[Surgical training in Switzerland]

The training protocol for Swiss surgeons has become obsolete and too many new surgeons are being granted specialist diplomas. A revision of surgical training will have to take into account increasing patient demands, the multidisciplinary nature of treatments, and rapid progress in surgical techniques. It should allow the possibility of earlier specialization within the field of general surgery, but reserved to those surgeons who will remain in major hospital centres in the long term. It will have to integrate surgical research activities and recognize them as part of training. The introduction of examinations is essential to establish equivalencies with European countries and to ensure an identical level of training in all countries. This restoration of objective competitiveness will help to control the plethora of surgeons and the decreased number of active surgeons will help to group patients in a hospital system readjusted to needs and to current costs.