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Why TSI?
Challenges Facing Practicing Surgeons Technological advances, changes in our health care delivery system, decreases in reimbursement, ethical and moral issues, rapid and ever-expanding increases in scientific information: These are just a few of the many challenges facing surgeons today. Keeping up with the latest information in these and other areas is critically important in today's world of surgical practice. That's why the American College of Surgeons continues to work diligently to bring surgical education programs closer to practicing surgeons in a number of ways, including Web casting and other products that are currently available and in various stages of development. And that is why the College is offering a brand new monthly online literature review service for its members: The Surgical Index (TSI) Online. TSI Online is intended to be a kind of one-stop information shop for surgeons who are committed to staying at the top of their profession. We've designed it to be easy to use, without a lot of computer wizardry to obscure its central purpose: saving you time while providing you with a highly focused and selective source of ongoing surgical information. Quite literally, TSI Online is a gateway to the best of the surgical literature and a proven and potent time-saver in the continuing education of surgeons. The information revolution has only made more pressing our need to manage the enormous growth of surgical data that is available today. TSI Online will provide you not with all—but with all of the best—of the surgical literature. In addition, in the future we plan to expand the content to include articles on important socioeconomic issues, a well as information for surgeons in other surgical specialties. How can we achieve that goal? By working with Joseph A. Ignatius, MD, FACS, the long-time editor of the original print version of The Surgical Index. The concept for TSI arose from Doctor Ignatius' personal experience with the difficulty he and other practicing surgeons were having in staying up-to-date with the journal literature within the context of busy practices. In thinking about this challenge, he came to realize that the problem was due not so much to the large number of published articles, per se. Rather, it was that the relatively small number of high-quality articles that addressed the clinical needs of surgeons were scattered among numerous journals. The problem was the time-consuming process of finding them. And then there was the additional problem that once identified and read, how could this select material be easily accessed at some future date when needed for patient management, teaching rounds, preparation for board exams, and so on? Doctor Ignatius felt that a publication that would bring together the "best of the best" articles in an easily retrievable, structured abstract format could solve these dilemmas. Thus, TSI was born in 1972. In the ensuing years, Doctor Ignatius co-edited TSI with his close friend and respected surgical colleague, Robert Mitchell, MD, FACS, and pioneered the development of a surgical database that achieved a broad reputation for its breadth, critical judgment, and editorial integrity. After many years co-editing TSI, Doctor Ignatius assumed full editorial responsibilities from 1991 to mid-2000, when he reluctantly felt it was time to cease publication. But when the American College of Surgeons approached him three years later regarding the cooperative development of an online version of TSI to be offered to the membership and other interested surgeons, he enthusiastically agreed to work with the College on this challenging project. What will the ACS Surgical Index provide? You will have round-the-clock access to the carefully crafted abstracts of the most important developments published in the monthly surgical literature. Easily scanned for the most salient information, the abstracts are comprised of an introduction, results, and conclusion, often with editorial commentary that is brief, cogent and, occasionally, skeptical The archival database can be searched for past issues of TSI, as well as for specific subjects of interest to individual surgeons using a simple anatomical coding system with key word subheadings. Our customized, innovative database allows us to:
Primary journals reviewed: The primary journals from which special articles relating to the science and practice of surgery are brought to your attention by TSI Online every month are: Annals of Surgery, Journal of the American College of Surgeons, Archives of Surgery, Surgery, British Journal of Surgery, American Journal of Surgery, Journal of Trauma, Diseases of Colon and Rectum, World Journal of Surgery, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery, Journal of Vascular Surgery, Surgical Endoscopy, Cancer, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Lancet. * * * * * * * * * * Comments from prior users of The Surgical Index When the Editor of the original Surgical Index made the decision to cease publication in 2000, long-time Fellows of the College who were subscribers wrote to him expressing their reaction to this development. A selection of some of these comments follows: "I am appealing to you to see if some other arrangements could be made to continue this wonderful publication." "Thank you for all you have taught me. I also read many other journals but what made your publication so important were your editorial comments. You have made an impact in many lives." "TSI has been part of my professional practice as a surgeon, and I have looked forward to the meaningful abstracts as well as the insightful and often pithy editorial comments." "I'm sorry to hear of your decision to no longer publish TSI. It was an incredible accomplishment and an immense help in my practice, more so by far than any other educational resource." "TSI has been like a friend and colleague to me." "Thank you for the contribution that The Surgical Index has made to my personal surgical education and hope that TSI might be published again in the very near future." "Your work has had inestimable value in allowing a very busy surgeon to 'keep up. The most salient points throughout the many years have always been your editorial comments, always correct and directly to the point. I am a better surgeon because of your work." We hope you may also find TSI Online to be an important component of your continuing education.
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