Dr. Ali M. Maziad, MD, PhD, is an American orthopedic spine surgeon in private practice (Maziad Spine Institute) who also maintains an academic faculty appointment at Ain Shams University in his home country, Egypt. He has just landed in Ghana! With over 15 years’ experience, he has chosen to volunteer at FOCOS Orthopedic Hospital in Accra and offer assistance to the medical staff in treating patients with spinal deformities. The planned two months visit which began on October 4th, will end on December 7th, 2019.
Following his residency in Orthopedic surgery, Dr. Maziad successfully completed multiple, technically diverse spine surgery fellowships at prestigious academic institutions in USA with training ranging from various minimally invasive techniques in spine surgery to complex spinal deformities in adults and pediatrics. Among them, in 2013, he completed the fellowship of complex spinal deformities at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS, Cornell University) which is ranked as #1 in USA for orthopedics and spine surgery. During that fellowship, Dr. Maziad trained for a full year under Prof. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, Founder and CEO of FOCOS (Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine) who was also the Chief of the Scoliosis service at HSS.
Dr. Maziad is not a stranger to the FOCOS family; he has received the Andrew Swanson Alumni Traveling Scholarship to participate in two of the FOCOS Spine mission trips to Ghana in March and May of 2013. During those trips, Dr. Maziad witnessed the early opening of FOCOS hospital in Accra, and alongside a team of dedicated volunteers, he performed surgeries on many patients with very complex and neglected spinal deformities who hailed to FOCOS from various African countries where skilled surgeons and advanced facilities are lacking.
Upon arrival to FOCOS hospital last week, Dr. Maziad expressed his excitement at the level of development and quality of facilities FOCOS has as he commends the CEO and Founder Prof. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei for the excellent work done: “Having seen the hospital at its inception 7 years ago and today, I am particularly amazed at the fast pace at which FOCOS is growing and the level of care it brings to the West African region especially with the state-of-the-art facility it has, the highly trained and skilled staff and the high clinical standard adopted by FOCOS hospital which is quite impressive and matches
that found in specialized centers in USA.” Dr. Maziad is a member of several organisations including; SRS – Scoliosis Research Society, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), AO-Spine Foundation, American Academy of Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery (AAMISMS). He also participated in many advanced spine courses and meetings over the years.
Besides his clinical experience, Dr. Maziad has received a Masters and PhD degree in Orthopaedic surgery, he maintains a big interest in philanthropic work through charity hospitals and mission trips and wishes to further collaborate with FOCOS in that field. Commenting on the personality of Prof. Boachie-Adjei, Dr. Maziad said, “Prof. Boachie-Adjei is undoubtedly a world renowned orthopedic spine surgeon. His expertise in handling the most complex spinal deformity cases is unparalleled. He is a great mentor, a leader and a true role model that I thrive to follow. I consider myself very privileged to have been trained by Prof. Boachie in the past. I hope this new trip to FOCOS will be an opportunity for sharing ideas with him and adding more to my knowledge from his vast experience. I also hope it opens the door to more collaboration with FOCOS in the future to emulate its success story in my home country, Egypt as well as other parts of Africa where
advanced care for patients with complex spinal deformities is much needed.” he added. We would like to welcome Dr. Maziad back in Ghana and wish him a fruitful time at FOCOS Hospital.
