Organizational Hierarchy: Its Importance in the Spine Surgery Community

Article information

J Minim Invasive Spine Surg Tech. 2024;9(Suppl 2):S141-S142

Publication date (electronic) : 2024 July 31

doi : https://doi.org/10.21182/jmisst.2024.01452

Chun Kun Park^,*

Department of Neurosurgery, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding Author: Chun Kun Park Department of Neurosurgery, The Catholic University of Korea, 10 63(yuksam)-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 07345, Korea Email: ckpmd52@gmail.com

*Professor Emeritus, Department of Neurosurgery The Catholic University of Korea (Seoul, Korea).

Received 2024 May 28; Accepted 2024 June 11.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on the issue of a new application for a newly affiliated group in Korean Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Society (KOMISS). The applicants have advocated the development of a single technique, unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE), used in endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) as their group's goal.

Well-ordered scientific societies should have a clear organizational hierarchy, which has been well established in the Korean Neurosurgical Spine Society. KOMISS is a subsidiary of this society, and Korean Research Society of Endoscopic Spine Surgery (KOSESS) is affiliated with KOMISS. Even if a subsidiary branch is more active than its parent organization, its organizational linkage cannot reach in the opposite direction. This is a fundamental reality of human society. Furthermore, UBE is considered an ESS technique, though there is still debate whether it is fully endoscopic or endoscope-assisted; this topic is beyond the scope of our current discussion. Therefore, a meeting dedicated to UBE should not extend beyond a research group, especially if the organization is designed to support only the UBE technique, regardless of its large scale and numerous participants (e.g., World UBE Society). Meanwhile, it is puzzling that many UBE applicants are hesitant to recognize KOSESS as the immediate parent organization, despite having significantly contributed to the establishment of KOSESS just a few years ago and having served as high-level officers.

Therefore, the UBE group's application to become a subsidiary of KOMISS is nonsensical. In my strong opinion, it would be more logical and appropriate for them to seek subsidiary status under KOSESS.

Some may consider my viewpoint conservative, but I believe it transcends the binary of conservative versus radical; instead, it is fundamentally about the underlying logic. Just as prestigious organizations boast a proud genealogical lineage, KOMISS has an impeccable organizational structure.

We should pass down a well-organized and reasonably systematic structure to the next generation of KOMISS.