As our page count has expanded from eight into the 40s – about half of them ads, because that’s what it takes for the publication to cover the costs of production and distribution – I have labored to assure the information presented to you has been relevant and useful. It would be easy to apply the simple test of whether I like something. What really matters, though, is whether readers find it to be interesting and of practical value. The readership is not monolithic, and you’ve let us know when we were getting too absorbed in an area that is not everyone’s cup of tea. So, for example, we’ve gotten letters telling us we could cut back on the number of articles addressing the fine points of using diagnostic ultrasound at the bedside. But I believe we’ve mostly gotten it right in mixing up the content to appeal to the broad range of your interests.

Earlier this year ACEP’s Executive Director Dean Wilkerson asked that we take a fresh look at the publication and consider a new direction. A new publisher was selected, and it was decided that change should be paired with one at the helm. My good friend Kevin Klauer, Speaker of the ACEP Council, will be serving as Medical Editor in Chief of the new publication, ACEP Now. (Just so you understand, that expression does not mean what it does on Capitol Hill; Kevin and I really are friends, having worked together in ACEP for many years, and I am an admirer of his record of achievement.)

The eight years I’ve spent as medical editor of your monthly publication have been, as I have repeatedly described them, a labor of love. For six of those eight years I was a member of the ACEP Board of Directors, which meant I had inside information on College activities. But I wanted ACEP News to offer some independent perspective at the same time it served as an official publication. Sometimes that ruffled feathers, and I have been grateful to Nancy Calaway, Ron Cunningham’s successor as Communications Director, for her diligent efforts toward keeping me out of trouble.

Most of all, of course, I am grateful to you, ACEP members, for being loyal readers over the years and giving me the sense of purpose that helped drive me to meet deadlines each month and do all I could to make these pages worthy of your time.