AO Spine Competency-Based Curriculum Courses
AO Spine’s gold standard hands-on courses
Our competency-based hands-on courses equip spine surgeons with practical, evidence-based skills to meet the demands of modern healthcare. Designed by global experts, these courses ensure consistent standards of excellence worldwide while preparing participants for real-world challenges.
Participants will learn, apply, and ultimately master the competencies required for effective patient care.
AO Spine’s gold standard hands-on courses and online programs
Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery
AO Spine Davos Courses
AO Spine Advanced Course—Cervical Spine: Dealing with Complex Deformity and Revision Problems
AO Spine Course—Mastering Fundamental Techniques in Spine Surgery: Cervical to Lumbar (Coming soon)
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