In this issue of AANS Neurosurgeon, we consider the financial aspect of neurosurgeons’ lives. Most of us have not received any formal education in financial matters at any point in our lives. Yet, financial health and security are of paramount importance for everyone.
For those who are not old enough to remember recessions of decades past, the financial implications of the current pandemic cannot be ignored. Just as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted societal economic inequities, it has affected all neurosurgeons regardless of their career stage: students, residents, attendings, private and academic practitioners.
Michael Oh, MD, FAANS, as guest editor of this issue, was instrumental in identifying the various aspects of a financial life that are of interest to neurosurgeons at all points in their career. Over the next three months, AANS Neurosurgeon will feature pieces on disability insurance, investments, debt and retirement. Jonathan Borden, medical student member of the AANS Neurosurgeon Editorial Board recognized the effect of the pandemic upon the youngest potential members of our field, the 2021 neurosurgical applicants. These students, with the guidance of the Senior Society of Neurological Surgeons, has created a new and perhaps more equitable paradigm for this new environment. Once again, our field proves itself to be innovative and constantly evolving towards a more perfect version of itself.
