The University of Santo Tomas launched the Journal of Medicine UST (JMUST), through the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (FMS) and the UST Hospital (USTH) last September 25, 2017. JMUST is now the official research publication of FMS and USTH.
According to the JMUST website, the journal is “dedicated to provide healthcare practitioners with the best and most updated information in health science research and education. Its mission is to assist healthcare practitioners through education, in delivering the best care to their patients.”
In her message for the maiden issue of JMUST, FMS dean Maria Lourdes Domingo-Maglinao, MD, MHPED made reference to the mythical bird “phoenix,” which was cyclically regenerated or reborn. Maglinao used this as an analogy for the arrival of JMUST, which is a reinvention of the old “Santo Tomas Journal of Medicine,” which ended publication in 2005. Maglinao said JMUST serves as a new tool for the “timely dissemination and assimilation of research-based discoveries shall continue the tradition of excellence in medical education and research our beloved Alma Mater has been long regarded for.”
From STJM to JMUST
For his part, editor-in-chief Dr. Raymond Rosales, MD, PhD said that “JMUST’s point of differentiation is its plan to engender much needed and timely robust research collaboration between Philippine and international scientific communities for the purpose of publishing for a global audience. The JMUST editorial team will wholeheartedly support efforts to conduct workshops on research methodology and guidelines to encourage this scientific research collaboration leading to publication.”
JMUST, Maglinao said, “has been the dream of our immediate Past Dean, Professor Jesus V. Valencia, MD, MHPEd who laid down the seminal foundation that paved the way for the eventual return of this respected resource in Philippine science and medical research. His support provided the impetus for the rebirth of this important publication.”
The maiden issue
For our maiden issue of JMUST, the editorial board presented a wide range of significant research into the fore: two review articles on topics of social medicine and clinical science; four qualitative papers; two quantitative papers; one mixed qualitative and quantitative paper; two case reports and one research proposal.
Comprising the editorial board are the following: Prof. Raymond L. Rosales, MD, PhD (Editor-in-Chief); Prof. Leilani M. Asis, MD, PhD, MPH and Prof. Maria Minerva P. Calimag, MD, MSc, PhD (Assistant Editors); seventeen medical doctors / researchers serving as editorial board members; Prof. Edgar Lerma, Prof. Cecile L. Fernandez, and Prof. Hubert H. Fernandez (International Editorial Board Members); and Erick S. Mendoza, MD and Rozelle Jade S. Javier, MD (Copy Editors). Comprising the Advisory Board are FMS Dean Maglinao, FMS Regent Fr. Angel A. Aparicio, O.P., USTH CEO Fr. Manuel F. Roux, O.P., and USTH Medical Director Eduardo Vicente S. Caguioa, MD.
Moving forward
Rosales said that “for a start, we plan to publish two issues per year and have the opportunity to enter another venue of recognition – the WPRIM (Western Pacific Index Medicus). We are in the process of submitting requirements to National Journal Selection Committee for regional accreditation, under auspices of the DOST-PCHRD and WHO.”
The new journal “accepts for contribution qualitative and quantitative original research papers, review articles, commentaries, letters to editor, researches on medical education, and approved research proposals.”
