The Scientific Surgeon

ABSTRACT

The scientific surgeon begins with Joseph Lister and his seminal work on the development of antiseptic surgery published in 1867 in Lancet. No other significant works of the times compare to Lister's contributions in this particular field of surgery. Lister utilized pristine scientific principles, learned in part from Pasteur, to understand and apply the germ theory of disease to practical surgery. In this regard, in previous publications, we have considered Lister as the “Father of Scientific Surgery.” The scientific surgeon as a well-defined professional did not exist until the first residency in surgery was developed. Halsted of Hopkins introduced the first systematic and scientific surgical residency in 1901. This is the time, then, in which the scientific surgeon was formed and educated. Other programs followed Halsted's residency guidelines in surgery. The scientific surgeon is now well integrated and fully based on the science applied to surgery. Halsted's surgery was reproduced by other programs; and with time uniformity was established by all programs offering surgical residencies in the United States and many other parts of the world. The scientific surgeon is a firm reality at this point.