Professor of Neurosurgery
University of Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Dr R. John Hurlbert graduated from medical school at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon (Canada). After a general rotating internship at the Regina General Hospital, he spent the next 10 years in Toronto, Ontario in his Neurosurgical Residency also completing a PhD in Spinal Cord Injury research. He undertook two complex spine surgery fellowships, one at the Toronto Western Hospital with Michael Fehlings, and one at the Barrow Neurological Institute with Volker Sonntag.
His first posting was with the Division of Neurosurgery and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary where he held a cross-appointment in the Division of Orthopedic Surgery. He was the founding chairman of the University of Calgary Spine Program, and was also the founding president of the Canadian Spine Society. During his stay in Calgary he was Residency Program Director for 11 years. He served on the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Neurosurgery Examination Board for 5 years, was Chief Examiner in Neurosurgery for an additional 5 years, and served another 5 years on the Royal College Examination Committee governing all medical specialty examinations in Canada. During this time he also served on the Executive Committee of the AANS/CNS Joint Section on Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerves and was Chair of the Section from 2014-2015.
In 2016 Dr. Hurlbert was recruited by the University of Arizona to help build a comprehensive Spine Program. He continues to live and work in academic practice in Tucson today. Dr Hurlbert’s clinical interests encompass spinal cord injury and complex cervical decompression and reconstruction. His research efforts are directed towards spinal cord injury and degenerative spine disease. He has helped to train over 50 Complex Spine Fellows (ortho and neuro) and countless Neurosurgery Residents in his career to date.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
11:01 AM – 11:20 AM EST