About Medicine Today

Objectives

Medicine Today is a monthly, independent, peer reviewed journal of clinical medicine written and refereed by doctors for Australian general practitioners, specialists and other health professionals. Its content is clinically focused, practical, evidence-based and well illustrated, designed to meet the needs of busy doctors.

We aim to provide general practitioners with credible, reliable and interesting clinical material to help them:

  • sharpen their skills in diagnosis and management in their day-to-day practice
  • improve standards of patient care
  • review and update their knowledge of best practice medicine.

Our content is also aimed at specialists reading outside their own field to help them stay informed about advances in general medicine.

History

Medicine Today, formerly Modern Medicine of Australia, has been providing medical practitioners in Australia with authoritative clinical review material each month for more than 65 years.

Modern Medicine was first published in the USA in 1932. In 1957, the then publisher of the US edition, The New York Times, began publishing Modern Medicine in Australia. Over time the title was expanded to 13 editions, in seven languages, circulating to 408,000 physicians in 12 countries.

The current proprietors, Tony Scott and Judy Passlow, have been associated with Modern Medicine of Australia since 1979 and purchased the journal from its then owner, Adis Press, in 1985.

At the time the trademark Modern Medicine was owned by a US publishing house and franchised around the world. By the late 1990s the proprietors of the Australian edition had responded to the needs of its readership and were commissioning and publishing Australian content rather than the international mix the franchise had provided. As a consequence it was no longer financially viable for the publishers to continue to pay the required royalty to publish under the Modern Medicine name, and the decision was taken to publish the Australian content under the Medicine Today name in January 2000.

September 2017 marked Modern Medicine/Medicine Today’s 60th year of publishing in Australia. The journal celebrated with the publication of a special 60th Anniversary issue including reflections from the Emeritus Chair of the Board of Honorary Consultants, Professor Peter Castaldi; the current Chair, Professor Kim Oates; and Judy Passlow, the Publisher/Editorial Director.

Frequency

Medicine Today is published monthly, with 11 or 12 issues published annually. 

Editorial independence

The editorial independence and high clinical standards held by Medicine Today are of paramount importance to the publishers and are guarded rigorously. The entire content is subjected to a peer review process of the quality usually reserved for scientific (rather than review) publications.

To ensure Medicine Today’s editorial content is totally independent, credible and accurate:

  • the Board of Honorary Consultants monitors the clinical standards and content of the journal
  • members of the Board and senior consultants provide author recommendations
  • all submitted articles undergo our thorough peer review process
  • all authors are required to disclose any commercial or financial association that might be seen to be a conflict of interest, using the standard disclosure form of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (www.icmje.org/conflicts-of-interest), and these disclosures are published at the end of each article
  • articles that have any known input from pharmaceutical companies, public relations firms or other commercial entities are not accepted.

How we source content

Medicine Today’s editorial content covers a diverse range of subjects of interest to medical practitioners. Most of the content is commissioned in house after consultation with members of the Board of Honorary Consultants and senior consultants. The authors of our articles are highly experienced, senior clinicians who are well recognised in their field of medicine.

The opinions expressed in the editorial content are those of the commissioned authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Editors, the Board of Honorary Consultants or the publishers.

Peer review process

Every article published in Medicine Today has undergone our rigorous single-blind peer review process to ensure the content is accurate, credible, up to date and independent. At least two specialists in the relevant field of medicine and one general practitioner review each article before it is accepted for publication.

Reviewers provide instructive comments, suggestions and recommendations on the suitability for publication of each article. All feedback is sent to the authors, who may be required to revise the text or respond to specific comments before their article is accepted for publication.

The Board of Honorary Consultants

Medicine Today’s Board of Honorary Consultants has a vital role in maintaining the journal’s high editorial standards. More than 50 key specialists and general practitioners covering the major fields of medicine are members of the Board, led by the current Chair, Professor Kim Oates. The list of Board members can be viewed here. The Board has a major and active role in reviewing articles and providing suggestions for reviewers, authors and content. The Board also meets formally three times a year to discuss editorial and publishing issues.

Editorial content

Web and print

Feature Articles
Three to four in-depth Feature Articles are published in each issue of Medicine Today. These articles, written by senior clinicians and their colleagues, provide practical, evidence-based reviews and clinical information to assist doctors in their day-to-day practice. Clinical Flowcharts and Patient Handouts are published regularly within these articles.

Members of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) can earn Online Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points by completing our educational modules based on these feature articles. These modules are part of Medicine Today’s CPD Journal Program.

Regular Series
Short, concise articles on selected areas of medicine are published in our Regular Series section. We publish a selection of these articles each month and regularly commission new series to include in this section. If you have any suggestions for regular series, let us know by completing the Topic suggestion form and we will consider them.

Our Regular Series include:

  • Clinical Case Review
  • Complementary Medicine Update
  • Dermatology Clinic
  • Drug Update
  • Emergency Medicine Clinic
  • Gastroenterology Clinic (published in association with the Gastroenterological Society of Australia)
  • Infectious Diseases Clinic
  • Innocence Revisited
  • Men’s Health Clinic
  • Nutrition Clinic
  • Ophthalmology Clinic
  • Practical Procedures
  • Psychological Medicine Clinic
  • Rheumatology Clinic (published in association with the Australian Rheumatology Association)
  • Sexual Health Clinic
  • Sports Medicine Clinic
  • Therapeutics Clinic
  • Travel Medicine Clinic
  • Women’s Health Clinic

Find out more on submitting clinical case synopses and Innocence Revisited contributions for consideration for publication in our Regular Series sections.

In Brief
The In Brief section in the print edition of Medicine Today provides short news items based on current research. 

Journal Watch
Brief summaries of research articles published in major international medical journals are the focus of the Journal Watch section. These summaries are provided by the NEJM Group, a division of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Letters
We would like to hear your opinions, suggestions and feedback. If you find a particular article helpful in your practice or have something to say about an article we have published, then submit a letter and we will consider it for publication. We are more likely to print short letters (no longer than 250 words), so please be succinct. You can post your letter to us (Medicine Today Pty Ltd, PO Box 1473, Neutral Bay NSW 2089, Australia) or complete the Submit a Letter form.

Book reviews
In this occasional section, we review new books of specific or general interest to medical practitioners.

Web only

CPD Journal Program
Take part in Medicine Today's Online CPD Journal Program to earn points towards your vocational registration requirements, keep you up to date and review your clinical knowledge.

Medicine Today's Online CPD Journal Program is accredited by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) for its Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Development (QI&CPD) Program. Each month we add two new CPD modules to our program. The modules are based on the in-depth Feature Articles published in Medicine Today. GPs can earn 3 category 2 CPD points by completing each CPD module online.

We have developed our CPD program to help participants to:

  • update and review their knowledge on the diagnosis and treatment of various conditions
  • keep up to date with the use of newer pharmacological agents
  • apply their knowledge to clinical cases
  • update their knowledge on risk factors and enhance the practice of preventive medicine
  • consider systems-based approaches to enhancing patient safety
  • review their skills in communicating with patients
  • increase their awareness of psychosocial factors and their relevance in causing, and in the course of, disease
  • increase their application of evidence-based medicine and keep abreast of current data relevant to general practice.

Supplements

We regularly publish collections of peer reviewed articles on specific disease states as supplements. Although funded by sponsorship, the editorial content of these supplements is totally independent and subjected to Medicine Today’s usual peer review and editorial processes. Most of the articles in our supplements have previously been published in Medicine Today. To ensure the content of each supplement is up to date, articles are revised as necessary before publication.

MEDICINE TODAY STAFF

Managing Editor
Nidhi Sodhi BSc(Hons), PhD

Senior Assistant Editors
Kate Murchison BSc(Hons)
Kerrie Lawson PhD, ELS, AE(IPEd)
Marie Lofthouse BSc(Hons)

Assistant Editors
Aleta van Kerkhoff MSc, GDipClinEpid, ELS
Richa Gandhi BSc(Hons), MSc, MSc, PhD

Medical Writers/Assistant Editors
Emily Lathlean MB BS, FRACGP
Michael Doris MB BS, ATCL

Consultant Medical Editors
Chris Pokorny FRACP
John Dearin AM, FRACGP, DipGer, DipRehabMed, MBioEth

News Editor
Kate Murchison BSc(Hons)

Journal Watch Editor
Julia Smith BSc(Hons)

Art Direction
Kirk Palmer Design

Production/Design Manager
Maria Marmora

Webmaster
Lexidis

Group Sales & Marketing Manager
Prue Anderson

Sales and Marketing Co-ordinator
Amy Scholefield

Digital Engagement Manager
Renata Schindler BA, BEd, GradCertBus

Accounts
Pauline Burnard

Subscriptions Co-ordinator
Katrina Lehmann

Editorial Co-ordinator
Amanda Goodsir

Publisher/Editorial Director
Judy Passlow

Publisher/Managing Director
Tony Scott