United States Neurosurgery Department Program Directors: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation of Current and Future Trends and Attributes

A Comprehensive Analysis of Academic Attributes of the Presidents of the North American Skull Base Society

“…Indeed, no neurosurgeon presidents have a history of NIH funding, which differs from other academic neurosurgeon subspecialties. 4,8 The same differences are noted between otolaryngologist NASBS presidents and the greater academic otolaryngology research community. 15 One potential explanation for why NASBS presidents have lower rates of NIH funding compared with their peers may be the clinical nature of their research.…”

“…Otherwise, the academic attributes of the presidents did not change significantly over time. Several reports have suggested that academic neurosurgery has become increasingly academically generative over the years, 8,11 but it has been noted that skull base neurosurgery has always been a field of highly academic individuals with significant research drive, potentially explaining the academic stability over the years. Likewise, successful otolaryngologist presidents have demonstrated stable proclivities for research in recent years.…”

“…Given that all past NASBS presidents have been male, women are severely underrepresented in this role. With women becoming increasingly involved in both academic neurosurgery 17 and neurosurgery leadership 8,10 as well as academic otolaryngology, 18 the likelihood that women will become increasingly represented in the NASBS cohort is high. One explanation for why female NASBS presidents have not yet been selected could be related to age.…”

“…Conversely, several studies have investigated academic otolaryngologists and neurosurgeons collectively. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Given the rich history of the society and equitable sharing of leadership within the NASBS, its former presidents serve as an ideal cohort for studying leadership in skull base surgery and how both the society and field have evolved over time. Elucidation of differing trends and characteristics could be valuable as both a documentation of the society's history and as a preliminary report to guide the society's maturation.…”

A comprehensive evaluation of career trajectories of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons William P. Van Wagenen fellows

“…To date, there exist comprehensive analyses of neurosurgical chairs, 5 residents, 6 program directors, 7 , 8 international medical graduates (IMGs), 9 and others in the field of neurosurgery 10 , 11 , 12 ; however, only a single study has been conducted to analyze the academic and career characteristics of past VW fellows, 13 while the influences demographic attributes play on fellow career trajectory and trends that may influence future fellow selection have not been investigated. Given the unique experiences and the impact of the fellowship, VW fellows represent potential future leaders in the field.…”