Preoperative patient education in thoracic surgery

Preoperative patient teaching may take many forms and is offered to patients across many venues and formats. The goal of patient teaching is to improve patients' understanding of their disease process and the operation that they are about to experience with the goal of enlisting their active participation in the healing process. The additional goal of obtaining informed consent is not only codified in law, but also has become an ingrained component to the current physician-patient relationship. The preoperative teaching process is best approached as a team effort, and multiple modalities often must be used so that the patient becomes a knowledgeable and willing member of the team.