NASS DFNS CLASS OF 2026
Christina Koshak, MD, MPH, FRCSC
CommonSpirit Orthopedics
Pueblo, CO
Orthopedic Surgeon
NASS Member Since 2010
Describe a challenge you faced in your career and what it taught you.
In 2019 I relocated to Colorado to join the Orthopedic Spine Surgery group at the University of Colorado and began working as a surgeon and medical director to establish and grow a comprehensive spine surgery program at one of the system’s community hospitals. Six weeks after I began working in January 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. After three years of intermittent clinic and OR closures, my partner and I found ourselves without a job due to low clinical volumes. Having seen many patients from rural and underserved communities in Southern Colorado travel north for care, I approached a local hospital about bringing spine care to our community. Despite the financial implications and uncertainty of the market, we chose to have me join a private practice so we would not have to relocate our family. Three years later, after being hired on as an employed surgeon by that local hospital, I am proud to say we are now providing “big city” spine care to our patients close to home. This experience has taught me that life is unpredictable and unlikely to turn out how you thought, but with flexibility, hard work, faith in your abilities, and the love and support of family and friends, it can turn out better than you ever thought possible.
What is something your colleagues may be surprised to learn about you?
In keeping with life not turning out the way you may expect, my colleagues would be very surprised to find out that after tearing my medial meniscus and ACL in high school and undergoing two knee surgeries to get back on the volleyball court, I swore to myself that if I ever went into medicine, I would never become an orthopedic surgeon. Thirteen years later, because of the encouragement of a caring undergraduate human anatomy professor, an enthusiastic medical school preceptor for my MSK curriculum, and an amazing clinical elective with a nationally recognized orthopedic trauma surgeon that I completed thanks to that anatomy professor, I found myself in an orthopedic surgery residency learning to perform the exact same surgeries I had undergone with the surgeon who had performed them on me.
What initially inspired you to become involved with NASS, and what has kept you engaged over the years?
As a senior resident I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Wellington Hsu during his participation in the 2009 North American Travelling Fellowship. Having already committed to two fellowships in spine surgery, I remember being inspired by Dr. Hsu’s commitment to his clinical, academic and research endeavors. Years later, when we crossed paths again when I was a North American Travelling Fellow, Dr. Hsu was the Chair of the NASS Biologics and Basic Science Committee. Though my research activities did not include basic science, Dr. Hsu invited me to become a member of the committee. His belief in my ability to contribute meaningfully to the field of spine surgery outside of my clinical practice is what led to my initial involvement and subsequent engagement with NASS.