This is not the usual essay we run in "Perspective." But I wanted to take advantage of this space to wish a happy and healthy New Year to all of the readers of On Call and your families. I also want to ask you to help me keep a New Year's resolution - to include more of you in the pages of On Call. Now I have several ideas of how to do that, and I'm hoping you can come up with several more.
Let's start by talking about Perspective. This is space that's reserved for your narratives and your insights about the jobs you do. Over the years we've published essays from readers about topics ranging from confronting mortality and how it feels to experience the gratitude of a patient to remembering classmates and working abroad. These have been some of my favorite pieces to edit, and they always get response. The only problem is we don't get enough of them. So if you have a story you've always wanted to tell, I encourage you to write it down and send it. You will find the guidelines on how to submit in the Editor's Note at the end of this article.
Another way On Call can become more inclusive is for you to send us responses to the articles and columns we run. I'll make sure they get published in a readers' response section here on the site. If you like something you read here, please let us know. (Writers always like to hear that someone enjoyed their work.) And if something upset you, please let us know that. Or if we get something wrong (it happens) please help me out by sending a note that corrects it. Your response doesn't have to be long. It can be as short as a sentence. And if it happens to be too long, I can edit it so it fits the space. All you need to do is type your response in an email and send it to me at joesaling@bellsouth.net. Please indicate in the subject line that this is a response letter by typing the word "Response."
A large portion of the articles we've published over the years have come from readers' suggestions. That's another way you can be included. Let us know what you want to see. Is there some program at your work that you think others would like to know about? Let me know. Are there events coming up that you think we should cover? Is there something about your profession or about healthcare professionals in general you've always wanted to know more about? Let us know, and if we can, we'll do an article about it. Again, the address is joesaling@bellsouth.net. Type "Suggestion" in the subject line of your email.
Finally, I'm always looking for new writers for On Call who can tell a good story about the way healthcare is practiced. We like stories that tell us about the people involved and that help our readers enhance their professional life. So another way to get included is to actually write one of our features. If you think you'd like to try that (we pay writers for features), send me an email that briefly describes the article you want to write and that tells me why you think readers would enjoy it. Type "Article Proposal" in the subject line and send it to joesaling@bellsouth.net.
Now it's your turn. What else can I do to include more of you in On Call? Think about it and send me an email.
Editor's Note - From time to time, On Call publishes personal essays from its readers that offer a personal perspective on what it means to be a healthcare professional. You can submit an essay up to a thousand words in length (it can be a lot shorter too) for consideration by sending an e-mail with the essay attached to joesaling@bellsouth.net.
