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H. David Crombie, MD

Arch Surg. 2002;137:390-396.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

My subject is the art of surgery, its history and progression into the present high-tech age. I have included artists' images from the collection of JAMA covers that I hope will combine with my words to bring some inspiration. A new century in American surgery is under way. It is fast moving, even frantic, with new science and technology appearing every day. In this stressful milieu, let us pause to view Michelangelo's Creation of Adam from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Figure 1). I propose that we might also pause to reflect on the art of surgery. Practicing surgery in our current world—engaging in humane dialogue and making clinical judgments amid challenging medical, ethical, and economic forces at the interface of patient and surgeon—is a complex undertaking. It is a challenge that our forebears in surgery could not have foreseen. Furthermore, they could . . . [Full Text of this Article]

From Hartford Hospital and the Connecticut Surgical Group PC, Hartford.