The School of Medicine has just launched its new publication, the University of Navarra Journal for Medical Students. Dr Ana Patiño explains how this magazine will contribute to the research of the school and what can readers expect from it.

Why is the School of Medicine launching the Journal for Medical Students?
We are launching the University of Navarra Journal for Medical Students as the natural inheritance of the former "Revista de Medicina" (Medicine Magazine) that has been the official scientific journal of our institution for years. We wanted to shift from professionals to students to provide them with a platform to initiate research and publications.

What is the main goal of the Journal and which kind of content will readers find in it?
As I said, is to provide students, pre-docs, residents and young researchers in the area of human health with a useful platform to share their achievements in science and research. We are accepting original research papers, reviews, outstanding clinical cases, invited editorials and short communications or letters. The staff of the journal will be also accepting input about Apps, news, web sites, and any other interesting information that will find its place in our web.

How many issues do you expect to launch every year?
We will contribute with two issues per year, at least at the beginning. After that, and depending on the quantity of contributions, we will scale up! We hope to get to four per year in a couple of years.

Medical students are usually very busy. Do you think they will need an extra "boost" to get interested in this kind of publication?
As for my experience, we won´t need to encourage them. I mean, once one professional tries to publish in science, he/she never stops. It is very stimulating to see someone´s efforts expressed in the form of a research paper and available for anyone. In science we say that "research that is never published was never done". We want to encourage the mentors and directors- so that they can generously give the time, to guide and push- Please help us!

Finally, why it is so important that medicine and research come together?
Medicine and research is really the same thing. Curiosity not only killed the cat, but it created the wonderful and huge knowledge that we have today about ourselves, our health and our world diseases. Those who are not curious and researchers, better do another job. Research is not only pipetting, research is non-stop reading and caring about patients and the answers to questions that we do not have today but that we will have tomorrow.