Y2K may have been overrated in terms of its immediate disruptive impact on medical and surgical practice, but it also may have coincidentally marked an era of unprece­ dented change, especially in the domain of surgical spe­ cialty education. Whether one chooses to identify this with training in the beginning of the third year ofmedical school or the completion of the 7th or 8th year of super­ specialty training, many of the same issues and concerns apply. The transition from a scientifically oriented stu­ dent to a real doctor is fraught with hazard and consumes hundreds of hours. The transition into becoming a real doctor is fueled, in many respects, by what most patients expect their doctors to be. This marvelous, concise book is aimed precisely at helping you smoothly bridge the gap between student and practitioner. We have witnessed a decline in surgical career choices, but now a reversal of that decline is occurring with a renewed growth of interest in careers in all surgical specialties. Studies on workforce, or old-fashioned man­ power as it were, continue to show that there is a growing demand for surgical specialty services in America. Depending on where you live, it may be highly specialty oriented or nearer to "old-fashioned" general surgery.