The AANS Board of Directors gathered in Chicago, Illinois, on November 20-21, 1998 for their fall meeting. Some of the highlights of their actions are presented here.
Executive Director
The Board accepted the resignation of Robert E. Draba, PhD. Dr. Draba had been the Executive Director of The American Association of Neurological Surgeons since May 1, 1996.
“It is with great regret that we accepted Dr. Draba’s resignation,” said Russell L. Travis, MD, President of the AANS. “We are grateful for his leadership over the past two-and-a-half years and wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Norman Broadbent International, Inc., an executive recruitment firm, has been hired to conduct the search for a new AANS Executive Director.
CSNS
James R. Bean, MD, Council of State Neurosurgical Societies (CSNS) Liaison to the Board presented the following two resolutions for review and approval:
- Request that the Committee on the Assessment of Quality make the Committee’s Report Card on performance measures, as well as new performance measures specific to neurosurgery, available to members of The American Association of Neurological Surgeons and Congress of Neurological Surgeons, to compare with performance measures, as defined by health care plans.
- Recommendation that the Chairman of the CSNS appoint an Ad Hoc Committee, composed of members from the Executive Committee, the Young Physicians Committee, and the Assembly, to present a methodology to encourage and promote neurosurgery resident participation in the CSNS and at the next CSNS meeting.
FAME
Endorsement of the American Medical Foundation’s concept program called the Foundation for Advancement of Medical Education (FAME) was approved. The proposed FAME Specialty Society Program is an outgrowth of FAME’s experience in peer review of surgical outcomes.
It is designed for Board-certified or Board-eligible neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons who wish to obtain a “Certificate of Completion” as evidence of completion of a prescribed course to use inter-body fixation devices in Lumbar Interbody Fusion (LIF). The program represents an enormous opportunity to improve the current ad hoc training in new technologies and procedures.
Membership
Eighteen applications for Active membership were approved, as were 30 applications for Active (Provisional) membership, 12 applications for Associate membership, and 16 applications for International Associate membership. Sixty-eight requests for membership class transfers from Active (Provisional) to Active membership also were approved.
In addition, one transfer from Associate to Lifetime (Inactive) was approved, as well as one transfer from Active (Foreign) to Lifetime (Inactive), and one transfer from International Associate to Lifetime. Lastly, 34 transfers from Active to Lifetime membership were approved.
NOTICE OF AANS MEMBERSHIP SUSPENSION
On November 21, 1998, The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Board of Directors approved the recommendation of the Professional Conduct Committee that an Indiana neurosurgeon’s membership in the AANS be suspended for a period of six months due to unprofessional conduct while giving testimony in a civil action. The Board of Directors agreed that in his testimony, the Indiana neurosurgeon misrepresented his level of expertise in the subject of lateral mass lumbar fusion with instrumentation, failed to adequately research the subject of lateral mass lumbar fusion with instrumentation, assumed the role of an advocate for the party who paid for his services, and failed to present the broad spectrum of neurosurgical thought on the issues involved in the case.