Although the ability to evaluate MRI studies is critical to the delivery of effective spine care, most spine specialists learn this skill in an informal fashion during training and in clinical practice. As a result, we may not have an understanding of the science and physics behind MR imaging and the various pulse sequences that are available for obtaining the scans. Many of us prefer to read our patients’ MR imaging studies ourselves rather than rely solely on the “official” radiologist’s report. We learn to make preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative decisions based on those readings. However, unlike radiologists who are trained to evaluate MRI studies in a systematic fashion, we may be more likely to evaluate the images in a less organized manner and to rely on our anatomic expertise and experience, which may not be the most effective method.

This online course teaches spine specialists how to systematically evaluate and interpret MR imaging studies of the spine. Although there are many courses that focus on MR imaging of the spine, this one is distinctive in that it is given by spine surgeons and radiologists specifically for spine specialists. As such, it is more clinically oriented than other courses. It also provides an excellent reference for radiologists and others such as physical medicine and rehabilitation clinicians, rheumatology physicians, and nonoperative musculoskeletal care specialists who evaluate MR images of the spine and who would like to gain a better appreciation of the associated clinical aspects.