PJIM at 50 - Philippine College of Physicians

Philippine Journal of Internal MedicineSpecial FeaturePJIM at 50By Linda Lim-Varona, MD“With this issue, the Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine makes its bow before the medical world. A journaldevoted entirely to Internal Medicine, it is perhaps the first of its kind here and will serve as the official publicationof the Philippine College of Physicians.” 1 These are the very first words written as editorial for the maiden issue ofthe Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine (PJIM), Jan-Mar 1963, Vol. 1 No. 1 with Dr. Luis Mayo LaO as managingeditor and Dr. Arturo B. Rotor as the chairman of the editorial board.This year, 2013, the PJIM is celebrating its Golden Anniversary—50 years of scientific publication devoted to themembership of the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP). The first issue of the PJIM came out on the 10th year ofexistence of the PCP, which means that our beloved society is also celebrating its 60 th anniversary this year.March 1963 marked the realization of the dream of the PCP under the presidency of Dr. Paulo C. Campos,when the first editorial board meeting was held at the Safari in Manila. Officially, the PJIM was established for thefollowing reasons: 1) to have a venue for its growing membership to publish their researches, 2) to add visibilityto the Society, and 3) to establish linkages with its own member and other societies, even abroad. 2 The PCP atthis point was very young, with only 99 members to be exact. However, at this time, there were six other existingsocieties allied to Internal Medicine, namely: 1) Philippine Dermatologic Society, 2) The Philippine Diabetes Society,3) Philippine Society of Metabolism and Endocrinology, 4) Philippine Society of Hematology, 5) Philippine Society ofGastroenterology, and 6) Philippine Heart Association, for which it was the ultimate goal of then PCP president, Dr.Paulo C. Campos to unite these societies to become a federation of subspecialties, with the PCP as the centralizingunit. The PJIM would serve as an official journal to represent the federation and to be sectionalized according tothe various sub-specialty societies. 3Despite these moves by the PCP leadership, this federation idea was to no avail and did not gain realizationuntil after 10 more years, during the presidency of Dr. Conrado Dayrit. Thus, in 1974, ten subspecialty societiesagreed to join together with the PCP as the coordinating body. This federation of subspecialties was a “gain” forthe PJIM as one of the threefold components of this federation was for “publication of subspecialty articles in thePCP journal.” 4The first decade of the PJIM was not an easy time for the journal, and can be considered as the “struggles ofgrowing years.” Because of the small number of article submissions, in 1976, the new editor, Dr. Alendry Caviles gavea strongly worded editorial, “Your Journal in Crisis” stating the lack of quality scientific articles and an apparentlack of support by the whole of PCP membership. 5 As a move to encourage more submissions, the PCP and theeditorial board of PJIM announced an Annual Award to meritorious articles published in the PJIM starting in 1968.The awards consisted of plaques of recognition and cash prizes from P400.00 to P200.00. Some of the awards givenwere the PCP-Villacorta Journal Prizes sponsored by Dr. Olympio Villacorta, and the Avesco Award for best scientificpapers. 6 This move apparently benefited the journal, which gradually increased its number of published articles froman average of four to five articles in the 60’s to reach eight to ten articles by the 80’s. 2In 1971, Dr. Conrado S. Dayrit took over as Editor-in-Chief, as appointed by then PCP President, Dr. Antonio Samia,and served the journal for 13 years up to1984. Dr. Dayrit rapidly expanded the PJIM’s circulation and before long, itwas included in the coverage of several international abstracting services, like Current Concepts, Chemical Abstracts,and Excerpta Medica. This gave the PJIM and its contributing authors the much-desired worldwide exposure. 6 In1982, the PJIM was increased to a bi-monthly publication.In 1985, Dr. Esperanza I. Cabral took over the reins of the PJIM, for which she faithfully served and nurtured thejournal for 17 years until 2002. Under her editorship, she formed a stronger editorial board, which assisted her inelevating the editorial quality of the journal.In 2002, Dr. Cabral handed over the position of Editor-in-Chief to Dr. Rafael R. Castillo. During this time, the PJIMcirculation grew to 4000 copies per issue because of the growing number of PCP membership. It is also duringhis term that the peer review process was started. In 2007 The PJIM was approved and included for indexing atthe Western Pacific Region Index Medicus (WPRIM) of the World Health Organization.In 2010, major changes for PJIM were made: 1) PJIM became on-line publication, 2) a new cover page designfor PJIM, 3) the frequency of publication was reduced to quarterly basis, 4) retirement of Miss Connie Bayona, thePJIM managing editor, and 5) Dr. Linda Lim-Varona was appointed as the new Editor-in Chief of PJIM.IV

EditorialPhilippine Journal of Internal MedicineBy 2010, the PCP has grown to 8,105 PCP Membership, and with the advances in information technology, togetherwith the rising cost of printing and delivery, the PCP Board under the presidency of Dr. Dr. Jaime C. Montoya, hasdecided to make PJIM and on-line publication, with printing of 500 hard copies to be given out to the authors,PCP accredited hospitals, interested subscribers, university libraries and government medical institutions. Under thePCP as the mother organization, are 18 Components and Affiliate Societies, mostly with their own journal publicationto serve their individual needs and purposes. Thus, the submission of articles has again slackened, so the editorialboard decided to reduce the frequency of publication on a quarterly basis.In 2010, Miss Connie Bayona, who has faithfully served the PJIM for 47 years reluctantly retired because of herfailing health. Miss Bayona exemplified dedication, perhaps even beyond the definition of the word by Mr. Webster.All through the years, she faithfully walked a lot of extra miles for the journal. From being a business manager,she eventually also took care of looking for scientific papers for publication. She also did the legwork for bringingback and forth the papers from the editors, to the authors and to the printing press. She took charge of proofreading (4-5 times per issue), proper referencing, paging and the layout of each articles. 7In an editorial dedicated to her, Dr. Castillo writes, “Miss Bayona, or Connie, as we fondly call her, has treatedthe PJIM like she would have treated her own baby had she been gifted with one. For more than four decades,she nurtured it: and I say without fear of anyone contradicting me that if not for her, the PJIM would probably nothave survived the critical times when it was quivering and wobbly as a new scientific publication in an associationthat had more pressing concerns than do researches and clinical trials.” 8Just like any scientific journal, the PJIM has served as a forum for dissemination of new knowledge and information,objective discussion of varying perspectives on raging issues in the different disciplines of Internal Medicine, andsharing of data among internist investigators and clinicians who have conducted their researches. The PJIM editortakes the “role of a chronicler of research in our association, seeing first hand how the quality of research hasimproved over the years.” 8 To become a part of the Editorial Board of the PJIM is both an opportunity and aprivilege to serve, for this journal has been a trustworthy steward of good science for the Filipino internists for thepast 50 years.I would like to take this opportunity to thank my present Editorial Board, Dr. Willy Ong, Dr. Evelyn Reside, Dr.Diana Payawal, Dr. Margarita Cayco, Dr. Jose Montemayor and Dr. Elenore Uy, who despite their very busy schedulestake time out to edit or contribute their editorial skills to this journal. My sincerest gratitude too to our editorialadviser and the one responsible for recruiting me for this job, Dr. Rafael Castillo, and to Dr. Esperanza Cabral whobecame my mentor in this editorial job. My deepest appreciation also goes to our board of peer-reviewers, thesupportive Board of Regents and the PCP secretariat staff particularly Ms. Marilyn Ho and Ms. Judith Concepcionwho inherited part of the work of Miss Bayona.Fifty years ago, in the maiden issue of the PJIM, Dr. Angerico Sison called for a need for a National Programfor Medical Research. Today, that voice remains to be heard, and the echoes of his call is still loudly ringing—“Thefoundation of better medical care and education is research. Without research, no advancement in medical serviceand/or teaching is possible. Neither one of the two can remain static. Medical care in particular will either moveforward with research or backward without it. Communications are essential in any research project, because ideasbeget ideas. Furthermore every research project needs telling in order to avoid duplication of experiments withloss of valuable time, efforts and materials. Such exchange of information between scientists provides the properinspiration and encouragement for the investigator who has spent long thankless hours in the pursuit of knowledge.” 9As long as the Philippine College of Physicians will exist, the PJIM commits to move forward to fulfill the mission ithad when it was started 50 years ago—to communicate local medical researches and make a contribution to basicknowledge in the field of medical science. Editors and staff will come and go, but may the spirit of dedication ofALL the people who started and worked hard through the years for this journal, be the nurturing factor that willcontinue the legacy of PJIM.References1. LaO, L. M: (1963) Editorial: A New Journal, Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine, 1(1), 1.2. Ong, W. T., Castillo, R. R: (2003) PCP Through 50 Years, Fulfilling the Vision, pp7.3. Imperial, E. S: (1963) Federation of the Specialty Societies Allied to Internal Medicine, Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine,1(1), 40-41.4. Ong, W. T., Castillo, R. R. (2003) PCP Through 50 Years, Fulfilling the Vision, pp 18.5. Caviles, A. P: (1967) Editorial: Your Journal in Crisis, Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine, 5(3), 1.6. Abundo, H. P., Dayrit, C. S: (1978) A History of the Philippine College of Physicians, Philippine Journal ofInternal Medicine, 16(4), 135-1397. Varona, L. L: (2009), 47 Years of Printed Pages and the Lady Behind It, Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine, 47(6), III-IV.8. Castillo, R. R: (2010), The PJIM, My Editorial Board, and Ms. Connie Bayona, Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine, 48(1), III.9. Sison, A. B. M: (1963), The Need of a National Program for Research, Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine, 1(1), III.V

Philippine Journal of Internal MedicineEditorialThe First Editorial Board of the PJIM The Editorial Board of the Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine had their luncheon meeting at the Safari onMarch 1963 to finalize plans for its maiden issue. From left are Drs. Luis Mayo LaO (Managing Editor), Paulo C. Campos (PCP President), Elias S Imperial (Secretary), Arturo B. Rotor (Chairman of the Editorial Board), Pablo C. Campos and Agusto D. Litonjua (Associate Editors).First Issue of PJIM PJIM Changes Its CoverPJIM on-line cover page PJIM special Golden Anniversary issueVI

EditorialPhilippine Journal of Internal MedicineDr. Luis Mayo LaOManaging Editor1963-1968Dr. Arturo B. RotorChair, Editorial Board1963-1964Dr. Carmen Salgado OraChair, Editorial Board1965-1966Dr. Saturnino Ador DionisioChair, Editorial Board1967-1968Dr. Alendry CavilesEditor-in-Chief1969-1970Dr. Conrado DayritEditor-in-Chief1971-1984Dr. Esperanza Icasas-CabralEditor-in-Chief1985-2002Dr. Rafael R. CastilloEditor-in-Chief2003-2009Dr. Linda Lim-VaronaEditor-in-Chief2010- PresentMs. Connie BayonaBusiness Manager1963-2009Managing Editor, Chairs and Editors-in Chief of the PJIM (1963-2013)VII