Menger highlights neurosurgery team in Forbes article
In the article, Menger points out that neurosurgery is a team effort involving multiple departments and many staff members, debunking the notion that precision is achieved solely by the surgeon.
By Carol McPhail
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Richard Menger, M.D., MPA, director of the USA Health Spine Institute and chief of complex spine surgery at USA Health, recently published an article in Forbes titled “Neurosurgery Awareness Month: Who Actually Makes Neurosurgery Happen?”
August is Neurosurgery Awareness Month, and the 2026 theme is “Precision That Changes Lives.”
In the article, Menger points out that neurosurgery is a team effort involving multiple departments and many staff members, debunking the notion that precision is achieved solely by the surgeon. “The clinic, the operating room, and the hospital floor – and the people who staff them – make the work possible,” he wrote. “Without them, the precision never reaches the patient.”
The article details the many roles of healthcare professionals who care for patients with neurological conditions, from front desk staff to advanced practice providers and respiratory therapists. It includes photos of USA Health’s neurosurgery clinic team, University Hospital’s operating room team, ICU team, and neurosurgery nurses.
“Neurosurgery does not happen because of one person under the microscope,” he wrote. “It happens because an entire group of people decides, every day, to make it happen for the patient in front of them.”
Menger is also an associate professor of neurosurgery and an assistant professor of political science at the University of South Alabama. He writes a column for Forbes twice a month about surgery, healthcare economics and healthcare policy.
