Throughout the past quarter century, there have been slow but dramatic changes in the nature and practice of trauma surgery, and this field increasingly faces potent economic, logistic, political, and workforce challenges. Patients and emergency physicians have much to lose by this budding crisis in our partner discipline. This article reviews the specific issues confronting trauma surgery, their historical context, and the potential directions available to this discipline. Implications of these issues for emergency physicians and for trauma care overall are discussed.
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Comment In: Ann Emerg Med. 2009 Sep;54(3):478; author reply 480-119695425
Comment In: Ann Emerg Med. 2009 Sep;54(3):479-80; author reply 480-119695427
Comment In: Ann Emerg Med. 2009 Sep;54(3):478-9; author reply 480-119695426