History of the Department of Neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Historical overview of the Department of Neurosurgery at Yonsei University College of Medicine in the Republic of Korea

Originally founded in 1885, Gwanghyewon later became the Severance Hospital (named after philanthropist Louis Severance, who supported and funded the construction of a modern hospital) and Yonsei University College of Medicine. The Department of Neurosurgery at Severance Hospital was established in 1957, and its residency program began in 1961. Currently, the Department of Neurosurgery has 34 professors and 17 fellows; specialties include vascular, functional, pediatric, tumor, skull base, and spine neurosurgery. With its state-of-the-art neurosurgical facilities and services, the Department of Neurosurgery has developed into a department of excellence within the Yonsei University Health System. In this vignette, the authors present a historic overview of the Department of Neurosurgery.

Young Neurosurgeons Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons: Training Ground for Future Leaders in Organized Neurosurgery in the United States of America

The Young Neurosurgeons Committee, founded in 1991 by Dr. Roberto C. Heros, has been a vital component of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. It has grown from an opportunity for young neurosurgeons to network with senior neurosurgeons to becoming the major voice of young neurosurgeons and a training ground for the future leaders of organized neurosurgery. The present report has reviewed the leadership involvement of 168 previous Young Neurosurgeons Committee members and briefly highlighted the careers of 4 of these members who have attained leadership positions in neurosurgery.

Academic Genealogy of Neurosurgery via Department Chair

BACKGROUND

An academic genealogy describes mentoring relationships in an academic discipline. In this study, we outline an academic genealogy of neurosurgery department chairs in the United States beginning with the founding members of the field.

METHODS

The biographic information provided by the Society for Neurological Surgery provided the basis for our genealogy. We also performed a literature review with PubMed using the term neurosurgery department history. Our data was manually uploaded to an online database called Academic Tree. Within this platform, mentor and trainee relationships were indicated to produce an academic genealogy.

RESULTS

Our search yielded a total of 377 chairs and 368 mentoring relationships across 98 neurosurgery departments. The largest family tree in our academic genealogy was that of Harvey Cushing, with 177 department chairs. Harvey Cushing was also the individual who trained the most number of department chairs (22). The institution that trained the most department chairs was Brigham and Women's Hospital (26). Only 23.6% of department chairs completed residency training at the same institution where they became chair.

CONCLUSIONS

The academic genealogy in this study allows for any neurosurgeon trained in the United States to put his or her training into historical context. It also provides a reference for bibliographic research to quantitatively describe the influence of individuals and institutions on the field.