Surgery News - January 2008 - (Page 8) 8 OPINION EDITORIAL SURGERY NEWS • J A N U A RY 2 0 0 8 Reliable Sources—2008 hen you read a newspaper article tions to exchange information about their quoting a “reliable source,” you clinical practices, notably by meeting at assume it’s someone who has in- hospitals to watch other surgeons operate. side information, but is reluctant to reveal According to Ira M. Rutkow, in “American his or her identity. That leak may be ma- Surgery, An Illustrated History,” as far nipulation or “spin,” but the term has also back as the 1700s, surgeons became fabeen applied to an award-winning televi- mous by publishing unusual cases in nonsion show (“Reliable Sources,” broadcast medical periodicals (Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven, 1998). on CNN) and a popular gossip As medical meetings became column in the Washington more structured, they included Post (“The Reliable Source”). formal presentations and the My contention is that it’s an results of research studies. Peadmirable moniker, and one riodical journals became a we have earned at SURGERY good source of information NEWS as we begin our fourth once peer review was institutyear of publication. The reaed, and surgeons wrote letters son is that the American Colto one another to discuss palege of Surgeons’ SURGERY tients and to share opinions NEWS has become the third BY LAZAR J. about new ideas. In fact, many most widely read surgical pubGREENFIELD, letters between famous surlication by general surgeons. M.D., FACS geons have been preserved in As tempting as it is for us to take the credit, that much progress over a university libraries, where they make fasshort period of time raises interesting cinating reading. But today the proliferation of specialquestions about how our readers satisfy ties, journals, and meetings has made it their need for information. It hasn’t been that long since surgeons virtually impossible to keep up with adtried to keep current by forming associa- vances beyond an individual’s particular W area of interest. Added to this is the phenomenon of direct marketing of drugs, procedures, and devices by manufacturers to the public, and the virtually unlimited resources available to patients via the Internet. So an overworked surgeon must be prepared to answer questions about the latest breakthrough the patient has heard or read about. To state the obvious, it is a significant advantage to have already read about what’s new in a reliable source like SURGERY NEWS. What distinguishes our newspaper from the competition is not just the timely content reported succinctly soon after its presentation at a national meeting, but the inclusion of critical comments (when available) brought out in the discussion. Let’s face it: One person can get carried away with the initial success of an approach that has disappointed another. Sometimes there are conflicts of interest or direct financial gains involved. Or there may be potential flaws in the scientific approach that the protagonist hadn’t considered. We use specialty editors whose opinions add a critical perspective to our articles. That’s our standard for editorial competence, recognizing that, as Laurence J. Peter wrote in “The Peter Principle”: “Competence, like truth, beauty, and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder” (New York: William Morrow, 1969). The bottom line is that we maintain a healthy skepticism toward all extravagant claims. And we always welcome your comments. Of course, the same resources available to patients are available to their physicians—if they have the time and patience to patrol all news sources. We try to make it easy for our readers by providing information about a broad range of topics in medicine and surgery, including the focus on socioeconomic and political issues in the section entitled “The 20/20 Vision.” (See pp. 4 and 5.) We hope that you will continue to look to us for your reliable insider information, and use it wisely. After all, remember what happened to Martha Stewart. ■ DR. J. GREENFIELD is medical editor in chief of SURGERY NEWS. EDITORIAL BOARD New Board Members Expand Scope of Specialty Expertise SURGERY NEWS welcomes these individuals to the Editorial Advisory Board for 2008. Myriam J. Curet, M.D., FACS Professor of Surgery; Chief, Section of Minimally Invasive Surgery, Division of General Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif. Gerald M. Fried, M.D., FACS Professor of Surgery; Adair Chair of Surgical Education; Head, Section of Minimally Invasive Surgery, McGill University Health Centre Hospitals, Montreal Linda Harris, M.D., FACS Associate Professor of Surgery; Interim Director, Division of Vascular Surgery, State University of New York at Buffalo Ted A. James, M.D. Assistant Professor of Surgery, University of Vermont, Burlington Robert Morell, M.D. Clinical Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Fort Walton Beach Medical Center; Editor, APSF Newsletter, Fort Walton Beach, Fla. Linda Phillips, M.D., FACS Truman G. Blocker Jr., M.D. Distinguished Professor and Chief; Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston Grace S. Rozycki, M.D., FACS Professor of Surgery; Director, Trauma/Surgical Critical Care, Emory University, Atlanta James W. Jones, M.D., Ph.D., FACS Visiting Professor, Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Robert Udelsman M.D., FACS Chairman, Department of Surgery; William H. Carmalt Professor of Surgery and Oncology, Yale University; Chief, Surgery Service at Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Conn. Mark Weissler, M.D., FACS Professor and Chief, Division of Head and Neck Oncology; J.P. Riddle Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Badrinath R. Konety, M.D., FACS Vice Chair, Department of Urology, University of California at San Francisco Jeffrey Punch, M.D., FACS Associate Professor of Surgery; Chief of the Division of Transplantation; Jeremiah and Claire Turcotte Professor of Transplantation Surgery, University of Michigan Health Systems, Ann Arbor
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