Foreword

Article Outline

• Copyright

It is an honor and a privilege for me to assume the Editor-in-Chief position for Disease-A-Month. I have been an admirer of this journal since I was a medical student thirty years ago and it is not uncommon for me to keep past issues for years.

We will continue to cover both the general and unusual topics that the primary care provider encounters. It has always been my belief that the clinical practice of primary care requires knowledge of how internal medicine (physiological homeostasis) interacts with external medicine (environmental factors that contribute to pathology). Therefore, future issues will follow this philosophy in order to enable the clinician to understand the complex interaction between individual treatment, preventive medicine concepts and population dynamics.

This issue of Disease-a-Month by Dr. Lazarus and colleagues reflects this philosophy. As the second part in a comprehensive review of Tuberculosis (TB), this issue focuses not only on the extra pulmonary manifestations of TB, but also on preventive measures, drug therapy and the status of vaccination.

I would also like to acknowledge the excellent leadership of my predecessor, Dr. Janis Orlowski. Her guidance and dedication to this Journal serves as an inspiration to future editors. I look forward to her continued counsel.

Finally, I would like to recognize the most important advisor to any journal: you the reader. As an educated consumer you have a multitude of information sources from which to choose in a wide variety of formats. Your direct feedback is an essential component to the continued development of this Journal. Your comments and criticisms are always welcome, along with your suggestions of topics not covered thoroughly elsewhere. I encourage you to contact me directly by email at jleikin@enh.org.

Together we can continue to make Disease-A-Month an essential resource in patient care.