Surgical neurology: Harvey Cushing's endangered legacy

As it does periodically, the United States healthcare system is, yet again, undergoing a period of change on multiple fronts, including internal initiatives in education, quality, and the workforce, as well as external pressure responding to changes in reimbursement and oversight. In such times, looking back at the foundations of our specialty is helpful, allowing often-beleaguered neurosurgeons to reflect upon what it means to be a neurosurgeon, and how they can be assured that our specialty will continue to flourish in the future. Harvey Cushing envisioned, espoused, and developed neurological surgery as a "special field"-a comprehensive, encompassing, and distinct discipline that studies the nervous system and manages neurological disorders. It provides surgical intervention for the treatment of neurological disorders; it by no means was meant to be developed as a mere technical or procedural skill; it is neither a subspecialty of surgery nor a branch of neurology; it is a "special field" that has flourished to become a crown jewel in the realm of medicine. Herein is a perspective that brings the inception and future of this concept to light. A specialty that is to live and flourish should stand on and recognize its roots.