To the Editor:We read with great interest the article by Atli et al, 1 which highlights virtual reality as a means to modernizing neurosurgical education. We believe this article is of profound academic importance and aim to present an additional valuable resource in neurosurgery for current and aspiring medical students. Here, we discuss the evolution of the various online platforms within organized neurosurgery throughout the 21st century.As a resident at the University of Maryland, Dr Mark Iguchi initiated in 2006 the first such platform through NS Match, calling it Neurosurgery Online. This site was short lived as it did not possess the infrastructure to sustain interest from medical students and young surgeons alike. However, it did highlight the need for a platform wherein current and aspiring neurosurgeons could engage and learn from seasoned attendings and medical students could find resources on things like navigating the neurosurgery match.In 2007, Dr Kenneth Liu, a resident at the University of Oregon, helped to fill these gaps with the platform Uncle Harvey. The original Uncle Harvey allowed students to engage across the spectrum of neurosurgery with residents, fellows, attendings, and peers. Each forum within Uncle Harvey helped cover a distinct topic within neurosurgery, with the addition of space for case presentations from leaders in the field. By 2012, Uncle Harvey fell in the ranks following a perceived plateau in usership. That same year, a similar yet lesser known platform, Legacy NsgyApplicants, served as the only online neurosurgical forum available for the next 3 yr. By 2015, however, resources from Legacy NsgyApplicants were no longer accessible.In 2016, a resident at the University of Buffalo picked up the baton and created Neurosurgery Hub. Neurosurgery Hub broadcasted to a wider audience and contained separate forums for students, residents, fellows, and attendings on both the national and international scales. It offered a unique space for discussing interesting cases, providing easy-access resource links, and publishing employment listings. Unlike its predecessors, Neurosurgery Hub content was accessible without registration.In 2020, a student-led initiative sought to join forces with the original creator of Neurosurgery Hub to distill the best parts of the site, along with those of its predecessors, into the new and improved Uncle Harvey 2.0. The revised Uncle Harvey maintained the forums, resources, and job listings seen previously, but added forum moderation, a blog, research opportunities, a YouTube channel, and an expanded residency program review functionality in an effort to provide a "one-stop shop" for all of neurosurgery.
