The Society of Neurological Surgeons, known as SNS, has elected Nathan Selden, M.D., Ph.D., as president of the society. Selden, chair of the department of neurological surgery in the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, will serve as president-elect until May 2024, and then as president of the SNS until May 2025.
The society, the oldest neurosurgical organization in the world, represents U.S. neurosurgery in the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, or ACGME, and in the Organization of Program Director Societies. The SNS is responsible for the curriculum of U.S. neurosurgical training and oversees a nationwide series of standardized “boot camp” courses. Its Committee on the Accreditation of Subspecialty Training is responsible for the accreditation of neurosurgical fellowships.
The SNS annual meeting, at which Selden was elected president, is the largest neurosurgical forum in the world focused principally on governance and surgical education.
Selden was elected to SNS membership in 2008. His work for the society has included founding editor of the SNS Program Directors’ Toolkit; founding director of the “boot camp” courses; and chair of ACGME Neurosurgery Milestones writing group. He previously served the SNS as chair of the Committee on Resident Education and of the Annual Meeting Committee. As secretary, Selden was pivotal to the society’s responses to medical and societal inequities and to the pandemic. Most recently, he led a year-long strategic planning process to re-envision the society’s core activities post-pandemic.
During his term as SNS president, Selden will also preside over the One Neurosurgery Summit. The summit gathers and aligns the major U.S. neurosurgical professional organizations, including the SNS, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, American Board of Neurological Surgery, American Academy of Neurological Surgery, Review Committee for neurosurgery of the ACGME, and Washington Committee.
“Together, the Society of Neurological Surgeons and the Summit Organizations have a unique ability to influence the direction and quality of neurosurgical training in the United States,” Selden said. “With each generation of trainees, we define care outcomes for over a quarter century.”
Selden is also a current director of the American Board of Neurological Surgery. At OHSU, he holds the Campagna Chair in pediatric neurological surgery. He has served as chair of the department of neurological surgery for 7 years, and as a faculty member in the School of Medicine for 23 years.