"The surgical treatment of human disease is inherently complex. Patients present with symptoms or disabilities that may relate to a variety of underlying causes. In evaluating those symptoms, modern medicine provides multiple diagnostic modalities that may be applied but in proper sequence and economically. Once a diagnosis is secured, treatment recommendations may include both surgical and nonsurgical therapies. In turn, when operative treatment is recommended, a variety of approaches--open, laparoscopic, robotic--are available, each with its particular efficacy, risk, and cost. In addition, surgical patients are inherently variable. Each patient has a unique set of comorbidities and an individual biological milieu. Each requires personalized treatment. These are the complexities that surgeons confront every day, and for which creativity and diversity of thought are essential. Exciting new research demonstrates that problems characterized by complexity and high variability are best solved by teams intentionally constructed to maximize diversity. The premise of The Diversity Promise: Success in Academic Surgery and Medicine Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is that demonstrable advantages come from the intentional mixture of talented people in a stimulating environment. Maximizing performance depends upon teamwork but teams constructed and enabled in a specific way. To be truly impactful, team members must be both talented and diverse. People have differing life experiences based upon age, race, gender, religious belief, and myriad other factors. These experiences, in turn, produce differing perspectives that create a strong competitive advantage for diverse teams."-- From preface.

Building an open and inclusive enironment for faculty -- Attracting talented medical students -- Developing talent in surgery residents.