Preanesthetic Assessment 2

The primary mission of the medical school is to create new doctors. Once the medical student has received his or her doctorate, the medical school's interest in, and acceptance of, responsibility for the continued professional development of the physician ceases almost entirely. Yet, with scientific advances in medicine increasing exponentially and the inevitable erosion of memory with time, teachings from our schools of medicine become increasingly irrelevant, forgotten, or both. To maintain competence, the physician must continuously re-educate him- or herself. CME-Continuing Medical Education-will probably never attain the status of the medical school's degree-granting undergraduate program, but medical schools and their faculties must recognize their responsibil­ ity, not only for creating competent physicians but also for maintaining that competence. With these words I introduced the first volume of Preanesthetic Assessment in 1986. The series was a product of a Continuing Medical Education program initiated by the Department of Anesthesiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center. Controversy continues to exist over the lasting educational value of conferences that bring physicians together. Moreover, because of time or financial con­ straints, only a small number of anesthesiologists are able to attend seminars on a frequent basis. By producing a monthly, current, clinical series in conjunction with Anesthesiology News over these 4 years, we have been able to make state-of-the-art analyses available to all anesthesiologists.