The “votes” are in: top 10 Neurosurgery Department stories of 2018

The Department of Neurosurgery uses social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to share information with our followers. Looking back over 2018, it turns out those followers were interested in a wide range of topics, including the department’s cutting-edge research, our patients’ stories, and how our physicians are viewed in the community.

The following ten stories garnered the most interest (based on number of likes, shares, and interactions):

November 9: Patient learns to be grateful for her ruptured aneurysm and for the U of M care team who helped her survive it (Twin Cities resident Laura Walz explores her experience with the physicians and residents who helped her through a traumatic healthcare event)

November 7: U Researchers 3-D Print Device for Spinal Cord Repair (U of M Medical School Bulletin story explains important – and innovative – research being conducted by neurosurgeon Ann Parr, MD, PhD, and mechanical engineer professor Michael McAlpine, PhD)

October 23: Pediatric neurosurgery patient is overcoming everything life throws at her, with help from her U of M care team (heartwarming story about seven-year-old spina bifida patient, Claire Wurgler, who has undergone more surgeries in her short life that most people do in a lifetime)

October 22: Collaborative team effort helps young patient overcome complex spine condition (thanks to help from both the Neurosurgery and Otolaryngology Departments, 22-year-old Baylor University student, Sami Kaiser, overcame her debilitating condition with flying colors)

October 18: U of M Neurosurgery Department team worked together to transform a patient’s life (Plymouth, MN, resident Ralph Watschke, was given an opportunity to be “reborn” thanks to his U of M care team)

September 19: Loyal companions: a pair of University of Minnesota doctors teams up to improve treatments for dogs and people facing brain cancer (a truly wonderful story featured in Discovery about the brain tumor research being done collaboratively by Elizabeth Pluhar, DVM, PhD, Department of Veterinary Medicine, and Matthew Hunt, MD, Neurosurgery Department)

August 27: High-profile glioblastoma deaths may be no coincidence (this Twin Cities television story featured Department Head Clark Chen, MD, PhD, discussing why highly educated people like Senator John McCain may be particularly afflicted by this aggressive brain tumor)

June 17: Six faculty members listed on 2018 Top Doctors list (this annual Mpls.St.Paul Magazine list featured several of our faculty members, two of which were highlighted in the cover story)

March 21: Nearly 70 University of Minnesota Health Physicians Recognized as “Top Doctors: Rising Stars” in 2018 (three of our faculty members were on this Mpls.St.Paul Magazine list)

February 13: Resident David Darrow won the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Philip L. Gildenberg, MD, Resident Award. His abstract about the results from the E-STAND trial on restoring volitional movement and autonomic function in paraplegic patients was chosen from more than 1,500 submitted for presentation during the 2018 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting held, April 28 – May 2, 2018, in New Orleans, LA.

We’re looking forward to sharing even more stories in 2019!