Vivek Babaria, DO
What motivated you to get involved with NASS early in your career?
NASS represents the highest standard of spine excellence and coming from a NASS-accredited fellowship I feel like its my duty to be involved in the society.
What do you see as the most exciting developments in spine care today?
More motion preserving, minimally invasive procedures that are making spine care less daunting.
What is the biggest challenge facing early-career spine professionals in 2025?
Learning / navigating the insurance paradigms and payor mixes as they tend to dictate what we can offer patients.
How do you think the role of technology (AI, robotics, wearables, etc.) will shape the future of spine care?
I think that it will help augment / predict outcomes, but the barrier to entry will be cost of implementation.
What advice would you give a spine care provider just starting out in 2065?
40 years from now, we should be living longer, thus spine health will be directly correlated to bone / muscle health. We will have to think about that.
What do you wish had been different about your training? What do you hope training looks like for 2065 providers?
In 40 years, robots, AI, and live training with live feedback through headsets will be commonplace. You'll have professors able to talk and see exactly what you see.
What values or principles do you hope will continue to guide NASS over the next 40 years?
Our mission statement remains intact: premier society for providing cutting-edge spine education, research, and new innovations to the global spine community.
How has membership in NASS impacted your career so far?
NASS has given me a platform to network, learn, and develop educationally.
What's one thing about spine practice in 2025 that you think will surprise physicians in 2065?
We were able to place pedicle screws without guidance.
If you could leave a one-sentence message for your future colleagues, what would it be?
Give the right surgical advice regardless of whether its worth your time or if you can't or don't want to perform the surgery. Patients deserve the most honest opinion.