Welcome to Surgery 101, a series of podcasts produced with the help of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. The podcasts are intended to serve as brief introductions or reviews of surgical topics for medical students. We've aimed to cover a single topic in between 10-20 minutes so that you can quickly get a good idea of the basic concepts involved. Every episode is divided into chapters and concludes with several key points to summarize the topic. We are always keen to receive your feedback on our podcasts, and we are accepting suggestions for additional topics. New episodes are published every Friday. 'Surgery 101' was created by Dr Parveen Boora and Dr Jonathan White, and is supported by the Department of Surgery at the University of Alberta. Our 2010 series of podcasts are brought to you by the Undergrad Surgery Mobile Podcasting Studio Team which is: Jonathan, Jenni and Tracy, with the assistance of the Surgery 101 Experts of Edmonton. Note to experts: please note that these podcasts are only intended as brief introductions for medical students - we cannot delve into the more complex nuances of advanced surgery in a 10-minute podcast. We encourage all listeners to supplement their learning by seeing patients, assisting at surgeries and reading widely!