What the future may hold for general surgery. A position paper of the American Board of Surgery.

Developments in the specialty of general surgery have never been more important, nor have the opportunities for general surgeons been more exciting, than at the present. Technologic advances and the expansion of basic knowledge of surgical diseases have contributed to this renaissance of the field. It is of utmost importance that general surgeons seize the opportunity to participate in the education of medical students at all levels in the undergraduate years, seek to improve the surgical clerkships, and strive for the optimal learning environment for surgical residents. Through these means, the best and the brightest students will be attracted to general surgery as a career and will be retained in the practice of general surgery upon completion of residency training. Education of the student preparing for a nonsurgical career in the fundamental concepts underlying surgical therapy must be kept at the forefront of an undergraduate surgical curriculum. Integration and coordination of graduate surgical education in all of the general surgery-based specialties is an important obligation for the future, as knowledge expands in each specialty and the need for more specialty-specific education becomes apparent.