to see for spinal issues. An orthopedic spine surgeon begins training like any doctor. High school, a pre-medical bachelor's degree followed by medical school is followed by a four to five year residency specialty training. Orthopedics often focuses on joints or sports medicine, so oftentimes a fellowship is completed with a spine surgeon to gain the focused professional skills needed to pursue the moniker of spine surgeon.

While neurosurgery is most often affiliated with the brain, spine surgeries are really the most commonly performed neuro operations. This doctor follows the same path as an orthopedic specialist except for the residency years, which is from six to seven years long, focus on neurologistics. There is a lot of spine experience in this residency, but a post graduate fellowship, which is one year training under the exact specialty that one wants to pursue, is often still done for the sake of specialized experience and professional credentials.

The likenesses in the two types of spine surgeons are many. They both are capable and skilled in the area of disc hernias and degeneration as well as in treatment for scoliosis, stemosis, and fractures though scoliosis is often seen as a specialty of an orthopedic spine surgeon. Neurosurgeons are trained in one area in which orthopedics are not. Only they can operate inside the dura which is the term that means "inside the spinal lining."

The two doctors are also certified by different medical boards which are the American Board of Neurological Surgery (ABNS) and the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery (ABOS). There is no common or master board that connects the two certifications, so they are indeed still considered two different specialties. Current specialists are hopeful that the professional skills overlap of the two will eventually naturally form a merger between the two. In this case a patient could be referred to a spine surgeon office that houses doctors with many focused specialties, and together the doctors and the patient could decide which type of specialist is needed for the spinal situation at hand.

Currently, however, a patient or referring doctor must take a best guess at which specialist is going to be needed for the situation at hand. Most often the referring doctor knows exactly where to send a patient, but spine surgeons of both neurological and orthopedic specialties would certainly work well together for the treatment of a patient.

About the Author:
If you're seeking the services of an expert spine surgeon Syracuse has a wide variety of medical professionals who can provide cutting-edge medical treatment. Learn more about these important medical professionals at http://www.upstateorthopedics.com/.



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