AO Spine Competency-Based Curriculum Courses
AO Spine’s gold standard education programs
The AO Spine competency-based curriculum courses provide cutting-edge learning experiences and latest knowledge to enhance and improve spine surgery skills worldwide.
The courses are highly interactive, focusing on active learning, surgeons’ hands-on skills and fostering engagement between participants and international expert faculty.
AO Spine courses address patient problems to improve patient care and outcomes. All courses are carefully designed with collaborative expert input, which is a foundation for exceptional educational experiences. The robust global framework ensures consistent delivery of core concepts around the world and adhering to the highest quality standards. New best practices from research are continuously integrated into the dynamic programs.
Explore AO Spine’s gold standard education programs
The AO Spine Curriculum—from competencies to competence
The AO Spine Curriculum forms the basis for all educational AO Spine events and programs. It is based on entrustable professional activities (EPAs). EPAs convey broader skills beyond medical and surgical expertise ensuring targeted development of cognitive, procedural, nontechnical, and nonoperative skills.
An EPA is an essential activity that can be entrusted only to those who have acquired the requisite ability to work independently in a given healthcare context to achieve a desired outcome. Each EPA is described by key competencies as they relate to the pathology domains of spinal disorders.
The AO Spine Principles
The four AO Spine Principles that create the foundation for proper spinal patient management lie at the core of the design and delivery of the curriculum.
Stability
Stabilization to achieve a specific therapeutic outcome
Alignment
Balancing the spine in three dimensions
Biology
Etiology, pathogenesis, neural protection, and tissue healing
Function
Preservation and restoration of function to prevent disability