‘My Story’: a new departure for <i>Medical Education</i>

Humans are story-telling animals. For most people, narratives are compelling evidence. It has even been argued that logical thought processes, as observed in science, are unnatural.1 Many recent accounts describe the role of narrative in medicine, and the importance of stories may well be among the most significant ways in which medicine differs from science. To recognise that this is the case is not necessarily to commend or to condemn it. It may be that if humans acted logically, there would be positive outcomes, or that we should cease from striving to promote logical rather than illogical thinking, while recognising the social context in which we operate. Studies on the introduction of evidence-based medicine have shown how difficult it is to convert traditional practices into rational ones. Much evidence on clinical reasoning indicates that it occurs primarily through case or pattern recognition, rather than through logical deductive processes. It may be that clinical reasoning would be more accurate and effective (and possibly error rates might be lower) if we operated in a logical manner, but we have to recognise that it's not going to happen any time soon. It sometimes happens that manuscripts submitted to Medical Education are plainly based on personal experiences. The author has generally attempted to fit these into the Procrustean bed of a short report or a discussion paper, or even sometimes a fully referenced ‘research’ article, because he or she suspects this is the only way the work can be published. Such attempts are unsatisfactory, both from the point of view of the author and that of the journal. Because the format is artificial, the submission is generally turned down, and both author and readership may miss out. In many publications, readers turn first to a particular, favourite, place. This may be a regular correspondent, or a feature writer, or the section that most represents their interests. We wish to capture this energy, for both authors and readers, through the introduction of a new category of article. Initially, this will appear under the heading ‘My Story’. Authors are invited to submit articles under this rubric of up to 2000 words in length (detailed guidelines are overleaf). Such articles need not conform to the standard structure of a scientific article and, in particular, are not constrained by the need for an introduction, or methods, results or discussion sections. The 2000-word length is meant to be seen as a maximum, not a minimum. There may be occasions on which references are appropriate but we would not normally expect to see more than 10 of these as this type of material is not intended as a source for reviews. Unfortunately, we cannot consider anonymous submissions but we will, on request, consider publishing them on a ‘name withheld’ basis. This will enable authors to describe times when they got things wrong. Medical education, like medicine, is not a perfect process and errors are made more often than they are admitted to. However, owning errors is the first step towards identifying and avoiding them. Appropriate subjects might well be personal reflections based on long experience or, conversely, accounts of particular events that had an impact on the writer. Submissions will be refereed, and there may well be editorial and referee feedback to the author. It is perfectly proper to seek to provoke discussion, as the energy to carry out further research is often stimulated by the heat of controversy. However, this category of article is not intended to serve as a training track for hobbyhorses in the form of particular theoretical viewpoints, which are probably best described in other ways. Instead, we are looking for the personal touch. It may also be that this section offers a flexible forum for arts- and humanities-related subjects. However, it is not intended as a substitute or replacement for proper qualitative research, but rather as a supplement to it, for cases where n = 1. We look forward with real interest to submissions under this category. If you feel you have a story to tell, please consider this as an opportunity to do so. Medical Education, the leading journal in the field of education for health care professionals, is to launch a major new series during 2007, entitled ‘My Story’. As much of medicine and medical education is narrative-based, the new series will reflect this by allowing authors to describe their thoughts and deliberations in a more personal style. ‘My Story’ will offer authors and readers an opportunity to examine medical education in an exciting and innovative format. An individual contribution may be up to 2000 words in length. It may be written in the first person. Abstracts will not be published but authors should submit a short summary (maximum 200 words) with their manuscripts. References or suggestions for further reading are optional. If references are included, there should be up to 10 in total, and these should be in the Vancouver style. Footnotes are not used in Medical Education. Manuscripts for publication are selected according to their importance, originality and relevance to the readership. All papers in the series will be subject to the usual editorial process and will be anonymously peer-reviewed; any offer to publish will be dependent on the outcome of the review process. Names of reviewers will be published in Medical Education annually. A checklist to assist in the preparation of the manuscript for submission is available by clicking on ‘instructions and forms’ at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/medicaleducation. Three separate documents should be prepared for upload to the website: an anonymous manuscript; an identifying document, and a manuscript submission form. This section should not contain any identifying details. Please make sure that content, the filename and the footer/header do NOT contain authors' names. The manuscript should be formatted to A4 paper- or letter-size on 1 side only, double-spaced with a wide margin (at least 3 cm) on either side. All pages should be numbered. Please do not use automatic referencing programs such as Bookshelf or Endnote. Please keep a copy of the original manuscript for reference. An e-mail acknowledgement of receipt will be sent by the journal. We reserve the right to copyedit papers to housestyle before final publication, but substantive changes will be the responsibility of the authors. This document is not for review. All authors are required to supply this indication as part of Medical Education's policy on ethical standards. Please note that where an item requested is not available or not applicable, you should indicate this. You will need to supply the following information: the correspondent's full address, institution and contact details; the names and institutions of all authors and details of the contribution each made to the work described in the paper; details of any funding, if applicable; details of any acknowledgements; a statement indicating that ethical approval was sought for the work described, and if not, why it was not thought necessary, and details of any potential conflicts of interest. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgement concerning a primary interest (such as patient welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by secondary interests (personal matters such as financial gain, personal relationships or professional rivalry). An identifying document template is available for download at http://medicaleducation.manuscriptcentral.com. A copyright form (available from ‘instructions and forms’ at http://medicaleducation.manuscriptcentral.com) must be downloaded, completed and signed by all contributing authors and sent by fax and post to the Editorial Office at the time of electronic submission. The manuscript cannot proceed to review until this document has been received. Manuscripts should be submitted for publication via our electronic submission and review website: http://medicaleducation.manuscriptcentral.com.

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