title: The training of surgical residents in laparoscopy.
abstract: Man is the only animal capable of tying a square knot. During the course of an operation you may be asked by the surgeon to tie a knot. As drawing and coloring are the language of art, incising, suturing and knot tying are the grammar of surgery. A facility in knot tying is gained only by tying ten thousand of them. When the operation is completed, take home with you a package of leftover sutures. Light a fire in the fireplace and sit with your lover on a rug in front of the fire. Invite her to hold up her index finger, gently crooked in a gesture of beckoning. Using her finger as a strut, tie one of the threads about it in a square knot. Do this one hundred times. Now make a hundred grannies. Only then may you permit yourself to make love to her. This method of learning will not only enable you to master the art of knot tying, both grannies and square, it will bind you, however insecurely, to the one you love.
authors.affiliation: Professor of Surgery, Casewestern Reserve University, Chief, Division of General Surgery, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Stellato
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rajput