DR ATTILA SZABO
Dr Attila Szabo graduated as a medical doctor in 1988 at the Semmelweis Medical School, Budapest, Hungary. After completing his undergraduate studies he worked as a medical officer at the trauma and orthopaedic unit in a regional county hospital between 1988 – 1991. Working there he was exposed to the basics of orthopaedic medicine and decided to specialize in orthopaedic surgery. Following a colleague’s invitation Dr Szabo moved to Johannesburg, South Africa in 1991. He took up a registrar post at the Department of Orthopaedics at WITS University, Johannesburg in 1994 and graduated as a specialist orthopaedic surgeon (FCS Ortho) in October 2000.
Dr Szabo worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in private practice in Johannesburg before moving to Cape Town in 2005. He initially joined Dr. Mike Scher (specialist hip and spine surgeon) as an associate before opening his own private practice at Mediclinic Cape Town and more recently at Netcare Blaauwberg Hospital.
Dr Szabo's special interest in spinal disorders and spine surgery started after becoming the full time surgical assistant to Mr. Leonard Nainkin, a spinal orthopaedic surgeon at the Linksfield Park Clinic, Johannesburg. Dr Nainkin was one of the pioneers of spinal surgery in South Africa performing posterior fusion and fixation of the lumbar spine with his own designed plate-screw instrumentation before other pedicle screw fixation systems became available on the market.
Dr Szabo continued to work with Dr Nainkin before relocating to Cape Town and participated in more than a thousand spinal surgical procedures — anterior and posterior surgery of the cervical, thoracic and lumbo
–sacral spine for traumatic, congenital, degenerative, neoplastic and infectious conditions and on many occasions corrective/reconstructive and revision spinal surgery.
Dr Szabo has completed a Fellowship in Spine Surgery at the Orthopaedic Spinal Services Unit at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town. Headed by Professor Robert Dunn, the Spine Unit is a tertiary referral center for patients with spinal problems from all over the Western Cape and beyond and the fellows have great exposure to treat complicated surgical cases with spine injuries, infections and degenerative spine conditions.
Dr Szabo is a member of the South African Spine Society (SASS), the North American Spine Society (NASS) and the South African Orthopaedic Association (SAOA).
Dr Szabo's special interest in spinal disorders and spine surgery started after becoming the
full time surgical assistant to Mr. Leonard Nainkin, a spinal orthopaedic surgeon at the
Linksfield Park Clinic, Johannesburg. Dr Nainkin was one of the pioneers of spinal surgery
in South Africa performing posterior fusion and fixation of the lumbar spine with his own
designed plate-screw instrumentation before other pedicle screw fixation systems became
available on the market. Dr Szabo continued to work with Dr Nainkin before relocating to
Cape Town and participated in more than a thousand spinal surgical procedures — anterior
and posterior surgery of the cervical, thoracic and lumbo–sacral spine for traumatic,
congenital, degenerative, neoplastic and infectious conditions and on many occasions
corrective/reconstructive and revision spinal surgery.
Dr Szabo has rooms at Mediclinic Cape Town, on the slopes of Table Mountain, in the historic
center of one of the most beautiful cities. The Clinic’s facilities are designed for the most
pleasant and relaxed experience possible while undergoing your medical treatment. Dr Szabo
has recently opened rooms at Netcare Blaauwberg Hospital to provide care for patients with
spinal problems as a part of the multi-disciplinary orthopaedic service offered at the hospital.
Certificates & Courses
2022 April/Health Professionals Council of South Africa
2020 Oct / Introduction to CareOn for Doctors & HCPs
2016 April / 13th COMOC (Combined Orthopaedic Meeting of the English Speaking World)
2015 March 21 / Anterior spinal surgery - IGASS / Medtronic, Durban
2014 November 19 / MPS - Know your risks, Cape Town ICC
2014 May / SASS Congress 2014, Cape Town
2014 March / IGASS Meeting, Cape Town
2013 June / MAST DLIF Course - Medtronic, Cape Town
2013 May / Annual meeting of the SA Spinal Society (SASS), Port Elizabeth
2013 February /Neck Surgery Workshop - AO/Synthes, Cape Town
2012 November / IGASS Meeting, Cape Town
2012 May / Annual SASS Congress, Pretoria
2011 December 2 / Ageing Spine - IGASS
2011 October 1 - 2 / AMA Guides of Permanent Impairment - ACDM / ABME
2011 July 22 / Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery Course (MAST) - Medtronic
2011 May 5 / Mastering your risk - MPS
2011 May 26 - 28 / Annual meeting of the SA Spinal Society (SASS)
2011 April 15 / ICD-10 codes training workshop
2011 April / Arthroplasty revision course � Cape Town, Johnson & Johnson
2010 October 10 - 14 / 70th Annual Scientific Meeting AOA � Adelaide, Australia
2010 January /Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) courses
2009 September / Annual conference of the SA Orthopaedic Associatio
2009 February / Ballon Kyphoplasty Surgical Course
2008 October / Vertebroplasty surgical course (Spine-Fix)
2008 September / Annual conference of the SA Orthopaedic Association
2007 September / Annual conference of the SA Orthopaedic Association Cape Town