Why did you decide to become a spine surgeon?

When I first started my residency, I wanted to become a shoulder and elbow surgeon, but from the first moment I got more accustomed to spine surgery, I realized how fascinating it is. You have every chance to do very small and very big things; you treat small children and old people. No case is like the one before. You are always challenged, you have to get better every day.

 

Where did you get trained?

I got trained at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery of the Maximilians University in Munich. My biggest advantage was and still is that I had the opportunity to learn from two amazing, but very different surgeons, who gave me the chance to become better every day, step-by-step. I had the great opportunity to see what they do, to try and decide which way I like best, to develop my own way.

 

Who inspires you?

It’s two things that inspire me. First, it is my patients. The people who trust me with their health and sometimes even with their “Germany is a highly developed country, and as in many other fields, anything is possible in spine surgery. That is part of what I love about it. From conservative treatment to complex osteotomies and fixations from the cervical spine to the pelvis—spine surgery has got everything.”lives, who trust in what I do and what I am. It’s the little girl, who couldn’t eat and breathe properly anymore before her operation and who now runs through outpatients clinic every time she sees me and jumps into my arms.

 

Secondly, it is the people that helped me become a better surgeon—my two consultants, my AO mentor Roger Hartl and Larry Lenke, who I had the chance to spend some time with. It is the people that let me watch, listen, learn and ask questions.

 

Can you tell a bit in general about spine surgery in your country?

Germany is a highly developed country, and as in many other fields, anything is possible in spine surgery. That is part of what I love about it. From conservative treatment to complex osteotomies and fixations from the cervical spine to the pelvis—spine surgery has got everything.

On the other hand, spine surgery in Germany is still divided in between three different specialties—orthopedic, trauma and neurosurgery, which I think is wrong.

 

What are the biggest challenges in your job/ what do you consider the biggest challenges for spine surgeons in your country?

“Being a woman in surgery is still challenging. I think women still have to be a little better, have to fight a little harder to get recognition—from patients and as well as from colleagues. Sometimes I am still considered the nurse even after talking to a patient for 20 minutes explaining a planned procedure.”As mentioned, becoming a fully trained “spine surgeon” is difficult as many different and separated departments are treating spinal pathologies. Therefore you’ll rarely see the whole spectrum of pathologies. On top of that, being a woman in surgery is still challenging. I think women still have to be a little better, have to fight a little harder to get recognition—from patients and as well as from colleagues. Sometimes I am still considered the nurse even after talking to a patient for 20 minutes explaining a planned procedure.

 

How has being part of AOSpine influenced your career?

Becoming an active AOSpine member made a huge difference to me. From one minute to the other I was part of an organization that is very special. I got to talk to people whose names I read daily on the spines of my books. I was treated as an equal, was listened to, and got opportunities I had never dreamed of. The opportunity to become an AO Mentee changed my life even more—personally and professionally.

 

 

 

 

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Biography

 

Dr Carolin Melcher

Department for Orthopedic Surgery,Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation

University Hospital of LMU Munich

Munich, Germany