It was the first day of spring break in 1992 in Phoenix, and 12-year-old Heather Smith was excited for her family's upcoming ski trip. But before Smith and her family had even packed their snow pants, ...

For a first-year surgical resident, the appendix (specifically, it’s removal) represents a prized surgical operation. For trained surgeons, the appendectomy is usually an urgent affair that requires ...

A sudden appendectomy as a child made Heather Smith curious about what the appendix is for and why it gets inflamed. Now as an anatomy researcher,... Your appendix is not, in fact, useless. This ...