Dr. Carlos A. Noreña Osterroth, neurosurgeon

Training

Born in Tijuana, Baja California, he graduated from the School of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Baja California. He completed his neurosurgical residency at High Specialty Medical Unit No. 25 of the Mexican Social Security Institute in Monterrey, Nuevo León, one of the highest-volume surgical centres in the north-east of the country.

He is certified by the Mexican Board of Neurological Surgery and is a member of the Mexican Society of Neurological Surgery. That certification is the credential separating a certified neurosurgeon from a physician who presents himself as one, and it can be checked in the board's own directory.

Surgical practice

More than twenty years of neurosurgical practice, with extensive experience in spinal surgery and cranial trauma. The practice covers both halves of the specialty: the cranium — tumours, aneurysms, haemorrhage, hydrocephalus, trauma — and the spine — disc herniation, canal stenosis, instability, vertebral tumours.

He is an attending neurosurgeon at Hospital General de Tijuana and at IMSS Regional General Hospital No. 1 in Tijuana. Between them they receive a large share of the city's head and spinal trauma, which means sustained operative volume rather than a list of isolated cases.

Mission

To provide medical care of high human and technical quality, grounded in knowledge, training and innovation.

In daily practice that translates into something concrete: that the patient understands the diagnosis, sees their own imaging, knows the alternatives and makes the decision with enough information. A signature on a consent form is only worth something if a conversation came first.

Vision

To be a leader in the care of neurosurgical conditions in the region, with results that fully satisfy the patient and help them recover their quality of life.

Tijuana receives patients from across Baja California and from San Diego County. Consultations run in Spanish and English, and clinical reports are issued in whichever language each patient's treating physician needs to read — on either side of the border.

What a consultation with Dr. Noreña is like

The first consultation devotes most of its time to clinical history and neurological examination: strength, sensation, reflexes, gait and cranial nerves. It is that examination that decides whether a finding on an image genuinely explains the patient's symptom, or whether it is incidental.

The imaging is then reviewed on screen, with the patient present. If there is a surgical indication, the technique, risks, alternatives and prognosis are explained and handed over in writing. And if there is not, that is said with equal clarity, together with a follow-up plan and the signs that would mean coming back sooner.

What you can expect from this consultation

• Current, verifiable certification from the Mexican Board of Neurological Surgery
• Your imaging reviewed on screen, with you in the room
• Diagnosis, alternatives, risks and prognosis explained and given in writing
• An honest answer when surgery is not yet indicated
• Neurosurgical emergencies attended 24 hours a day by phone
• Consultation and reports in Spanish or English