The Annual Meeting of the German Society of Surgery is the main clinical and research forum for the German surgical community. The venue, which was Munich for the past few decades, was changed to Berlin this year in commemoration of the foundation of the society in 1872 in the former and new German capital. Over 3000 surgeons, internists, and basic scientists took part in this year's meeting, which consisted of 1035 presentations. Only single aspects of the meeting can be described: those that are thought either to represent the mainstream of surgical progress in Germany or to depict socioeconomic problems of general interest.
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS BY GÜNTHER HIERHOLZER, MD, DUISBURG, GERMANY
The ongoing specialization of surgery in Germany is a matter of concern to the community of general surgeons. According to the new training program that was adapted from the consensus model of the European community, a 5-year basic training