E. Amory Codman, surgeon of the 1990s.

Ernest Amory Codman is known to orthopaedists primarily for his work in shoulder surgery. But his contributions reached many other fields of medicine, including pathology, radiology, anesthesiology, and most surgical subspecialties. Perhaps his most important work was that on the "end result idea," an early approach to outcome studies that anticipated much of the current health-care climate. This article examines his life and explains his contributions to medicine and surgery and their pertinence to current practice.