Embracing the Future with Research

Medical and Surgical specialties are going through an exciting phase in the present time. Technology is a major factor behind this rapidly evolving scenario and we have witnessed a drastic change in the surgical modalities available to the patient. Within a short phase of training my generation of surgeons has witnessed a rapid shift from the conventional open surgery to laparoscopic surgery, single port surgery and now to robotic surgery. Open surgery has been practiced for over 1000s of years and laparoscopic surgery is about 45-50 years old [1]. Single port surgery is about 30 years old and robotic surgery is has just completed two decades [2]. The latter half of this century has offered more than the preceding millenniums in terms of surgical modalities and there are a few noteworthy points in this regard. Every advancement was initially ridiculed and poorly accepted before it became the gold standard, every advancement has been widely embraced and amalgamated in current practice like it was always existing since the beginning and every advancement brought with it a vast opportunity for research. Research papers that first reported these breakthroughs have become legendary and so have those articles that supported and helped in the percolation of these advancements to the roots of clinical practice.