Sheyan J. Armaghani, MD, a spine surgeon with Florida Orthopaedic Institute in Tampa, discusses his concerns as an early-career spine surgeon and where he sees his practice headed in the future.
Question: What are the biggest concerns for your practice today? What keeps you up at night?
Dr. Sheyan Armaghani: The biggest concerns are usually always patient-related. Did I pick the correct procedure for this particular patient's problem? Did I execute the surgery efficiently? Did I miss something in a patient's history, physical exam, or imaging that could explain their symptoms? With more experience, these concerns do subside over time, but they are always there to some degree in every surgeon. Excellent senior partners, fellowship mentors, and similarly experienced colleagues are always great to have in your corner when starting out.
Q: What are you most excited about in terms of technology advancement in the spine space? Where do you see the best opportunity for growth?
SA: I'm interested in the future of robotics and improvements in navigation. Currently, the technology is just a way to accurately place pedicle screws in the end. Personally, I think there are good ways to use it and other ways where it's more efficient to place them freehand. In the future, I'd be interested to see something more than screw placement.. Ability to aid in decompression or cage placement, for example, would be a step forward. The integration of augmented reality technology to improve safety would also be interesting to see.
Q: Where do you see your practice growing or evolving in the next five years? What is the next step or evolution in your career?
SA: As much as my generation wants instant gratification and instant success, the career of a surgeon is a marathon in terms of growth. Experiences gained at conferences, talking with other surgeons, and your own critical evaluation of skills is something that I was trained to do not just in fellowship, but for my entire career. Continually trying to find ways to improve your skills on a surgery-to-surgery basis will help improve surgeon confidence and patient outcomes.
In my personal career, I'd like to see my next step go from continually trying to improve my own techniques to also helping our residents and fellows as they rotate on our services. Many have taken long hours training me and I intend on paying that knowledge forward to the next generation.
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