Spinal Injuries Core Course

On June 1, Dr Ball presented on 'Acute Medical and Surgical Management of Spinal Injuries' at the Royal North Shore Hospital Spinal Injuries Core Course. The audience consisted of nurses and allied health staff from different facilities throughout the state. The Royal North Shore Hospital is the location of one of the two spinal injuries units in NSW and runs this course annually to provide education about spinal injuries. Dr Ball is one of the two neurosurgeons in the unit and was honoured to be asked to speak.

Minimal Access Spine Technology Workshop

On May 16, Dr Ball attended a workshop in Brisbane on Minimal Access Spine Technology held by Medtronic Australia. Minimally invasive spine surgery describes a philosophy of spine surgery where minimising damage to the normal spinal structures is a key goal of surgery. Dr Ball was trained in minimally invasive spine surgery techniques when working in Canada and has performed these surgeries in Australia. This workshop gave him an opportunity to further explore these techniques and share experiences with other spine surgeons.