I recently performed surgery on a patient who is a pilot. During our pre-op timeout, I joked that medicine borrowed many of our safety checklists from aviation. Weeks later, he sent me a thank-you card and Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Manifesto. Amazing what stays with patients!

Productive days at @ClevelandClinic teaching at the final Ed Benzel Spine Review Course. Honored to give a cervical trauma lecture, lead hands-on labs (T2 PSO deformity correction & freehand screws), and join faculty. Grateful to Drs. Benzel, Steinmetz, & Trost for the invite! 🙌

It’s been a pleasure having Ruobing Li in the OR and clinic. An undergraduate at @UWMadison, she moved from China just two years ago and is already excelling in her journey toward medical school. Training the next generation is truly the best part of academic medicine. #Surgery

Great to be in Chicago for the #LSRS annual meeting & serving on the program committee. Looking forward to moderating a session on value in spine surgery this afternoon. Best part? Catching up with prior mentor & good friend, Jacob Buchowski! #SpineSurgery #LSRS2026 @LSRSspine

Rewarding to host international students like Shahd Aldalahmeh, who joined us from Jordan! 🇯🇴 Mentorship is the heart of academic neurosurgery, and UW–Madison is the perfect place to foster these connections. A pleasure having her in the OR, clinic, and rounds! 🧠🩺 #Neurosurgery

In 2022 I got introduced to an undergrad student who was going into med school. He already knew he wanted neurosurgery & I was asked if I would be interested in mentoring him. I immediately agreed. Today, Fezaan Kazi got the well deserved news that he matched in neurosurgery.

First sunset in the month of Ramadan. Trying to keep simple traditions. Wishing everyone a blessed month full of peace, health and happiness. May we always remember the poor, the hungry, and those who are less fortunate. Ramadan Mubarak!

Because… back extensor muscles are important! If you know, you know. Train like a spine surgeon.

Photo from my team's most recent weekly research meeting. I am fortunate to work alongside a group of brilliant medical students, residents, and research fellows where we focus on different spine surgery projects. Missing from this photo: Ali Riaz and Muhaison Ibrahim from UW.

I will be at NASS Thursday to Sunday morning in Denver. Looking forward to connecting with colleagues and friends, and meeting new people.

T5-9 fusion with T7 corpectomy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Carbon/PEEK implants to facilitate postop MRI surveillance. Preop angio to identify Adamkiewicz artery, and embolization to minimize intraop blood loss. Patient discharged postop day 4.

When in Wisconsin, you buy Wisconsin things. ❄️☃️

How many times does one get to say that the CNS Honored Guest is your colleague, partner, and big brother at work? (Hint: Not a lot!) So proud to work alongside such a positive force of nature in our field, Dan Resnick. @uw_neurosurgery #2025CNS

Happening now: Andre Agassi at the CNS! #CNS2025

Honored and humbled to be chosen by SpineLine as part of their "20 Under 40" list for 2025. SpineLine is the bimonthly clinical and news magazine by the North American Spine Society (NASS). The full list of the 20 Under 40 honorees can be found here: spinelinemag.spine.org/septo…

SRS Annual Meeting is where you meet exceptional leaders in the field, mentors & friends. If you are very lucky like me, you will meet all 3 in 1 person. Always great to see you Dr. Gupta @mgspine. It also happens to be the best spine deformity meeting in the world. #SRSAM25

Looking forward to serve on the SRS Social Media Committee along with a group of exceptional ortho and neuro spine surgeons. #SRSAM25

I will be at the Scoliosis Research Society meeting in Charlotte, NC from Mon to Wed (9/15-9/17). I will also start my term serving on the SRS Social Media team. Looking forward to connecting with friends, trainees & industry partners. Feel free to reach out if you will be there.