make it peculiarly our own."
A recent editorial2 addresses itself to the subject of "Who Should Perform Peripheral Vascular Surgery?" Points are made to limit this type of surgery to those who are well trained in its nuances. "Ours is clearly not a field for the physician who operates occasionally."2 I ask the question, "Who should perform endoscopy?"
The technique of "passing the scope" is learned really rather promptly. Recognition of lesions, especially in emergency situations, is not so readily learned. As with surgical technique, experience is mandatory, and I question whether the average surgical resident has either the time or inclination to master this procedure. Well-trained gastroenterologists, on the other hand, usually perform over 500 such procedures during a two-year training program. If such expertise is available, should it not be used?
Lest my comments be misconstrued, this is not a plea to make esophagogastroduodenoscopy the "fiefdom"