From the Editor-in-Chief

Dear Colleagues,

     It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Journal of Emergency Medicine, Trauma and Acute
Care (JEMTAC), which is the new name for the MEJEM. Along with the new name, and new
look, we are expanding the scope of the journal to focus not just on Emergency Medicine but
also on the disciplines of trauma and acute care, which so much of the time involve, or follow-on
from, Emergency Medicine. Along with our new look, we are also welcoming a revised Editorial
Board for the Journal. We have given our new Board members the task of being actively involved
with the standards and quality of the journal and it is our firm expectation that you will see some
excellent issues in the months to come.

     Our thanks and appreciation go to the Editorial Board of the MEJEM who did a wonderful job
over the last seven years in getting it established and recognised as a Journal of excellence.

    Another change that you will see from this issue is that our publication quota has increased
from twice a year to three times a year. So, you will no longer have to wait six months for the next issue, it will be with you in half the time!

    Talking about changes reminds me that I have some more exciting news for you. As many of
you will be aware, for the last four years we have held in Qatar a Medical Congress which has been extremely well supported in the Region, with participants growing from around 1,000 initially toalmost 3,000 in February this year.

    Well, we are using our experience to host the biggest medical congress and exhibition that
will ever have been held in Qatar, in December 2009. The Congress will be held from the 12th to
the 16th of December 2009 and will be made up of eleven separate disciplines, from Emergency
Medicine, Paediatrics, Surgery, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Rehabilitation, Radiology, Laboratory,Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Trauma and Disaster. In addition, there will also be a medicalexhibition running concurrently with the Congress with more than 400 exhibitors showing the latest in Hospital IT systems, medical equipment, pharmaceutical advances, rehabilitation aids and equipment, monitors, surgical instruments, dressings, etc. It will be an international event that you really don’t want to miss. Mark your diaries now and book your leave. Why not enjoy a few extra days to see more of Qatar at the same time and experience our famous hospitality?

    There will be lots of opportunities to book as we get nearer to the event. The JEMTAC will be
covering all the exciting preparations as well as information on who the Speakers are and how to
book. Look out for the first announcement with this issue and see also the back cover for more
information.

    I hope that you enjoy this first issue of the JEMTAC. My thanks to all the authors who have
contributed to making this an excellent start in what I hope will be a very successful journal, both regionally and internationally.

Sincerely,


    Dr. Abdul Wahab Al Mulseh,MD, FRCS (I), CABS
     Editor-in-Chief