By John J. Seidenfeld, MD

San Antonio Medicine Magazine 112 Years of Service

By John J. Seidenfeld, MD

As I write these reflections, I am thankful to the medical society and Melody Newsom, CEO, the committee membership and administrative staff (Monica Jones, COO, and Nancy Salas, editor), the sponsors, the board and the publisher. I am grateful to the student and graduate doctors who contribute their thoughts and research to the magazine, and our readership which has access to this locally produced, Bexar County focused source of medical information. Students, community members and physicians volunteer their time and insights to the society. Both San Antonio schools of Osteopathic and Allopathic medicine from the University of the Incarnate Word and the UT Health San Antonio have been involved as authors and editors. We hope that their contributions help them in future endeavors as they continue with graduate medical education. Their significant thoughtfulness and creativity have been fundamental to our mission. Our practicing, retired physicians and committee members have also been major contributors with unique insights and perspectives.

The committee chair and staff reviewed the 2011 edition of San Antonio Medicine magazine (SAM) (100-year anniversary) in preparing this reflection. In that magazine are familiar faces, and “voices” from decades of resolute volunteers. I am impressed by the concern to not only stay on the right track but keep moving in the right direction. A consistent aspiration is to supply useful practice information to improve the health of the citizens of Bexar County. Thousands of wonderful doctors and their families have contributed to SAM and sharing of essential information. Over the past century SAM has documented the Spanish flu (treated by masking, distancing and hand washing) to COVID treatment with anti-viral medications and mRNA vaccines, wound care before and after the advent of antibiotics, and inherited disease and the advent of gene therapy which promises profound changes by replacing inherited DNA segments with new gene editing techniques. Contributors have written about the development of new anesthesia techniques and robotic surgery, new non-invasive diagnostic techniques, the growing recognition of cancer to a time of research into cancer cell biology with the promise of malignant cell extinction, the AIDS epidemic, the birth and growth of two medical campuses and an ever-changing and enlarging healthcare facility and practice landscape. The Bexar County Medical Society has moved from French Place to Highway 1604 and will continue to be vigilant to the business and practice of medicine in years to come. Its members will continue to write of their past and present, and to predict their future.

Controversies arise periodically and the board and committee with the guidance of the CEO and COO thread the needle and try to stay topical, current and factual. Not all articles will be a good fit. If you feel there is information you would like to consider or directions you would like us to take, please share with us in letters to the editor. Our goal is to support your practices both in the science and business of medicine

so that you successfully care for your patients. Our student contributors often bring fresh ideas to the magazine in art, poetry or other creative work. They help us to understand what Medicine looks like from their perspective. We have a web presence under the publication tab to the right on the entry page to BCMS.org. There you will find ways to contact us, upcoming themes, past journals and articles.

We hope our themes and articles are of value to our readers and we always welcome your thoughts either in letters to the editor or articles given for publication. All of you have a challenge deciding what most warrants your attention and time. Whether you pick up a copy in the doctor’s lounge between patient encounters or read SAM magazine sent to your home or office, we appreciate your direction and suggestions. We review themes and develop a tentative list for the coming year well in advance. At monthly meetings, the committee members edit and review articles in detail slated for the next magazine six weeks before publication. In addition, the committee membership reviews the future four to six editions for suggested content and contributors. Our staff regularly consults with the Texas Medical Association (TMA), community members, medical groups and sponsors to recommend a particular author or topic. Over the past two years we have all been in the thrall of the COVID pandemic and it will be a topic as well as a cause of suffering for years to come. The society magazine has responded with prompt articles, reminders from the TMA and critical information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Legislative updates, end of year reviews, wide ranging topics from Veteran and Military Medicine to issues of Primary Care and Specialty Physicians, board information, the President’s message, Public Health, Alliance information, book reviews and automotive insights are regular features.

Our goals are to be of value to our membership, listen to the voices of young authors, serve all Bexar County populations and communities, distribute information for improvement of the health of all Bexar citizens and communicate issues of greatest interest to our membership. Let us know how you think we are doing with a letter to the editor. I promise we will carefully consider all submissions and all issues raised. My thanks and gratitude to you for your lifelong learning and dedication to the profession to which we are committed.

John J. Seidenfeld, MD is the Chair of the BCMS Publications Committee.