In the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto we have developed, for the family practitioner, a plan for the management of breast lumps. The plan was drawn up from the opinions of a number of surgical oncologists specializing in the treatment of breast disease and breast cancer. All the specialists practise in one of the University’s teaching hospitals.
This guideline is being used in the structure of continuing medical education workshops designed to teach family physicians the skill of breast cyst aspiration. It should be of interest to all general surgeons who might be involved in helping family physicians acquire some of the added surgical skills recommended by the Canadian Associations of General Surgeons in 1995.1