International Neurosurgery Activity after 2020- Silver Linings from the Covid-19 Pandemic & Lessons from the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS)

Abstract

“Every cloud has a silver lining,” and indeed, every crisis provides opportunities for learning lessons and changing tactics. Nobody couldhave foreseen what happened because of the Covid-19 disease, from the unfolding outbreak stages to the epidemic, and now a globalpandemic; second and possibly third waves into 2021, and 2 million deaths and 98 million confirmed infections globally as of 25thJanuary 2021. The European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) canceled all major on-site activities in 2020; This included allthree cycles of our flagship event, the residential Training Courses for Residents in Neurosurgery, as well as various hands-on courses(table 1). However, amidst the chaos, suffering, and lockdown, and the uncertainties of traveling, hotel availabilities, and quarantines,the opportunity arose to convert some events to an online version. Several organizations and societies acted along the same lines, andthere has been an explosion of webinars and videoconferencing on a variety of platforms (1).