Evidence Based, Cost Effective, And Compassionate Surgical Care of the Spi: Comprehensive Review of the Literature and Experience-Based Fair and Balan (1)

The Book: Dr. Rafael Levin and Dr. Nomaan Ashraf are fellowship trained orthopedic spine surgeons, partners at Comprehensive Spine Care (CSC). Their combined 25 years of clinical practice experience has been primarily dedicated to evaluating and treating spine injured workers. Having recognized the existing void in training, education, and practical understanding of workers compensation issues among their peers, they have decided to share their clinical experience and evidence-based expertise in this well-overdue publication. Medical and non-medical professionals, involved in the evaluation and treatment, or the processing and litigation of work related spine injury claims, will find the information provided in this book to be both helpful on a practical level, and thought provoking on an intellectual level. While the authors realize the reader will not find all the answers in this text, they are confident that he or she will at the very least gain from their experience and develop a productive framework to keep questioning conventional wisdom and seeking better explanations and remedies for the spine-injured worker.

Rafael Levin, MD, MSc and Comprehensive Spine Care (CSC): Born and raised in Tel-Aviv, Israel, Rafael dedicated his three years of compulsory military service to the Israeli Air-Force before attending MIT (Cambridge, MA) where he completed his undergraduate and graduate studies in materials science and Engineering with honors in 1994. Intending to embark on an academic research career in bio-engineering, he attended Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD) where he ultimately opted to give up on a combined MD/PhD program in favor of focusing his future on clinical medicine and direct patient care. After completing his surgical internship and Orthopedic residency training at Boston University Medical Center and Lahey Clinic (Boston, MA), Dr. Levin specialized in spine surgery during his fellowship at NYU/Hospital for Joint diseases (NYC, NY). In 2004 Dr. Levin Joined Dr. Ari Ben-Yishay (the founder) and Dr. Jonathan Lester at Comprehensive Spine Care (Westwood, NJ). Dr. Nomaan Ashraf joined the group in 2010, and after Dr. Ben-Yishay's retirement in 2013, Dr. Levin took over as the senior partner. The practice has expanded over the years, and with the recent addition of Dr. Evan Baird, CSC is currently offering its services in 7 different NJ counties including Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Somerset, Morris, Essex, and Middlesex. Dr. Levin is acting Chief of the Spine Surgery Division at Hackensack University Medical Center at Pascack Valley (Westwood, NJ) and Hudson Crossing Surgery Center (Fort Lee, NJ).

Nomaan Ashraf, MD, MBA and Comprehensive Spine Care: After completing undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) and graduating with honors with a degree in Biology and Neuroscience he moved to Boston to study Medicine. While attending Tufts University School of Medicine he simultaneously matriculated in the school of Business and received his MBA in Health Care Administration. In 2002 he began his Orthopedic Surgery Residency in Charlotte, North Carolina. He spent one year during his residency completing a Fellowship in Basic Science and Clinical Research, publishing multiple peer-reviewed articles as well as presenting his research at multiple International Meetings. Following the completion of residency training he completed a fellowship in Spinal Surgery at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, California where he was trained by world leaders in minimally invasive spine surgery and motion preserving technologies (artificial dis replacement.) He joined Comprehensive Spine Care in 2010 and is an Assistant Clinical Professor in Spinal Surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City.