In the two years since the pandemic, exchange between Taiwan's spine surgery community and the Asia-Pacific region has grown steadily more frequent. I was invited by a professional society to host visiting physicians from abroad at Taichung Veterans General Hospital. Amid a busy clinical and administrative schedule, opportunities like this for cross-border technical exchange are genuinely something to look forward to.

These past two weeks, the operating room welcomed three special guests: Traveling Fellows from Thailand and South Korea.

That day's case was a middle-aged man with lumbar spondylolisthesis. I chose OLIF (Oblique Lateral Interbody Fusion) for reduction and fixation. This approach reaches the spine from the side of the abdomen, avoiding damage to the back muscles. With mature technique and a smooth-running team, blood loss is typically very low, which is a real benefit for the patient's post-operative recovery.

Before surgery, I discussed the patient's condition and treatment strategy with the two Korean physicians, and they agreed the approach made sense. Since their visit time was limited and my case was still being prepped, they went to observe another procedure in a different operating room, planning to come back later.

Less than half an hour later, I had already completed the main surgical steps and was standing in front of them. Seeing the surprise on both their faces, clearly not expecting it to be over so quickly, I couldn't help but laugh.

I care deeply about precision and never chase speed for its own sake. It's simply that once the process becomes second nature and the team works in perfect sync, the time a patient needs to spend under anesthesia naturally shortens a great deal. That's what actually benefits the patient.

During breaks in surgery, we also talked at length about the differing perspectives on spine treatment across our countries. Medicine truly has no borders. Everyone in that room was both a friend sharing technique and a teacher offering fresh perspective.

That skeleton-print lead apron in the photo is a bit of a personal trademark of mine in the OR, and people ask about it often. I first saw this "full skeleton" design at a conference in the US, thought it was both funny and fitting, and had it custom-made, with my name embroidered on it. I'd already flown back to Taiwan by the time it was ready, so the manufacturer ended up shipping it across the ocean to me. Dealing with bones every single day, wearing this does add a bit of fun to the job.

The one small regret is that the overseas manufacturer apparently had no sense of scale for Chinese characters: my name ended up embroidered so small and unassuming that you'd have to look closely to even find it… 🔍 😂