A lifetime of learning.

Twenty-five years ago, when I finished my surgical training and obtained certification by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, I felt relief and told myself that my education was finally finished. How wrong I was! I do know surgeons who, although my contemporaries, quite literally "finished" their education after residency, and I can see how dramatically their practice of colon and rectal surgery differs from mine. Thus, I feel it is truly necessary that we continue to broaden our horizons through a lifetime of learning, The American Board of Medical Specialties has only recently approved significant changes in the way its member boards provide certification and recertification for physicians. One of the new concepts involves moving from recertification to maintenance of certification. One of the four basic components of maintenance of certification or continuing competence is "evidence of commitment to lifelong learning and involvement in a periodic self-assessment process." It is ironic that so many years earlier, in 1982, Bert Portin I entitled his presidential address to this society" "self-assessment and self-education." It is also no accident that most institutions of higher learning refer to their graduation exercises not as completions but as "commencements," thus reflecting the beginning of a lifetime of learning. The need for lifelong learning is particularly evident in medicine. During the past 25 years the changes in colon and rectal surgery have been quite dramatic. I will mention but a few of the innovations that I have had to adopt to stay current in the practice of our specialty. I would remind you that it was during my year as a resident in colon and rectal surgery in 1974 that the name of our Society was changed from