An Education in Neurosurgical Education

Efforts to bring neurosurgery to the developing world are often dismissed with the argument that limited resources ought to be invested in initiatives which benefit large groups rather than individuals. However, the idea that there is a decision to be made between improving access to neurosurgery versus expanding access to clean water or the eradication of communicable disease is a fallacy.

While neurosurgeons as a group have little expertise to contribute to clean water infrastructure, we have the knowledge to meaningfully advance neurosurgery in developing countries. The decision we face is whether we should contribute our particular expertise to the advancement of our field in developing countries, or not at all.