The AANS: The national and international organization for neurological surgery

1992 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 663-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
James T. Robertson

✓ The President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) validates the AANS as the national neurosurgical organization. He describes improved management of major committees of neurological surgery by the Joint Officers of the AANS and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. A strong argument and proclamation are presented to expand the international role of the former Harvey Cushing Society.

1997 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 964-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel H. Greenblatt

✓ When Harvey Cushing announced his full-time commitment to neurological surgery in 1904, it was a discouraging and discouraged enterprise. Other surgeons' mortality rates for patients with brain tumors were 30 to 50%. By 1910 Cushing had operated on 180 tumors; he had a thriving practice, with a patient mortality rate of less than 13%. The three essential ingredients of his success were: 1) a new surgical conceptualization of intracranial pressure (ICP); 2) technical innovations for controlling ICP; and 3) establishment of a large referral base. In the years 1901 through 1905, the implications of his research on the “Cushing reflex” were quickly translated into surgical techniques for controlling ICP. In the period between 1906 and 1910, Cushing built up his referral practice by publishing widely, and especially by lecturing to medical audiences throughout the United States and Canada. His scientific work on ICP was essential to his clinical success, but without his professional and social ability to build a thriving practice, there would have been insufficient material for him to use to improve his approaches.


1981 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. King

✓ The President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) emphasizes the need to participate actively in the burgeoning field of neuroscience, and the unique opportunity of neurological surgeons to apply the new knowledge to the treatment of their patients. Clinician-investigators need to be trained in their formative years in the methodology and techniques of modern neurobiology. Diminishing governmental support for training poses a grave threat to carrying on the tradition of research in neurological surgery. To meet a critical need, the formation of a Research Foundation is announced as a function of the AANS. As Science is expanded and applied, the Art of neurosurgery will continue to be refined, along with the high tradition of Ethics which has been handed down over the years as part of the heritage of neurological surgeons.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron A. Cohen-Gadol ◽  
J. Michael Homan ◽  
Edward R. Laws ◽  
John L. D. Atkinson ◽  
Ross H. Miller

✓ Mayo Clinic founders, William J. Mayo and Charles H. Mayo, and Harvey W. Cushing were among the most significant pioneers of modern American surgery. A review of their personal correspondence reveals a special relationship among these three individuals, particularly between William Mayo and Cushing. Their interactions within the Society of Clinical Surgery initiated their close personal and professional association, which would endure for 39 years. William Mayo strongly supported Cushing's efforts to develop the specialty of neurological surgery, and Cushing sought Mayo's advice in making important career-related decisions. Their supportive friendship and professional alliance remains an example for future generations of neurological surgeons.


1984 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 999-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byron Cone Pevehouse

✓ The President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) reviews formal neurosurgical training in the United States from its inception with one program in 1934 to 1984, with 94 programs and 650 residents. He reports on the 1st year's experience with a national neurosurgical residency matching plan. He presents realistic remedies for today's professional liability dilemma and analyzes socioeconomic factors that have led to the complex challenges facing neurosurgeons in this decade, relating the importance of the AANS mission and goals in resolving these issues.


1982 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Kemp Clark

✓ The President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons concentrates on the problems facing the specialty, the achievements of the past, and the mechanisms designed to foster the advancement and role of neurosurgery. To counter the difficult days ahead, he emphasizes the need for concerted effort and action on the part of neurosurgeons within the umbrella of the Association as spokesman for the specialty and advocate for the patients' welfare.


1993 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 948-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred G. Barker

✓ The early history of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) is reviewed with emphasis on the development of neurological surgery. The hospital opened in 1823. Early trephinations were performed by Dr. John Collins Warren and others for treatment of trauma and epilepsy. In the 1880's, interest in brain surgery increased, and Dr. John Elliot performed several trephinations for brain tumors, three of which were witnessed by Dr. Harvey Cushing during his years at the MGH as medical student and intern. In 1911, all brain surgery was placed in the hands of Dr. S. J. Mixter. He later shared the assignment with his son, Dr. W. J. Mixter, who described herniation of the intervertebral disc with Dr. J. S. Barr and became the first Chief of the Neurosurgical Service at MGH in 1939.


1995 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 750-755
Author(s):  
Mary Louise Hlavin ◽  
Robert A. Ratcheson

✓ There is a strong tradition of neurosurgery in Cleveland. This article traces the origin of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals of Cleveland and examines the evolution of neurological surgery at these institutions. It looks at the strong Cushing influence on the process, by both Harvey Cushing and his family. The contributions of such luminaries as George Crile, Elliott Cutler, Claude Beck, and Frank Nulsen are described.


1993 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 807-809
Author(s):  
Merwyn Bagan

✓ The President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) discusses the present socioeconomic milieu, which has created anxiety in the neurosurgical community. The underlying factors are technological advances, hospital-physician relationships, medical liability, quality assurance reviews, and physician reimbursement. It is proposed that neurosurgeons be proactive in the development of health-care reform.


2002 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1261-1268
Author(s):  
Stan Pelofsky ◽  
Raina Pelofsky

✓ Vincent van Gogh's life, letters, and art are the framework for this existential speech about the nature of alienation, as well as its threat to humanity and to the artful practice of medicine. The honest, human voice expressed in van Gogh's art stands in opposition to alienation, which occurs when we divide the world into two parts: the “perfect” world of science versus the “flawed” world of human experience. Bridging this divide allows for an “authentic” life, one which honestly defines itself and faces difficult human truths. The most difficult truth relates to our own mortality, but it must be faced if we are to understand the value of existence. Film clips from Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters illustrate how an artist's portrayal of these issues can be both profound and humorous, and how art brings us closer to our own humanity and to the essence of medicine. Neurosurgeons are warned about the lure of science and technology as a substitute for purpose and meaning, both as physicians and as human beings. The role of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons is explored and found to offer neurosurgeons a bridge away from alienation and toward a neurosurgical community. Neurosurgeons are urged to find meaning through service to their profession and to find the voice and art of medicine. [Note: Actual film clips were used when this address was delivered. Unofficial transcripts of the clips have been included in this article so that the integrity of the speech would not be compromised.]


1979 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald F. Dohn

✓ The President of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) reviews the formative history of the major neurosurgical societies, together with their agreement to consolidate their efforts in the joint AANS. As a united group, the Association has been effective in carrying out relations with other professional organizations and with government. Long-range planning is being pursued steadily to increase the role of organized neurosurgery in maintenance of, and improvement in, patient care, education, and research.


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