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AO Spine is the leading global academic spine community, creating, disseminating, and exchanging knowledge to promote excellence in patient care and outcomes. It is the only truly multinational spine society in the world. AO Spine's global member community consists of 6,000 spine surgeons and researchers in 120 countries.

Every year, AO Spine stages over 200 educational events worldwide for over 12,000 participants. The education activities cover all spine pathologies and the spine surgeon's entire career. AO Spine also invests heavily in long- and short-term fellowship programs and observation opportunities.

AO Spine is the premier knowledge provider in the field of spinal surgery and at the forefront of preclinical and clinical research. It conducts its research independent of the industry. The clinical research is driven by the AO Spine Knowledge Forums. The five key opinion leader driven working groups generate knowledge in the spinal pathologies of tumor, deformity, spinal cord injury (SCI), trauma, and degenerative disease. They aim to spark expertise by way of clinical studies and evidence-based recommendations. The results are published and disseminated in the most influential journals and at conferences all over the world.

AO Spine is committed to developing new and innovative ways to develop spinal care across the globe. In 2020, two new important initiatives will be launched: the AO Spine Global Diploma Exam and the Clinical Expert Forums. AO Spine's official scientific journal, the Global Spine Journal, has been accepted to the Clarivate Analytics Journal Citations Report (JCR) Science Edition and will receive an Impact Factor in June 2020.

The Global Spine Congress (GSC), the official annual congress of AO Spine, is one of the biggest gatherings for spine surgeons from all over the world.