Italy, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, China, Egypt, United Kingdom, Greece, Japan. He has trained more than 4,000 surgeons in his courses around the world and 40 neurosurgeons fellows at Cornell
Dr Bernardo had been showing a great interest, even before his premedical studies, in medicine and in the care of those in need. He was particularly taken, during his early travels, by the lack of proper surgical training in developing countries. In 1999, 2 years after he completed his neurosurgical training and after spending 2 extra years in learning complex skull base surgery techniques, he decided to spend 14 months as a neurosurgical volunteer for FIENS in Peru. He was so enriched by the whole experience that he decided to spend most of his future carrier in providing surgical care and hands-on training and education to neurosurgeons around the world. Since 2000 he has spent months on-site performing skull base surgery and teaching complex neurosurgical techniques to local neurosurgeons and setting up local training programs. He has found that working side-by-side with neurosurgeons in the developing world is the best way to share our knowledge with them. He has also found that passing on our knowledge is the best way to help the developing world help itself. In the last 15 years he has been involved personally on a routine basis in several countries including Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Honduras, Bolivia, Uruguay.
Besides his volunteering programs in developing countries, Dr Bernardo has also been involved in training programs in Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Austria, Belgium, The Nederland’s,
"Physicians worldwide, regardless of their nationality, strive to do what is best for their patients. The objective of the Salzburg Medical Seminars is to help physicians achieve their goals by providing free, state-of-the-art information and education in a neutral, non-threatening environment."
George Soros
Dr Bernardo has served as co-Director of the Open Medical Institure (OMI)- Salzburg Neurosurgical Seminars form 2005 to present. The OMI seminars, under the auspicies of the American Austrian Foundation, link physicians from leading American Hospitals and their affiliated medical schools with physicians practising in Central and eastern Europe, Central Asia, the former Soviet Union and other countries in transition
Dr Bernardo conducts a unique course on Surgical Approaches to the Skull Base four times a year at Weill Cornell’s state-of-the-art Surgical Innovations Laboratory. Participating surgeons work at 3-D interactive cadaver workstations, where they watch cadaveric dissections and review surgical anatomy — all in 3D — before and during their own dissection.The combination of the 3-D virtual reality environment and the cadaveric hands-on dissection affords surgeons excellent preoperative training and rehearsal of current, complex approaches in cranial base surgery.
Dr Bernardo has taught twice/year at the Senior Neurosurgical Residents and at the Senior Neuro-Otologists Residents Courses at the Synthes-Anspach Laboratories in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida from 2005 to 2014.
Dr Bernardo has also been the director of the Synthes/Anspach series of surgical courses on Skull Base Surgery for Latin American Neurosurgeons and Neuro-Otologists form 2011 to present.
Dr Bernardo is the director of the Skull Base and Microneurosurgery international research fellowship. The fellowship offers the possibility of rotations/training at the Microneurosurgery Skull Base Laboratory at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and focuses attention on the training of neurosurgeons in the care of patients with pathology in the skull base region. The training is of variable duration from 3 to 12 months. This rotation/training is available to senior residents in neurosurgery or to neurosurgeons who have completed their residency training and would like to pursue specialized training in this area.The training provides an exhaustive course to all approaches to the cranial base. The fellow will work closely with Dr. Bernardo for the purpose of education and for development of new neurosurgical techniques. The fellowship is extremely well sought after and attracts neurosurgeons from all over the world.