It is in the surgical aspect of their specialty that the gynecologists' work may be most frequently judged by their peers or by the litigious society that currently exists. Great and commendable progress has been made over the past 30 years in the basic scientific, endocrinologic and obstetric aspects of the specialty, but this has occurred with a commen surate de-emphasis of surgical procedures and surgical training, a decline in devotion to technical detail and perfection, and a tendency to take surgery for granted. Obstetric and gynecologic residency programs provide increasing numbers of...