Psychological Assessment of Surgical Candidates

Ryan J. Marek, PhD, is an assistant professor of Clinical Psychology at Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (SHSU-COM). Dr. Marek teaches medical students, engages in an active program of research, serves as consulting editor for both medical and psychological peer-reviewed journals, and holds a practice at SHSU Physicians clinic where he conducts various psychological assessments (including presurgical evaluations) and therapy. Dr. Marek’s program of research is focused on understanding how psychological factors contribute to medical outcomes. He currently has over 50 peer-reviewed publications mostly focused on presurgical psychological evaluations and how they predict various outcomes. Andrew R. Block, PhD, is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and is board certified in Clinical Health Psychology. He has provided presurgical psychological evaluations and chronic pain treatment for more than 40 years, the last 32 at Texas Back Institute. He has over 50 peer-reviewed publications primarily focused on psychosocial influences on spine surgery outcome, most recently studying the MMPI-2-RF and MMPI-3. He is co-developer, along with Yossef Ben-Porath, of the MMPI-2-RF spine surgery candidate and spinal cord stimulator candidate interpretive reports. He has four previous books, including Presurgical Psychological Screening: Understanding Patients, Improving Outcomes. He may be contacted at: andrewblockpsych@yahoo.com.