What the surgeon of tomorrow needs to know about evidence-based surgery

Professionalism is at the core of surgical practice. A major component of professionalism is a lifelong involvement in continuing medical education to ensure the physician is optimally prepared to make the decisions necessary to provide excellent patient care. However, with the explosion of information, new technology, and advanced surgical techniques, it has become virtually impossible to keep up with this wealth of new knowledge. Traditional didactic continuing education techniques have been shown to be inadequate to cause appropriate changes in practice management. It has become necessary to significantly alter our implementation of new knowledge in the clinical arena to ensure optimal patient care.