Duration of knowledge in general thoracic surgery

Background. Medical knowledge changes rapidly, so current medical education approaches emphasize the development of life-long learning skills ("teachi ng the learner to learn") as opposed to the simple acquisition of contempor ary medical knowledge. Because there are no data on the rapidity of change of general thoracic surgical knowledge, we do not know whether this trend i n medical education is appropriate for thoracic surgical trainees. We under took a study to assess the duration of knowledge in general thoracic surger y. Methods. The first general thoracic surgery article from each issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery between 1965 and 1997 was abstracted into a summ ary statement. A form, made up of 360 summary statements in random order, w as assessed by 6 general thoracic surgeons. They assessed statement validit y on a 5-point scale (1 = statement false; 5 = statement true). Average sta tement validity scores for 30 time intervals were calculated. The relations hip between time of publication and statement validity was analyzed. Results. Average validity scores ranged from 2.24 (represents 1965 to 1966) to 4.32 (represents 1969 to 1970). Validity scores increased with time (y = 3.46 + 0.017x, where y is validity score and x is time), and this was sig nificant (r = 0.40; p = 0.027). However, the absolute change in average val idity scores over the 33-year study period was only 0.52 or 13.1% of the "m odern" era scores. Conclusions. The assumption that medical knowledge changes quickly may not be true in general thoracic surgery. Although life-long learning skills are important, general thoracic surgery training programs should continue to e mphasize fundamental knowledge in the specialty. (Ann Thorac Surg 2001;71:3 37-9) (C) 2001 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.