This is my final column as Editor, so readers will forgive me for thinking back on changes within our profession, and indeed this Journal, during the first decade of a new century. To appreciate the state of our ever‐changing profession throughout the English‐speaking world, it is useful sometimes to stop and consider even its recent history. Where better to do so than in the pages of a journal that records six decades of development, frustration and achievement?
The hot topic in my first editorial was the UK Government's paper, Agenda for Change – Modernising the NHS Pay System, published in 1999.Footnote1 What could be more frustrating than that, ten years on, the new pay‐system has still not been fully implemented? Or that its implementation has been controversial – to say the least? As a result, there are now ludicrous variations in job‐matching across the UK, often between neighbouring hospitals. That first editorial also grasped a perennial nettle: state‐registration of clinical photographers. On this matter, negotiations with the UK Government reach back to 1949, but huge steps forward have been made in recent years. How I would have been delighted to report our ultimate success, not least because our application was approved by the Health Professions Council several years ago; but still we are waiting on legislation from the Department of Health.
Other changes discussed in my Editorials and within this Journal have left our profession so thoroughly transformed that, in some ways, employment in 2000 seems to belong to a different era. DAMSs and EPRs; NOSs, CPDs and KSFs relating to AfC; and wikis, blogs and RSS feeds are now part of our everyday lives. There really was a time before virtual learning, ‘super‐trusts’ with ‘super‐bugs’, and iPods.
To reflect these changing times, the new century brought a makeover and a new name, as the Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine became the Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine. However, the core values of the Journal remain, steadfast, and we continue to provide our sophisticated readership with a print version, in defiance of trends and pressures in the publishing world. The most significant, and potentially the most beneficial, development for the Journal is also the most recent: formalizing our links with HeSCA. There have always been strong bonds spanning the Atlantic, but now we have reason to suppose that Vis Comm can peak on behalf of our profession around the world.
If there has been a constant theme during my time as Editor, it is that the Journal would be nothing without you, the contributor. However, since this is my last chance to do so, I must also emphasize that it could not – and would not – exist without the endless, tireless work of the Editorial Committee and the constant, unfailing support of the Editorial Board. My sincere and heartfelt thanks are due to each and every one who has contributed so much time and effort for no reward. Other medical journals may be more fully provided with manuscripts and viewpoints, and certainly Vis Comm cannot match the subscription‐levels of many. However, we continue to do what we do because we believe that, amidst the cacophony of healthcare professionals and policy‐makers, we have to hear the distinct and authentic voice of medical illustrators and their collaborators.
Long may this be so. Now, I shall look to contribute to the Journal ‘from the other side’: I hope you will too.
Notes
1 Editorial. J Audiovis Media Med 2000;23(1):5–6.