Caveamus Surgeones - Five Great Threats To Surgery In The New Millennium

May I say before I begin my remarks what a privilege it has been to serve as president of the Western Surgical Association this past year. Dr Rudolph Matas summarized it best in his presidential address to the American Surgical Association in 1909 when he said, "Gentlemen, favored by your great kindness, 1, the least worthy among you, hold as an exalted honor the trust you have reposed in me as the interpreter of your will."(1) I thank you for the trust and for what I consider to be one of the greatest honors of my surgery career. The Western Surgical Association has always been one of my favorite academic meetings, largely because of the people with whom I have had the privilege of rubbing shoulders.