He graduated from Ankara Atatürk High School, raking first in class, and got into HacettepeUniversity School of Medicine. He graduated as an MD on August 31, 1983. He performed his civil service in Gaziantep between 1983 and 1985. He was rewarded with a letter of appreciation for his work during this period by the Governor's Office. He did his military service in Istanbul in 1987. In 1988, he star
ted his specialization in the Neurosurgery Department of Marmara University School of Medicine. He attended training courses in Warnemünde, Germany (1989), Glasgow (1990), Edinburgh (1990 – held by The British Council), Zaragoza, Spain (1991), Jerusalem, Israel (1992), Bruges, Belgium (1993 – held by European Federation of Neurosurgical Societies), and Antalya, Turkey (1994 – held by World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies). He visited and participated clinical trials in Glasgow Institute of Neurological Sciences (1990), Department of Neurosurgery, University of Pittsburg (1992), Department of Neurosurgery, University of Virginia (1992), Department of Neurosurgery, University of Washington (1992), Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital (1994), Department of Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins Hospital (1994). He became a neurosurgeon in February, 1994. The next month, he got his master's degree in neurophysiology from Graduate School of Health Sciences, Marmara University. In September of the same year, he completed the fifth training of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) in Izmir, took their exam, and got an EANS license. He also took the European Board of Neurosurgery Primary Examination around the same time, and passed it. He attended training courses on his field of interest Stereotactic and Neurosurgery: "Stereotactic Target Calculation" and "Neurostimulation for Pain" in Çeşme, Izmir (September, 1994), "Stereotactic Neurosurgery Hands-On" in New Orleans, USA (November, 1994), "Augmentative Procedures for Pain" in San Francisco, USA (October, 1995), "Stereotactic Neurosurgery Hands-On" in New Orleans, USA (November, 1995), "Deep Brain Stimulation for Treating Parkinson's Disease" in Minneapolis, USA (May, 1996), "Interventional Therapies Workshop: Implantable Spinal Cord Stimulation and Drug Infusion Systems" in Washington, USA (May, 1996), "Surgical Treatment for Movement Disorders" and "Interventional Therapies in Chronic Pain Management" in Montréal, Canada (October, 1996), and "Management of Patients with Deep-Brain Stimulators, Expert Course and Workshop" in Kiel, Germany (June, 2001). He started working at BahçelievlerMedicalpark Hospital in January, 2009 and made possible that patients with social security also benefit from the functional neurosurgery interventions and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) with microelectrode recording and stimulation method on single cell level that only limited number of centers worldwide provide. These initiatives are also being realized in BağcılarMedipol Hospital since the beginning of 2015. With his clinical and surgical experience of 26 years in his field of specialization, Functional Brain Surgery, over 1000 successful interventions on Parkinson and other movement disorders, over 400 DBS surgery, Dr. Ali Zırh is the first name to come to minds in our country about movement disorder surgeries, and he enabled the institution where these interventions are executed to be established as an International Training and Reference Center. As a member of Turkish Neurosurgical Society, Parkinson's Disease Association, European Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, American Academy of Advancement of Science, World Federation of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, North American Cervicogenic Headache Society, International Association for The Study of Pain, American Pain Society, World Neuromodulation Society, American Neuromodulation Society, American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, The Movement Disorder Society, American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), and Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), Ali Zırhattends congresses and symposiums held by these institutions in various cities of the world at least 4-5 times a year, shares his experiences with his colleagues, and follows the latest developments and advancements in his field of specialization. Dr. Ali Zırh has many articles published in international journals, has written three book chapters, and over 120 congress declarations. Dr. Ali Zırhis married, has two children, and speaks English. You can visit his web site at www.alizirh.com
