Four-part harmony: From hand crank to hash tags

摘要

Before proceeding with the main topic, I would like to make a few preliminary comments. I would like to thank Norm Estes not only for his kind introduction, but also for his sincere interest by inviting my wife and me to dinner in Rochester, expressly to get to know us better. It was a fun evening. I am extremely fortunate and deeply honored to have served as president of the Western Surgical Association (WSA). From the first time I presented a paper at the Western in 1983, to being inducted as a member 5 years later, I have always been impressed with the scientific sessions, but even more remarkable is the warmth and genuine friendship of our entire membership. I am very proud to be the tenth WSA president from the Mayo Clinic (Table 1), dating back to Charlie Mayo in 1904. As I suspect every newly elected president has, I re-read numerous of.our previous presidential addresses (Table 2), and was again amazed and inspired by their words. They will be hard to match.