Medical media moguls

UNSW students have launched an Australia-first academic journal offering a forum for medical students to showcase their research and share ideas.

The Australian Medical Student Journal (AMSJ) is a peer-reviewed academic publication that accepts submissions from all Australian medical students, as well as students studying related disciplines.

It is the first undertaking of its kind in Australia and is to be staffed entirely by medical students. It will be published in hard copy and online.

"The AMSJ will strive for the academic rigour and quality of a major academic journal, while seeking to publish content that's of particular appeal to medical students," said one of the journal's founders, third-year Medicine student Hassan Ahmad.

"It is based here at UNSW but will be accepting submissions from all over Australia and will be distributed country-wide," he said.

Hassan, along with fourth-year students Matt Schiller and Timothy Yang, conceived the idea in April and followed it up after realising no-one had attempted a student-driven medical journal before in Australia.

The trio has since worked with the help of the Faculty of Medicine and other groups to get the initiative off the ground.

"Once we realised that this had never been done before we jumped on it. It's a great opportunity for students to get involved and create a forum to publish their work. It serves as a great transition from university to professional academia," Hassan said.

Submissions are being sought for the inaugural issue, which is due to be published early next year. All original research articles, review articles, case reports, feature articles, book reviews, news and letters will be considered.

Submissions close on 1 November.

For more information go to the journal website

Media contact: Steve Offner | 02 9385 8107 | s.offner@unsw.edu.au