World Spine Day – Caution: cervical spinal stenosis
On World Spine Day (#worldspineday) on October 16, we draw attention to an often-unrecognized condition: cervical spinal stenosis.
We warmly congratulate Prof. Ralph Schär on his appointment as Associate Professor at the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern, effective July 1, 2025. The Associate Professorship is an academic distinction awarded by the University of Bern in recognition of outstanding achievements in research and teaching.
Prof. Ralph Schär, MD, is a specialist in neurosurgery and senior physician at the Department of Neurosurgery at Inselspital, Bern University Hospital. He heads the Spine Surgery Unit and specializes in the surgical treatment of complex spinal disorders.
Specialist medical training
After studying medicine at the University of Bern, he completed his specialist training in neurosurgery at Inselspital, Bern University Hospital. As part of his specialization in spinal surgery, Ralph Schär spent a year at the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich and completed a fellowship at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada.
Clinical specialization
His clinical focus is on minimally invasive and open spine surgery, particularly for disc herniations, spinal stenosis, and instability resulting from degenerative, tumorous, or infectious diseases.
Ralph Schär also has extensive expertise in navigated instrumentation and stabilization of the spine, as well as in the use of intraoperative ultrasound techniques in spinal surgery. In addition, he performs interventional pain therapies, particularly infiltrations of the spine.
Research activities
His scientific interests lie in clinical research in the field of patient safety, with a particular focus on patient selection, surgical procedures, and infection prevention.
