I wrote a check this week. I do it yearly; this time, $169, for my annual subscription renewal to the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Writing this check reminds me of my dad… he started me on this tradition.
During the autumn of my senior year in medical school I was approaching my 25th birthday (1978) and my father asked if there was anything I “needed” for my birthday. My initial list was met with his comment that I didn’t need the items requested (new car, new stereo system, my own pair of new snow skis.) He was correct – I just wanted them. I then altered my approach, and told him that I really could use a subscription to the NEJM. After he heard my rationale, he started me off with my first issues: a 3 year subscription, at student rates, which I have renewed religiously… this will be my 35th year!
I love reading it. Filled with op-ed pieces on health care or global health issues, landmark original articles, review articles and of course the weekly mysterious clinicopathological conference (CPC) cases, it provides me an hour of broad medical education amidst the usual hectic work week. I recommend it to all physicians, and especially to all surgeons. I can’t tell you how much I have learned from this amazing journal on a year to year basis.
A very belated thanks to my now departed father, for starting me on this weekly tradition.
P.S. The NEJM is celebrating its 200th birthday this year.
Recommended Citation
Yeo, MD, FACS, Charles J.
(2012)
"Reflection: A Long Lasting Birthday Present,"
Jefferson Surgical Solutions: Vol. 7:
Iss.
2, Article 3.
Available at:
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jss/vol7/iss2/3