NASS DFNS CLASS OF 2026
Scott Haldeman, MD, PhD, DC
World Spine Care
Santa Ana, CA
Neurologist
NASS Member Since 1985
How has your involvement with NASS influenced your professional growth or career journey?
After attending the meeting of the founders of NASS in 1984 my professional life changed for the better. The privilege of being invited to participate in this meeting and the honor of being invited onto the initial executive board and being voted to serve as president in 1988 had a large impact on my personal and professional career. I continued to serve on NASS committees for 29 years until 2013 and attended every meeting during that period. I had the opportunity to be mentored by, work with, and get to know and become personal friends with the greatest spine care pioneers, clinicians and scientists during this time including Vert Mooney, David Selby, Arthur White, Tony Dwyer, William Kirkaldy-Willis, John Frymoyer, Mark Brown, Casey Lee, Henry LaRocca and Leon Wiltse, to mention only a few. We travelled together, lectured together, wrote books together and sat on committees together. The friendship, comradery and feeling that one was making a difference in the delivery of spine care to patients that was stressed at every meeting and committee at NASS had a large impact on my professional growth and commitment.
What accomplishments are you most proud of, and why?
I joined NASS in 1997, making me one of the earliest members from mainland China. At the time, international collaboration in spine care was still limited, and NASS was one of the few societies actively opening its doors to surgeons from outside North America. What has kept me engaged for nearly three decades is watching that openness turn into real exchange — serving on the International Education Committee, the Section on Motion Preservation, and the Clinical Guideline Committee gave me a genuine role in shaping how our field approaches patient care globally. More than any single project, it has been meaningful to watch more of my Chinese colleagues find their own place within NASS in the years since.
Looking back on your own experience, what advice would you give to members seeking a more active role in NASS?
I believe, looking back, that the most important and rewarding part of being a clinician and scientist is giving back to society. This can take many forms. Throughout my career I have always devoted some of my time to providing care to the uninsured and spending time as clinical professor teaching residents without expecting compensation. I joined multiple professional societies and then volunteered to work on the committees. I found that I received considerably more from NASS and other professional society meetings when I was a part of the organization and not just attending an educational course. Sixteen years ago, I decided to incorporate the World Spine Care charity, the mission of which is to improve lives in underserved communities through sustainable, integrated, evidence-based spine care. This organization is now incorporated as a charity in the USA, Canada, UK and South Africa and has provided over 80,000 patient visits at 8 clinics in 6 countries by 80 volunteers. I would like to advise future spine care clinicians to keep in mind that when they reach the end of their careers it is not the money one made, the number of scientific publications one has or the offices they have held that they will remember the most. It is the people who are less fortunate than you who have benefited from your actions that will give you the most positive memories.