Introduction

Abstract

The reports presented in this issue provide a glimpse at the breadth of issues medical educators face today, and the creative ways they are tackling the issues across the continuum of medical education. Because “Really Good Stuff” (RGS) represents medical schools throughout the world, it offers a snapshot of the universal nature of the problems faced by medical educators. The reports in this issue range from community outreach in the Amazon to the use of art and writing to understand chronic pain in patients in the United Kingdom. In fact, there were so many contributions that dealt with the application of the arts and humanities in medical education that I created a category in this issue for these reports. One of the challenges we face as editors of the section is to define the kinds of reports to include in “Really Good Stuff”. The number of submissions to the section remains high and the goal is to provide readers with the highest quality and most useful reports submitted. The reviewers serve a critical role in helping me and Kevin Eva decide which of the many good reports truly represent “really good stuff”. Two of the most common concerns raised in the reviews for the reports submitted this time were 1) a lack of detail to help understand what is being presented; and 2) a lack of support for a variety of statements made in the reports. The word limit presents a challenge to authors to provide enough detail in as few words as possible but as you read through the reports presented here, please note how the authors of the accepted reports have provided important details to help you understand their intent. I ask you to read through the reports selected for publication in this issue and consider what you are doing that you want the world to know about. Remember, the really good stuff cannot have been in place for more than 3 years and we are interested in things that have worked, as well as promising initiatives that were not successful. Kieran Walsh poses a question in his thought provoking letter in this issue of Medical Education1– are we just too positive in medical education? I hope you will read Dr. Walsh’s letter and give some thought to exposing the really good stuff that turned out to be not so good after all. As RGS continues to evolve, we hope it will continue to better meet your needs. Let us know what you think about “Really Good Stuff” and ideas you have for improving this feature in Medical Education. Most of all, submit your own really good stuff (and the things that did not work as you planned) for review and consideration. (Deadlines for the section are: November 1 for the following May issue and May 1 for the following November issue).