Meeting the challenges of neurosurgery. The 2006 presidential address

The challenges faced by neurosurgery in 2006 are many. There are five principal challenges that have received a great deal of attention from the Board of Directors of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons this past year. These are the challenge of maintaining a modern, efficient, and responsive educational program for neurosurgery; the challenge of maintaining the boundaries of neurosurgical practice and preventing the incursion of subspecialty groups into the performance of neurosurgical procedures; the challenge of responding to the changing demands of society; the challenge of influencing increased reimbursement; and the challenge of creating meaningful medical liability reform. Each of these issues are discussed.