Genesis, the voice of students: wjm's new student section will be vital reading for physicians
Year: 2001
Type: article
Abstract: Amidst the provocative and stimulating clamor of medical training, students are full of ideas, reactions, and responses. The question is, are their remarks of value to practicing physicians, wjm's principal readership? readership?
The simple answer is yes. And this is not just a matter of political correctness. For many reasons, physicians must listen to the student voice. First, physicians interested in shaping the profession's next generation must learn to understand the views of medical students. Doing so will allow them to gain a sense of how well they are transmitting their knowledge and experience to future physicians. Second, students are ideally placed to alert us to the constantly shifting world of medical ethics. Third, the medical student body has its own character, personality, and politics, which can breed valuable activism and ideology, a source of inspiration to qualified physicians. Students are not just a reflection of medicine today—they offer the best hint of what medicine might look like 5 to 10 years down the road.
It is in this vein that wjm introduces Genesis, a new section of the journal (see logo at right) that is entirely produced by students. The goal is not just to establish an outlet for student expression, but also to create an inlet. The student section is an invitation for students to enter in and contribute to the dynamic literary dialogue that takes place in wjm. It is a forum for students to sound their own unique queries against those of physicians.
Table 1
Types of articles suitable for Genesis
Editorials
Ethical dilemmas
Clinical photographs
Articles on clinical problem solving
Articles on medical education (controversies, dilemmas, news)
News and public policy features
Book reviews
Personal narratives
Poems, photography, art, cartoons, stories
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Clinical medicine and medical education are ever changing, and Genesis will allow students to reflect on these trends. Issues that student writers might explore include the mentor-student relationship, socialization into the physician role, new technologies in medical education, ethical issues arising on the wards, and the move from traditional medical curricula to the multisystem approach. We seek works that are compelling to both practicing physicians and students. The type of articles we strive to publish in Genesis are provided here (see box), yet we are open to suggestions for submissions in another format.
Genesis will have its own part of the wjm web site, which you can access via the wjm home page. We want it to become an active and thriving place, with debates, dialogue, and multimedia educational resources. We hope to have a mutual exchange of ideas and content with our sister journal in London, the student BMJ (www.studentBMJ.com).
The introduction of Genesis could not come at a better time. As a consequence of the new partnership between wjm and the University of California, all 3rd- and 4th-year students at all 5 UC medical schools will receive wjm each month. We welcome these new readers and hope they will become regular contributors to the journal. We also plan to recruit the University's faculty and house staff to the pages of wjm and encourage other medical schools in the West to join us as well.
Maintaining a close dialogue between physicians and medical students safeguards the foundations of medicine. It facilitates mutual assessment, a reinforcement of the percepts that are vital to our discipline, and a dismantling of those that are not. The discussions that take place in Genesis will, we hope, deepen our understanding of medicine at present while setting the scene and agenda for its future.
Submissions to Genesis should be sent by e-mail, as an attached Word file, to moc.mjwe@siseneg. Please indicate that the article is intended for the Genesis section of wjm. Advice to contributors is available at www.ewjm.com/misc/genesis2.shtml.
Source: Western Journal of Medicine
Author: I. Danovitch
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1982640892