From the Editor’s Desk: Frontiers in medicine: the McGill Journal of Medicine celebrates ten years, and insights into interventional medicine

This issue of the McGill Journal of Medicine marks something of an anniversary for the Journal, and before commenting on the articles in this issue, we thought this a fitting time for reflection on the state of the MJM. Though we chart our recent history through a period of beginning, ending, and beginning and ending again, we have embarked with conviction on the course which was once set for the Journal. The involvement of students from around the world during the past ten years – we estimate the participation of over five hundred students in the MJM since its re-establishment in the 1990s – has made this international effort possible. The MJM provides exposure for young aspiring clinicians and scientists to medical science – something that we feel is insufficiently invited by many medical school curricula. The experience is valuable to both our staff of over 120 current editors from around the world, and to those reading and submitting articles to the Journal. Additionally, though, we believe that the Journal empowers people in traditionally under-represented areas. We are proud to feature, for example, in this issue an article from students in North Carolina, U.S., on dentition in Costa Rica. Garcia and Guzzo provide excellent insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the oral hygiene programs in selected communities throughout Costa Rica, as influenced by allocation of dentists and the construction on the Inter-American Highway. Their work represents proficient medical research, with important implications for public health in developing countries. The staff at the MJM hope that we will open a dialogue between young people interested in bettering health in countries that have traditionally not had the representation in medical science and public health literature that North America, Europe, and parts of Asia have enjoyed. The Journal in this respect is a forum for young, ambitious people to meet, to brainstorm medical challenges by discoursing and sharing insights, and to solve problems throughout the world. Impetus for this perspective is exemplified by a recent research project of one of the Editors-in-Chief of this issue, who had the opportunity to work with a group studying leishmaniasis in Peru. Leishmaniasis is a parasitic infection that manifests as either cutaneous, muco-cutaneous (which can develop as a sequelae to the cutaneous form), or visceral disease. The parasite is transmitted by the sandfly, which feeds on humans or dogs (the reservoir for the disease), in a …