This is a special collection of articles on some of the medical care challenges we face in the coming 21st century. In order to continue to both respect the rights of our patients and also provide them with even better medical care, various problems remain to be overcome and thus need to be discussed and debated. Therefore, experts from a wide range of medical fields have been invited to give their opinions regarding these problems. The various reforms in medical care that will need to be instituted to solve these problems should not merely be based on governmental recommendations but instead should be based on a clear and coherent policy for improved medical care. In addition, the concept of "doctors" as we now know it will also have to change in the next century and therefore increased importance will necessarily be placed on both medical education and medical research. It is particularly important that surgeons and other medical specialists do not devote themselves only to their clinical and research work but instead the doctors of the future must also have an even stronger interest in the future governmental policies regarding medical care.