Introduction

Dr Park and I are pleased to welcome Professor Toby Gordon to the Editorial Board of Surgical Innovation. Professor Gordon is a leading scientist studying the impact of innovation on and of the field of medicine, and it is hoped and expected that her presence as an editorial board member and regular contributor will further the mission of Surgical Innovation to “promote and communicate the advancement of surgical care by the ethical development and application of new technologies and procedures.” While this has always been the goal and intent of Surgical Innovation, it has sometimes been difficult to truly determine what is relevant in the world of “the new” and to determine its true societal impact as we the editors, and our esteemed editorial board, approach submitted concepts with a clinician’s bias. From a study of the science of surgical/medical innovation also comes a better understanding of the business and process of bringing an idea to fruition and ultimately, commercialization. The new focus of these contributions from Professor Gordon and colleagues will be of immense interest and practical use to our readers.

There is a growing field of health care–related science that uses the tools of economics and social engineering to look at the impact of innovation—not just on the field of surgery but also on the individual and the population as a whole.

In this era of health care reform, it is increasingly obvious that surgeons need to be concerned with the global impact of what they do on a daily basis. Progress in surgery has been tremendous over the past century and has been driven in the past 50 years by innovation. Until recently, “new” was simply accepted as being better, but increasingly we are called on to defend and “prove” the benefits of the new things we bring to the table. We are hopeful that the science of innovation that Professor Gordon will bring to the journal will help our readership meet this new challenge and preserve the continued advancement of surgical care.