Cross Post – Ensuring an Adequate Specialty Physician Workforce for the 21st Century
On April 5, 2016, Morning Consult published an opinion piece featuring the Alliance of Specialty Medicine and neurosurgery’s own H. Hunt Batjer, MD, FAANS, president of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. The article, “Ensuring an Adequate Specialty Physician Workforce for the 21st Century,” addresses a number of key points related to the topic of […]
March Madness
Deborah L. Benzil, MD, FACS, FAANS, AANS (left) Chair, AANS/CNS Communications and Public Relations Committee Mount Kismo Medical Group Columbia University Medical Center Mt Kisco, New York Guest Post from Clemens M. Schirmer, MD, PhD, FAANS, FAHA (right) Vice-Chair, AANS/CNS Communications and Public Relations Committee Geisinger Health System Wilkes Barre, PA During the month of […]
Faces of Neurosurgery: Legacy Lineage-Cushing, Van Wagenen and Marko
Guest post from Kristopher T. Kimmell, MD Neurosurgical Resident, University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY The training of all physicians is a long and arduous path. After college, there are four years of medical school. The first years are dedicated to understanding the underpinnings of biologic processes and how diseases derange this normal functioning in […]
“Boot Camps” Lead the Way in Modern Neurosurgical GME
Nathan R. Selden, MD, PhD Campagna Professor and Chair Department of Neurological Surgery Oregon Health & Science University Portland, Oregon The specialty-wide “boot camp” movement began in neurological surgery. Many local and global forces in graduate medical education (GME) have driven the adoption and spread of boot camps: Neurosurgery assumed responsibility for the internship or […]
Embracing the Future of Neurosurgical Leadership
Krystal L. Tomei, MD, MPH Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and University Hospitals Case Medical Center Chair of the CNS Resident Committee Cleveland, OH Leadership has always been an essential skill within medicine but that need has accelerated with the sweeping changes in health care. Traditionally, gaining these skills has happened more by […]
Increasing Residency Slots is Key to Preventing Doctor Shortage
Guest post from Representative Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. He is the author of the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act (H.R. 2124). The past several years have seen tremendous attention paid to rethinking and improving our nation’s health care system. […]
Achieving Accountability for Graduate Medical Education
Atul Grover, MD, PhD Executive Vice President Association of American Medical Colleges Washington, DC “Accountability” is a word that comes up often in all aspects of my professional endeavors, whether it is the emergence of accountable care organizations (ACOs) — which have eclipsed the health maintenance organizations (HMOs) of a generation ago — or the […]
AANS and CNS Release 2015 Legislative Agenda
Today, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) released its 2015 legislative agenda, which includes action items such as abolishing the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), expanding support for graduate medical education, championing an improved Medicare reimbursement system, and alleviating the medical liability crisis. A few of our […]
GME Changes: Are we in danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater?
Guest Post from Maya A. Babu, MD (left) Neurosurgical Resident, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN and Brian V. Nahed, MD (right) Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School Boston, MA The recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report heralding potentially major changes in the world of graduate medical education (GME) funding has brought […]
Double D.O.A.: The Obama and Ryan Budget Proposals
In March, President Obama released the Administration’s proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 Budget. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) portion allocated $1 trillion in outlays and proposed $77.1 billion in discretionary budget authority, $0.8 billion less than the 2014 enacted level and $3 billion less than last year’s request. Of significance to many […]