Global Spine Diploma Exam

The AO Global Spine Diploma (GSD) Exam is a summative assessment of knowledge and decision-making with respect to treating patients with spinal disorders. It enables candidates to demonstrate that they have attained a level of knowledge expected of a specialist spine surgeon after 5 years of practical experience. The content of the entire examination (parts I and II) is based on the AO Spine Curriculum.

The GSD Exam is designed by highly qualified international surgeons and educational experts to assess the overall knowledge of candidates based world-wide within the following pathologies of spine:

• Trauma
• Degeneration
• Pediatric and Adult Deformity
• Oncology
• Infection
• Inflammatory spondyloarthropathy
• Spinal fragility fractures

The Global Spine Diploma Exam consists of two parts:

Part I

• consists of multiple-choice questions (MCQs)
• The duration of the written exam is about 150 minutes.
• The test is conducted under proctored conditions at test centers worldwide.

Part II

• consists of 6 oral case discussions.
• The cases are standardized clinical case scenarios in trauma, deformity, tumor, infection, and degeneration, and are based on the AO Spine Curriculum.
• Candidates will be evaluated on six topics within each case: Clinical evaluation, Imaging, Diagnosis, Classification, Treatment and Outcome & complications
• The duration of the part II exam is 130 minutes.

Both exam parts are conducted in English.

It is not intended to certify competence of technical skill or ability to perform surgical procedures. It is not a compulsory or regulatory certificate of competence or excellence.

• Benefit from AO Spine’s global reputation as the leading global academic community in spine care.
• Worldwide credibility guaranteed.
• It’s an excellent opportunity to have your theoretical knowledge in spine surgery accredited at an international level.
• Gain recognition by having proof that your theoretical knowledge has been assessed to the latest standards.

Diploma Exam, you will need to fulfil two criteria:

• Be an AO Spine member.
• Be an orthopedic surgeon or a neurosurgeon with more than 5 years of practice in the spinal field. You should provide evidence of specialist qualifications in orthopedics or neurosurgery (i.e. medical card) and your curriculum vitae (CV) with the proof of practice in spinal surgery for at least 5 years since qualifying as a specialist orthopedic or neurosurgeon.

Important: Members of the AO Spine Faculty Management task force, AO Spine Training Program Committee members, the exam committee members, or surgeons who have been involved in the part I and/or part II exam preparation, are not eligible for the AO Global Spine Diploma Exam.

The pass mark for the AO Spine Global Diploma Exam is set by the Examination Committee based on selected academic standards.