OUR MISSION AND VISION

A HOME FOR SURGEONS

Our mission is a simple one, that hasn’t changed since we were founded in 1935 by Dr. Max Thorek. He had a simple vision, one that launched an organization that has remained a leading source for international collaboration in surgical science for over eighty years. That mission is:

To foster worldwide surgical excellence through education, training, fellowship and humanitarian efforts

MAX THOREK’S VISION

Surgeons need to come together as a community, to grow with one another and have the access to the knowledge and experience of their peers to succeed. Max Thorek saw that in 1935, and founded this organization to meet that goal. His vision was to improve the lives of patients through the development and education of our members and the advancement of the medical field. It’s about the people, and the impact we, as surgeons, have on our patients every day.

"There is no human calling which demands from those who follow it a greater endowment of the best human qualities and the highest developments of technical knowledge and skill than art of surgery.”

—Max Thorek, Modern Surgery, 1939

THE PICTURE TODAY

In over eighty-five years of existence, the International College of Surgeons has grown to a world-class organization on six continents and hundreds of countries. We come together every day with surgeons in every time zone, every continent, and nearly every country around the globe. Our humanitarian missions have saved the lives of tens of thousands of people, be it a simple improvement to their everyday life or a life-changing surgery required to keep them alive.