NASBS News and Upcoming Events

Vol 8 No 1 Archive

Presidential Message

Presidential Message

The North American Skull Base Society is a multi-specialty organization, originally established as a study group, dedicated to the concept of improving patient care through an interdisciplinary exchange of medical information. The 1998 Annual Meeting, under the direction of Immediate Past President Steven Newman, MD, was an international success in accomplishing this goal.

It is an honor and a privilege to have been elected President of the NASBS for 1999 and I would like to make my first official order of business the announcement that the Annual Meeting will be held at the Chicago Marriott Downtown from May 28-31, 1999.

This, the 10th Annual Meeting of the NASBS, will mark a "DECADE OF REFLECTION." While past meetings have been focused on surgical techniques and perioperative complications, this meeting will stress outcome data. Has what we have learned about skull base tumors and vascular lesions prepared us for the beginning of the new millennium?

The external pressures surrounding specialty health care have never been more intrusive, obstructive or frustrating as they are today. It is tempting for us to say "what's the use" and retreat to the more basic and simple activities available in each of our specialties. I believe our Society has come too far to give in to these pressures. This long-weekend meeting format will allow us to exchange meaningful information about the patients we have treated over the past 10 years, without sacrificing time away from our individual practices or our personal lives.

It is time to reflect on the first 10 years of our Society's existence. The advances made in the management of skull base disorders due to the multi-disciplinary exchange of information must be passed on to generations of physicians. Many problems remain to be solved and, despite our efforts, not all diseases of the skull base are curable. We owe it to ourselves and to future physicians in our field to continue the study of skull base disorders. Our patients and future patients will benefit from our collective effort.