Dear Members of the AANS:
In April of 2019, when I took on the leadership of the AANS, a global pandemic was the stuff from a science fiction novel or a bad Netflix movie. The pandemic has really revealed how interconnected the world is and the importance of global solutions that are needed to combat the conditions we face as providers of care to patients.
Soon after the global nature of the pandemic was revealed, numerous challenges I knew the association would be facing in the short and long term became defined. This crisis highlighted the important work of the Washington Committee, ensuring that the voice of neurosurgery is heard in the nation’s capital. Neuropoint Alliance (NPA) was moving forward with key partnerships that were reshaping the data registry arm of the AANS; and a strategic planning process was started to facilitate registry opportunities across neurosurgery. The Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) focused on building stronger ties to its donors and corporate partners and delivering increased education and research funding to our members to more broadly benefit patients. The 2020 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting needed to be planned, from science to social, ensuring the meeting would meet the high expectations of all attending. The meeting theme was The World of Neurosurgery and was selected to demonstrate how we are all part of a community where all neurosurgeons should feel a role in contributing to education, research and fellowship that is critical in accomplishing our mutual objective of providing the best care for patients with neurological disorders.
And then COVID-19 arrived.
Health care was the news 24/7. The desperate need for the accurate and accessible collections of medical data played out daily in the headlines. Many neurosurgeons cross-trained so that they could fill other roles in hospitals, becoming interventionists and working directly with COVID patients. Others began to practice telemedicine, trying to address the needs of surgical patients forced into treatment delays. Boston, the location for 2020 meeting, was at the forefront of the U.S. outbreak, hosting a super spreader event just weeks before the AANS Annual Scientific Meeting was to begin.
When the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, just a few weeks before our meeting, the only road forward was clear: I canceled the 2020 AANS Annual Scientific Meeting to protect AANS members, our guests, our industry partners and ultimately our patients and families.
All of the energy of the organization, from physician leadership to staff, focused on best serving members in a changing landscape. We communicated with members frequently. We worked closely with our meeting partners, industry and the city of Boston to try to minimize the losses for all concerned. What follows is a short list of accomplishments reached in the few short weeks immediately after the cancellation.
Our education committee created special COVID-19 webinars addressing the issues faced by neurosurgery and presented these – for free – over several weeks, early in the pandemic.
The annual meeting committee worked with our partners to cancel hotels and refund registration fees, all managed before the end of April.
The scientific planning committee reviewed the education slated for the 2020 meeting and brainstormed ways to make it accessible. While in-person was no longer an option, we knew we had to find a way to save and present the science membership relies on to continue to best serve patients.
The AANS Board of Directors met via Webex for the first time ever and the Annual Business Meeting, which includes the moment when the current president actually passes the gavel to his or her successor, was managed online.
Planning for the 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting flexed to include an extra plenary session, so that those receiving awards or presenting named lectures – my presidential address included – will have a venue to be heard and celebrated by membership. Certainly, the message of The World of Neurosurgery will have added meaning in the midst of a global health crisis.
I cannot overstate how impressed I was by our AANS leadership, our board and committees and dedicated AANS staff, who all worked tirelessly to meet member needs and exceed member expectations. Global events pushed my presidential year into the record books, alongside the only other AANS Annual Scientific Meeting canceled by World War II.
It has been an honor to lead this organization. While I was not able to celebrate neurosurgery with all of you in Boston, please know that this association will continue to celebrate neurosurgery, its practitioners and patients for many years to come.
Gratefully,
Christopher I Shaffrey, MD, FAANS
AANS President