Forging Ahead

Editorial Forging Ahead 'All I know,' wrote Seamus Heaney, 'is a door into the dark 1 .' Me too. The world of radiology is figuratively and perhaps, on occasion, literally just that. Our game is the image, not the written word. Pretty pictures. Yet, now we increasingly find ourselves integral to the medical paradigm. This, clearly, is no reflection on us, but underpins the requirement, primacy, and accessibility of the increasingly dazzling image for so much of what we do. If that picture paints a thousand words, and I find myself at this helm, perhaps, paraphrasing, the least that I can do is to make those words and pictures rhyme 2. Patrick Morrison assured me that the editorial process was so smooth a timepiece that it would be the work of a few moments to maintain its bejewelled movements. Well, certainly, the indefatigable Mrs Marie Murphy in the UMJ office provides stellar advice and wise counsel. It quickly became evident, however, that the smooth editorial process resulted largely from Patrick's diligent hand being ever present on the tiller, carefully, quietly, meticulously working: 'the unpredictable fantail of sparks 1 ' in the editorial office, forging resolutely ahead. On behalf of the editorial board, I would like to thank Professor Morrison for his consummate professionalism and diligence towards the Journal. In addition, I owe him a huge personal debt for his unfailing patience and courtesy to me, often in the face of my significant provocation. This is one of the last Medical Schools in these islands with an associated Journal. Part of my job description therefore has to include not breaking it! Continuing Medical Education is, I would contend, a good thing (and in both upper and lower case characters). Professor Ian Roddie, Dunville Professor of Physiology, in 1971 considered the lot of the mature practitioner. 'Returning to Physiology after some years is like going back to a city after a long absence 3 .' Ideas change. Science evolves. To me it seemed that medical specialties, like that road in the yellow wood, have diverged. Some, like mine, have become instantly accessible: one thinks of 4D obstetric ultrasound, or brain MR imaging. Others though, have contracted into a cloistered world, thinly inhabited by its expert practitioners. In some arenas, the concepts have become so intricate, and the lexicon so rarefied, that it remains inaccessible to the generalist. So, in the spirit of …