Are Graduating Surgical Residents Practice-Ready? The ACS Raised the Question in 2026
The American College of Surgeons opened 2026 with an uncomfortable question in its January Bulletin: are graduating surgical residents actually ready for independent practice? Board pass rates look fine on paper, but program directors keep raising the same concern — that passing an exam and being practice-ready are not the same thing, and that the gap between them is where a resident's reference library matters most.
That's the gap Mulholland & Greenfield's Surgery: Scientific Principles and Practice, now in its 8th edition from Wolters Kluwer, has built a reputation on closing. Edited by Justin B. Dimick, Hasan B. Alam, Timothy M. Pawlik, Mary T. Hawn, and Julie Ann Sosa, joined by new co-editor Dawn Marie Coleman, it opens with the scientific principles — inflammation, shock, nutrition, pain management — before moving into practice chapters organized by organ system, so residents move from the physiology straight into the operative approach for that system rather than treating the two as separate subjects.
What keeps this edition in active rotation on surgical wards rather than just on exam-prep shelves:
- Decision-making algorithms up front — collected at the start of the book for fast reference during actual case planning, not buried inside chapters.
- Over 2,000 full-color illustrations across 1,984 pages, including anatomic drawings and intraoperative photographs that function as a working operative reference.
- Key Points with margin numbering in every chapter, built for the kind of fast lookup a resident actually needs on call, not just for cover-to-cover reading.
At nearly 2,000 pages and eight editions of refinement, it's the kind of reference an academic or hospital library needs one current copy of — not several outdated ones sitting alongside it. For surgical residency programs navigating exactly the practice-readiness question the ACS raised this year, having the current edition on the shelf is a small but concrete piece of the answer.
CLNZ Books ships this hardcover edition worldwide, with secure payment by card, PayPal, or international bank transfer, and institutional invoicing available on request.
Q&A
What is the difference between the scientific principles and practice sections of this book?
The book opens with general scientific principles of surgery — inflammation, shock, nutrition, pain management — before moving into surgical practice chapters organized by organ system.
Who edits this edition?
Justin B. Dimick, Hasan B. Alam, Timothy M. Pawlik, Mary T. Hawn, and Julie Ann Sosa return as editors, joined by new co-editor Dawn Marie Coleman for the 8th edition.
Is this book useful as a clinical reference, or only for training?
Both — the front-of-book decision-making algorithms and margin Key Points are designed for quick clinical reference, while the organ-system structure supports resident training.
How is the book illustrated?
With over 2,000 full-color illustrations, anatomic drawings, and intraoperative photographs throughout its 1,984 pages.
Where can I buy Mulholland & Greenfield's Surgery?
Directly from CLNZ Books, with worldwide shipping and secure payment.