[MUSIC PLAYING] - I'm Dr. Mark Shaffrey. I'm the chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery. Personally, I treat patients who have degenerative spinal disorders, trauma of the spine, and spinal tumors, in addition to patients with brain disorders, such as brain tumors, both benign tumors and malignant tumors. 

The brain and the spinal cord is the most fascinating part of the body. It's incredibly elegant and the diseases that we treat can be very profoundly disabling for patients. So there are incredible challenges. Diagnosis can be difficult, and so becoming an expert in neurosurgery is something that takes an incredible amount of commitment and time and most of the people interested in neurosurgery are willing to really make that commitment to patients and the problems that they have. 

But my team has been with me for over 10 years, and so we know each other very well. We can help each other much more easily, and we know our patients very, very well. So I think over a period of time, that's very important. Anyone who calls the office, that's our patient. Here's a voice that they know, that's been there for a long time, and they know that they'll be here when they come for a visit.