Dr Abdulrazak Abyad
Chief Editor

This issue of the journal is rich with various papers from the region. In a paper from Turkey the authors compared ECG Interpretation Skills of Family Physicians with Internists and Untrained Physicians. Although some groups achieved better in ECG interpretation, and family physicians are in an intermediate place of the spectrum, average scores of all groups are below acceptable levels. In conclusion there is a need to improve the ECG interpretation skills of medical undergraduates.

A study from Dubai reports on the efficacy of chlorhexidine mouthwash as an oral antiseptic. This was in vivo study that demonstrated a reduction in bacterial colonies in patients using chlorhexidine. The authors concluded that the use of this agent may be recommended routinely as a preprocedural protocol prior to performing any dental or oropharyngeal procedures and also may be effectively prescribed as an adjunct to other conventional therapies for oral, oropharyngeal, and upper respiratory tract infections.

In a well-designed study Dr Al-Khtoum et al, reported on the correlation of Rhinosinusitis with Bronchial Asthma. In one hundred cases of bronchial asthma patients studied, 58 (58%) of patients had symptoms and signs suggestive of sinusitis, whereas CT scan detected sinusitis in 78 (78%) patients. In conclusion, the association of sinusitis and asthma seems to be more than an epiphenomenon. All asthmatics need to be examined for evidence of sinusitis preferably by CT scan.

The importance of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Training in Medical Schools was discussed in a paper from Turkey. The authors stressed the importance of complementary medicine. The study revealed that half of the residents and Professors agree that it should be taught.

Facial pain, is a common clinical condition, usually missed by clinicians as a psychosomatic disorder. A series of twenty patients were reported from the Royal Medical Services of the Jordanian Armed Forces. Myofacial pain dysfunction syndrome is a psychosomatic disorder that lacks any criteria to be considered as an organic disease and so our management should be based on this fact.

A paper on the methods of management in hospital of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences discussed the development of a suitable pattern. The author stressed the importance that hospital managers utilise confirmed theories of leadership styles to improve the services offered to patients. Improving the quality of leadership could, therefore, have a direct effect on job satisfaction of the personnel, leading to increased quality of services offered to patients. The findings of this study point to the requirement for new management courses for health-and- treatment- service- related fields, hence training of well-organized managers.

I would like to thank the editorial board and the reviewers for their efforts in making this year a successful one. I would like as well to thank the production team headed by Ms. Lesley Pocock, for an excellent job and tremendous support. This year was a big jump for the journal and I would like to mention that we accepted some articles during the year, that may not necessarily meet the required standards, to encourage and support research and clinical review in the region. I would like to mention as well that the award for MEJFM Family Doctor of the Year will be announced in the First Annual Primary Care Conference in Abu Dhabi, in January 2006.