Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery: Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented enormous societal challenges, and we in the health care field have found ourselves at the forefront of this crisis. A recent webinar that took place under the auspices of the SSAT Resident and Fellow Education Committee attracted over 400 registrants and provided both practical and important updates related to the impact of COVID-19 on surgery in the USA. The Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery is pleased to publish a manuscript that emanated from that webinar entitled “Practical Implications of Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 on Hospital Operations, Board Certification, and Medical Education in Surgery in the United States”. In this manuscript, Fong et al. focus on a variety of challenges that we face in surgery and more broadly in health care, including those related to hospital operations, technology, and education. An outstanding group of experts and leaders have contributed to this important document, and we hope that our readership will find the information valuable as we all navigate through this difficult period.