In this Spine Section Newslet­ter, we took time to sit down with the current Spine Section Chairman, Dr. Chris Wolfla. Dr. Wolfla is Professor of Neurosur­gery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. After receiving his medical degree and completing his residency at University of Indiana, Dr. Wolfla did a fellow­ ship in Spinal Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wiscon­sin. He held the Esther and Ted Greenberg Endowed Chair of Neurosurgery at the Univer­sity of Oklahoma Health Sci­ence Center from 1998 through 2005, before returning to Mil­waukee. He is President of the CNS, and has previously served in multiple capacities for the Spine Section, including Treasurer, Fellowship Chair, and Website Committee

Chair. We asked him for some advice for young neurosur­geons, as well as his feelings on the state of spine surgery and organized neurosurgery.

What advice do you have for those residents who are just finishing training and are about to set up their practice?

CW: As a subspecialist one has two options. One is joining a group where you are the only person doing what you do, and the other option is to join a big­ ger group and be one of many. There are advantages and dis­ advantages to both. When you are the only person, you make all the decisions, assume all the responsibility, and you learn and grow very quickly. How­ ever, that situation is very stressful, and at times lonely. If you join a bigger group, it is less stressful, and you will have other partners with more experi­ence to bounce stuff off of, but less autonomy.

What do you know now, that you wish that you would have known when you were younger?

CW: I didn’t realize how much paperwork is involved in medi­cine, otherwise I might have been an engineer.

What do you suggest for younger neurosurgeons want­ ing to get involved in organized neurosurgery?

CW: To be actively involved in one of the organizations, volunteer for a project, do it well, and do it on time.