Has medical diplomacy reached an inflection point?

0002-9610/$ see front matter 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.20 To my colleagues in the Midwest Surgical Association, distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen: thank you for the honor and privilege of serving as your president for the last year. I must also pay homage to 3 giants in the field of surgical oncology, upon whose shoulders I stand today to make my remarks: Edward F. Scanlon, M.D., Murray F. Brennan, M.D., and David P. Winchester, M.D. Without their patient guidance, I would never have had a successful career as a surgical oncologist and as an educator. I also thank my longstanding colleagues at Northwestern University, Evanston Hospital, and the University of Southern California (USC). Their friendship has carried me through some of the interesting times that I will describe today. I am especially grateful to Susan Eisenhower, Emeritus Director of the Eisenhower Foundation, for providing the inspiration formy remarks. In a speech shegave atUSC several months ago, she described 2 events which occurred 75 years ago, little known or recognized at the time but which, as they gathered momentum, reached an inflection point past which they would have endured regardless of the motivating forces behind the concepts. The year was 1938, and the news was