Presidential address: forgive and remember while punching the clock

Abstract

Thank you. I stand before you now about to risk proof of one of the many pieces of wisdom imparted to us by the great Mark Twain: “Better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt.” Having followed Tim Flynn as President, I think that Twain was perhaps thinking of him when he also said, “Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.” It is seriously a high honor to come before you, my colleagues in general surgery graduate medical education, at the completion of my year as your President and on the silver anniversary of the formation of the APDS as an organization. Although we have all lived the Chinese curse of interesting times these past 12 months, we have in our control the power to shape the future of general surgery, and I emphasize general, while fully acknowledging the rich past of our surgical training, and that is the message that I wish to bring to you today. I would, however, be remiss if I did not thank several people who brought me to this opportunity of a Presidential Address. First would be my own Program Directors, Dr. Gregory Cross in General Surgery and Dr. Morton Woolley in Pediatric Surgery. Both of these gentlemen were members of the original APDS Steering Committee in the early 1980s. My entree into the APDS came when Arthur Aufses was President, and he remains a shining example to all of us as surgeon, educator, and Program Director. Bob Barnes was the President who allowed my foray into the electronic age for this organization, although it should be noted that this organization had first formed a “Computer Committee” in 1984 (personal communication, Dr. Robert Berry), and Dick Dean somehow saw something in me that led him to nominate me as Treasurer. J. Patrick O’Leary showed me that being President of an organization meant having an effective agenda for change and that this was not a title to simply enjoy. Bob Berry has performed an enormous service to our Association by writing a detailed history of our first quarter-century, and I sincerely value his sharing his draft with me. I also deeply appreciate all of the efforts of the current APDS Board and Executive Committee and especially wish to thank the exceptional efforts of our treasurer Joe Cofer and the magnificent support of our steadfast executive director, Tom Fise. I sincerely appreciate having a supportive, extraordinary Chairman, Dr. Steve Lowry, who has not just allowed me to perform my duties but has enthusiastically promoted my doing so. Most of all, however, I must thank the love of my life, Elaine, who has been the one over 27 years to always support me uncomplainingly, while being 95% of the parents to our 3 wonderful sons, Dan, Pat, and Kevin. Charles Bosk, a sociologist, published his seminal work Forgive and Remember in 1979. Although I know that most in the audience are familiar with this work, and many have read it, I believe some of you will not necessarily recall the book’s subtitle, “Managing Medical Failure.” It is ironic that a full 21 years before the Institute of Medicine published To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, Bosk focused on the open and thorough review of medical error in a system that we all embrace: the general surgery residency. With 2 decades between the publication of these 2 volumes, not to mention over 75 Correspondence: Inquiries to Thomas V. Whalen, MD, Department of Surgery, UMDNJRobert Wood Johnson Medical School, PO Box 19, New Brunswick, NJ 08903; fax: (732) 235-8878; e-mail whalen@UMDNJ.edu Thomas V. Whalen, MD