On July 4th 2014, the Medical Journal of Australia will
celebrate its centenary, so we are about to turn 99!
Whatever the outcome of the federal election on
September 14th, new national policies for the financing, governance,
quality and scope of publicly funded medical and hospital care will soon be
under construction.
For these policies to work well, the new government
will need the participation of those who will implement them, including, quite
obviously, the medical profession. For
participation to be at its best, the profession needs access to the information
that underpins high quality professional performance. Throughout its 99 years, the Journal has helped communicate that
information amongst the profession and beyond.
The Journal has
always played this role. My historian colleague Milton Lewis points out that in
doing so it has continued a tradition dating back even further – to colonial days. The first Australian journal was born in Sydney as
early as 1846. Lacking adequate support, it soon ceased publication. But the
better organised Victorian profession (has anything changed?!) was able to
establish a quarterly journal, the Australian
Medical Journal, in 1856.
The Australian
Medical Journal continued to be published in Melbourne for over five
decades until along with the younger, Sydney-based, Australasian Medical Gazette, it was replaced by the national
publication, the Medical Journal of
Australia.1 Throughout this time, the other significant source
of intra-professional unity (and an effective political player at both State
and federal levels) was the British Medical Association, the first Australian
branch of which was set up in Victoria in 1879 and the second in NSW the next
year.1 Its successor, the Australian Medical Association, operates
the Journal.
The Journal
has contributed to the development of medical care and health by providing a
place where research and clinical observation is published, where thoughtful
opinions based upon experience and evidence from the sciences and practice are
offered, where concerns – ethical, political and legal – about health and health care are raised, life’s passage is marked (most often
with obituaries), successes celebrated, courage and outstanding professional
service recognised. The wit and wisdom of correspondents have entertained and
stimulated and the Journal has been a
strong component of the professionalisation of medicine in Australia.
The Journal has
regularly changed its format and livery but its central purposes have remained
largely intact. Now it is also available
online, on mobile phones, laptops and (non-medicinal) tablets anywhere,
anytime, as it joins the dance of the Internet. The dynamism that is
challenging print media more generally extends its challenge to the Journal.
New business models to sustain it are essential and work continues to
develop them. But for a near centenarian it has shown remarkable flexibility,
optimism and athleticism! If only we
could all do as well at 99!
This is an excellent moment for the Journal to promote and strengthen the
publication of research especially that which assesses clinical effectiveness and
new ways of organising and providing care.
Policy-makers, managers and clinical practitioners are hungry for
evidence to help them decide.
As McKeon and colleagues in their review of health
and medical research in Australia noted, we spend comparatively little on
health care research and development in Australia.2 They call for a
substantial increase in R&D investment (to 3-4% of government health
expenditures) to address the problem of expenditure on health and hospital
care, which is rising faster than our willingness to pay.2 The Journal is here to publish and
disseminate such research.
Medical journals depend heavily on voluntary
contributions from doctors and other health service professionals, research
workers, patients, politicians, health service managers and experts with an
involvement in health and medicine from diverse fields of interest and
work. Without the altruism of colleagues
presenting their ideas for others to read and examine critically, there would
be no journals. It is the desire to
share insights for the benefit of patients that features strongly among the
reasons that include professional advancement why contributors write papers,
commentaries, case studies and reviews.
A love of the profession leads others to submit material that sustains
the spirit, by way of personal stories, art, poetry or letters.
This is a rich background against which to plan for
the future. The Journal takes those gifts, these contributions given to it in the
past and sees them as markers of its heritage and future strength. They explain why we are optimistic and why we
look forward to your company when we celebrate our 100th in July
2014!
1.Lewis M, MacLeod R. Medical Politics and
the Professionalisation of Medicine in New South Wales, 1850-1901. Journal of Australian Studies 1988; 2:
69-82.
2. Mckeon Report. Strategic Review of Health and
Medical Research. Final report Feb 2013. http://www.mckeonreview.org.au/downloads/Strategic_Review_of_Health_and_Medical_Research_Feb_2013-Final_Report.pdf
(accessed April 2013).
