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Dear Editors

Re CME Bulletin Endocrinology and Diabetes.

Ten out of ten for the contributors to Volume 1, Number 1, who have all covered their remits admirably. I particularly welcome the appearance of this Journal, which has been well produced, and should establish for itself an important role within the speciality. The contribution by Gittoes and Franklyn was particularly welcome in its critical and practical approach to investigation and management of euthyroid goitre and nodules. I hope that subsequent authors can emulate this excellent article, and I look forward to receiving the further issues of this Journal.

My principal concern at this stage is that the editorial board should reflect carefully upon their constituency, which is composed principally of physicians, both fully trained and in training, practising clinical endocrinology, diabetes, and often, general internal medicine. Thus, this forum may not be an appropriate one for molecular biology reviews, which would be better submitted to established endocrine journals. Although it is undeniable that much of our understanding of endocrine and metabolic disease comes from molecular studies, and CME must cover important scientific advances, I would submit that in the majority of instances the molecular basis of disease does not yet influence patient management. Thus, volume 1 number 1 is somewhat “off target.”, with three out of five articles on molecular topics.

Possible ways to circumvent this problem might be either to have just one molecular article per issue, or to encourage authors to cover relevant advances in the cellular and molecular aspects of their subjects. For example, it might be more useful for the purposes of this Journal to present information on the molecular aetiology of GH-secreting pituitary adenomas either in, or alongside, an article which also dealt with clinical investigation and management. In this way, the science would be built into the curriculum rather than being stand-alone, and giving the wrong impression of a conflict of interest between the clinical and academic sides of our speciality.