 Now that we've been formally introduced, let's have a look at what this course is all about. We're going to discuss the common acute surgical conditions. I will exclude though any pediatric surgical conditions, that's a feel all on its own. So this course is primarily for students who want to know more about acute care surgery but even for doctors who face these conditions on a daily basis. A few warnings though, this is not going to be a comprehensive review of all the topics. We're going to discuss principles only. It is most definitely not a do or recipe for all cases. Remember medicine is both a science and an art. Listen to your instructors and most importantly read the literature. So we'll start off lecture one with the acutely inflamed appendix. See you then.