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British Columbia Medical Journal

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British Columbia Medical Journal

Introduction

The British Columbia Medical Journal is a general medical journal providing continuing medical education through scientific research, review articles, and updates on contemporary clinical practices. It is the flagship publication of the BC Medical Association. The BCMJ publishes clinical and other articles written primarily by BC physicians, with a focus on articles of interest to British Columbia physicians, on topics like rural medicine and clinical cases from the Pacific Northwest. Other local content includes regular columns of interest to BC doctors, such as those from the BC Centre for Disease Control and ICBC. The journal also publishes editorials, local medical news, and book reviews. The BCMJ accepts personal view letters and longer opinion pieces to provide a forum for discussion of both political and clinical issues pertaining to the medical profession in British Columbia. The BCMJ is a peer reviewed journal, edited by an Editorial Board consisting of physicians from varying disciplines[1]. The publication operates at arms-length from the BC Medical Association in order to remain an open forum for reader debate on medical practice issues. All BCMJ issues from 2000 onward are accessible online.


Frequency of publication

The BCMJ publishes 10 times per year, with combined issues in January/February and July/August.


History

The BCMJ was originally known as the Vancouver Medical Association Bulletin[2] The Bulletin was published for 34 years, from October, 1924, until January 1959. During that time its circulation increased from approximately 700 to 2680, with subscribers from the United Kingdom, India, and South America, in addition to Canada and the US.

After suffering a drop in advertising revenues, the Bulletin eventually ceased to be profitable for the VMA. A committee of representatives from the VMA, the BCMA, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC met in 1957 to discuss the future of the publication. A decision was made to change the name of the publication to the British Columbia Medical Journal. The VMA agreed to retain ownership of the publication, collect revenue from the BCMA for space within the publication, and pay a salary to the editor.

In January 1959, the first issue of the BC Medical Journal was published. While subscription numbers increased under the new arrangement between the VMA and the BCMA, advertising revenues continued to decrease, and the BC Medical Association took ownership of the journal in January 1963.

Editorial leadership of the journal has seen little change since the publication's beginnings. Since its inception in 1924 as the VMA Bulletin, the journal has had only six editors, some of whome have had impressive tenures. Past editors of the BCMJ are:

Founding editor Dr J.M. Pearson (VMA Bulletin) 1924 to 1932

Dr Jack MacDermot[3] (oversaw transition from the Bulletin to the BC Medical Journal) 1932 to 1968

Dr Sid Hobbs 1968 to 1978

Dr A.F. Hardyment 1978 to 1986

Dr W.A. Dodd 1986 to 1993

Dr Jim Wilson 1993 to 2008

Dr David Richardson 2008 to present


Cover art

Jerry Wong has been the cover artist for the BCMJ since 1982. The journal's cover designs[4] over the past 26 years have created a unique artistic tone and image for the publication, and have provoked praise, comment, and debate from the readership.


Open access

The BCMJ is an open access journal. All articles from 2000 onwards are archived on the Journal web site.[5]


J.H. MacDermot Prize

The BC Medical Journal welcomes article submissions from student authors, and each year awards a prize of $1000 for the best article written by a medical student in the province of British Columbia.

The prize honors Dr John Henry MacDermot (1883 – 1969), who became the editor of the Vancouver Medical Bulletin at its formation in 1924, remaining at the helm until 1959, when it became the BC Medical Journal. He was editor of the BCMJ until he retired in 1967.


Editorial Board

The BC Medical Journal is peer reviewed by an Editorial Board of physicians from numerous disciplines.[6] Dr David R. Richardson currently serves as editor-in-chief. The seven other physicians comprising the BCMJ Editorial Board are Dr David Chapman, Dr Brian Day, Dr Susan Haigh, Dr Lindsay Lawson, Dr Timothy Rowe, Dr Cynthia Verchere, and Dr Bob Vroom.

References

  1. ^ BCMJ editorial board biographies, http://www.bcmj.org/editorial-board
  2. ^ McGill University Canadian Health Sciences Periodicals (Q-Z) http://internatlibs.mcgill.ca/bibliography/titles-q-z.htm
  3. ^ CMAJ obituary, 1969, PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1945988/pdf/canmedaj01316-0046.pdf
  4. ^ BCMJ cover archive https://www.bcmj.org/archive/2000
  5. ^ BCMJ home page http://www.bcmj.org
  6. ^ BCMJ editorial board biographies, http://www.bcmj.org/editorial-board
  • BCMJ home page [1]