Acknowledgments

When developing one's commitment as well as expertise in a field of medicine and surgery, there are multiple levels of teaching, mentoring, and even nurturing involved that shape this personal evolution. Leading the list of influences would be the patients and their families; and to each and every one of them for whom we were privileged to know and provide care, we give our ultimate in recognition and gratitude. Our teachers and mentors were many but for each of us the following deserve thanks and special recognition: for MMZ: Clyde Barker, C. Everett Koop, Harry Bishop, Louise Schnaufer, John Templeton, and Lester Martin; for RGA: M. Judah Folkman, Bradley M. Rodgers, J. Alexander Haller, J. Laurance Hill, George F. Sheldon, and James M. Anderson; for TRW: C. Gardner Child, William J. Fry, Judson Randolph, and R. Peter Altman; and for DVA: Moritz Ziegler, Frederick Ryckman, Josef Fischer, and Anthony Meyer. We also acknowledge with extreme gratitude and respect our fellow faculty members, our nursing and administrative teams, and most importantly our trainees themselves—those future leaders, educators, researchers, and clinicians who will carry pediatric surgery forward.

However, the most important advocates for each of us have been our families, who encouraged, supported, and sacrificed the element of family time so that this project and our careers could progress—acts of sincere unselfishness. For MMZ: these family members include Barbara, my wife of 43 years who accompanied me through four career moves, and our sons Matthew Ziegler, MD, and David Ziegler, both of whom have provided us with great joy through their personal career developments. I would like to recognize my late parents, Max and Elsa Ziegler, whose sacrifices permitted me to pursue my career. For RGA: my wife, Geralyn, and my son, Aaron, who have always given me unconditional love and much joy. I am also very grateful to my loving parents Dr. R. George and Helga Azizkhan for being my most important role models in both my professional and personal life. For TRW: these critical people are my wife of 44 years, Suzanne, and my children, Amy, Jill, and Patrick. And, for DVA: my wife, Emily, and sons, Douglas and Karl. They are the foundation of my life.

We also want to acknowledge our collective thanks for the skill and dedication of medical illustrator Jan Warren, who, while working in the Cincinnati Department of Pediatric Surgery, contributed the lion's share of the drawings depicted in this book. In addition, we would like to recognize Charlotte Bath and Aliza Cohen, who worked with several of the authors to make their contributions both elegant and refined. We are indebted to several key individuals who made this book production possible: most important was Brian Belval, Senior Editor, Clinical Medicine, for McGraw-Hill, who was with this project since its inception. We are also grateful to Marsha Loeb and Jennifer Orlando of McGraw-Hill, freelance editors Sarah M. Granlund and Portia Levasseur, and, finally, Ritu Joon of Thomson Digital for bringing the project to a close.