The Assault on Specialty Medicine and the Modern Surgeon

Abstract

I would like to talk wth you about specialty medicine and the contemporary thoracic surgeon. I shall briefly trace the development of specialty medicine, of which thoracic surgery is a leading example, describe the challenges to the authority of the specialist, and finally suggest some responses called for in this new, rapidly changing, and embattled era. I believe that an assault on the specialist is adding to the burdens of the modern surgeon and calls for a response affirming what we stand for.