Neurosurgery is one of the most significant events of life. If successful, it can help to restore function, relieve pain, renew possibilities.

Thus the neurosurgeon holds a position of the highest trust. During an illness you give your body over to his care, and you rely on him to help you make the best decisions about your health. The treatments he recommends may affect you for the rest of your life. In surgery he may enter your very brain, the seat of your self. You trust him to understand and judge what a lay person cannot.

When deciding on a neurosurgeon to perform a major procedure, you should consider selecting one who:

• Has vast experience in the particular branch of neurosurgery that addresses your health problem
• Can decide when a traditional approach will be successful, and when an inventive new technique should be used
• Will respect you, listen to you, and work with you to achieve your health goals
• Will be highly esteemed by his fellow surgeons and by the medical-scientific community that is familiar with his work
• Is so highly respected that he is asked to impart his knowledge by writing, teaching, and speaking
• Has a substantial body of peer-reviewed research writing to attest to his advanced knowledge