Nothing is static in life. Things keep changing over time. Some change for better and progress, some to regress and even deteriorate. This is the natural phenomenon we observe in all things in life. One has to be aware of this and try one’s best so that we progress and develop. MJCMP started out as the result of “the vision, magnanimity and ‘cetana’ of Dr Thein Aung, Professor of Paediatrics” as we have acknowledged in the Editorial of MJCMP, July 2018 issue. In that issue we also stated that “we look forward to the future with hope, dedication and determination.”
Technology is advancing in leaps and bounds. Mobile phones are readily available throughout the country. Mobile technology is such that we can access, read and download almost anything from the internet. One of the aims of our journal is to provide the General Practitioners (GPs), especially those out in the districts, the opportunity for continuing professional development and also be able to keep abreast with developments in general. As such, MJCMP is attempting to help the GPs by providing articles for educational purposes, articles to help with their practices, to keep abreast with developments in general and a forum for exchange of practices, ideas and comments based upon their experiences.We had hoped that the GPs in the districts would have invaluable experiences, unique to themselves, which they will share with their contemporaries. However, this has not materialized. One hindering factor for such a response from the GPs could be that our journal has not reached them as widely as we wished. Through the internet, and in the electronic format, the journal would be available to many more GPs than through paper copies. It will also be accessible to others abroad. The requirement is just to have a mobile phone with access to the internet.
Many medical journals are now going online, many for free while some need subscription. MJCMP intends to provide free access if possible to all medical practitioners. This would depend upon the number of advertisements inserted in the journal by medical and medically- related companies. As long as the income from advertisements meet the expenses to publish the journal online, it will be free. It is possible that in the long run we might require subscriptions to get access to the journal. Even then, we intend to keep it at the lowest rates possible so as not to burden our readers, especially those GPs serving out in the remote areas.
We have now acquired a domain name mjcmpjournal.com for our website. Our intention is to publish MJCMP online starting with the April 2021 issue if all goes well and if not, with the July 2021 issue at the latest. We hope to put up online all back issues starting from July 2018. It may be accessed by anyone and articles downloaded. We will also be acquiring a facebook page where the contents of the upcoming issues will be posted. We certainly hope that our GPs will find the journal useful for their continuing development. One thing we earnestly request is for articles by doctors in the districts. It will certainly make our journal more complete. We would also like to request feedback from our readers together with comments/suggestions so as to make our journal more effective for continuing professional development of our primary care physicians and GPs in Myanmar.
The above is the Editorial written for the MJCMP April 2021 issue which could not be published due to many reasons. The conceptual approach of the journal is still the same as outlined above. The target of publishing MJCMP in e-format has now shifted to January 2022 issue, which is hoped to be on the website by end of January 2022 at the latest. The advantage of having the journal online is that it can be accessed by internet users all over the world. This will widen and increase the number of users of our journal and may in turn encourage readers to send us articles which they feel could be useful for medical practice in Myanmar.
