A LETTER FROM THE NEW EDITOR.

The Southern Medical Association (SMA) is one of the leading providers of continuing medical education. The Southern Medical Journal is the flagship publication of SMA and therefore should meet the educational needs of clinicians regardless of whether they are primary care physicians, specialists, physicians in training, or even medical students. The Journal is germane to the physician community at large because of its interdisciplinary application across specialty lines. My plan and ambition is to develop the Journal as a reliable, unbiased, easily accessible source of information to be kept close at hand and regularly consulted.

One of the main aims of the new format of the Southern Medical Journal is to make it user friendly. A more comprehensive, but abbreviated, table of contents is included on the cover of the Journal to give potential readers a better appreciation of its contents even before opening it. In addition, to facilitate the selection of articles to be read and the priority in which they are read, a brief description of most articles will be included after the table of contents. This will give potential readers a more accurate idea about the contents of the article before they decide whether to read the entire text. In addition, the key points of most articles will be highlighted in a separate box published within the article. Readers who do not have time to read the entire article may wish to read only these key points. They also may wish to keep them for future reference. Since I am actively involved in clinical practice, I am fully aware of the various demands on clinicians' time, how busy most clinicians are, and ho w precious their time is. While restructuring the contents and presentation of the Journal, this has been my main guiding principle.

The various sections of the Journal are now consolidated into only five sections: editorials, original articles, review articles, case histories, and letters to the editor. In addition, throughout the remainder of this year, a section of the Journal will be devoted to a particular disease, group of diseases, or symptom(s). In this section, we will publish highlights of SMA educational programs relevant to that particular topic, selected guidelines on the diagnosis and management of that disease, a list of selected ongoing clinical trials in which clinicians may wish to enroll their patients, and a selected list of books that may be of help to clinicians, their patients, or the patients' caregivers. We will also include hints on coding and reimbursement, as well as the names and addresses of selected agencies clinicians may wish to contact to get further information on a particular disease or group of diseases. Whether we continue this section on a monthly basis and expand the pages devoted to this section wil l depend greatly on the input we receive from readers. I am fully convinced that the main raison d'etre of the Journal is to meet the educational needs of its readers.

The Journal is gradually evolving and maturing. While maintaining its interdisciplinary thrust, we will also strive to make its content pertinent and useful for each individual reader, since we know the Journal must adapt to changes if it is to survive and thrive in this third millennium. More changes and refinements are yet to come. My ambition is that readers will come to consider the Journal as a reliable colleague and friend who has the required information and who can be trusted to be available when needed. I hope that readers will look forward to receiving the next issue of the Journal and will keep past issues readily available for further consultation.

Above all, I hope that readers will claim ownership in the Journal and will make suggestions as to how to improve its quality and contents and, even more important, how to make it more responsive to their educational and clinical needs. Therefore, please do not hesitate to contact me with any comment or recommendation you may have.

Finally, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to the SMA leadership for entrusting me with the responsibility of editing the Journal. I look forward to a continued active and productive collaboration with the editorial board, council, CEO, officers, and directors of SMA and, especially, with you, the readers of the Journal.

Ronald C. Hamdy, MD, FRCP, FACP Editor