Archives of Disease in Childhood (ADC) first published the Education and Practice (E&P) edition in June 2004. Since then, although it has remained a slim volume, the pages have expanded and the content has broadened. It’s now published six times a year, with a plan, over the next few years, to increase this to 12 times a year. It includes sections on radiology, dermatology, education, guidelines, the use of newer medications and how to use certain investigations, alongside sections which have been there since the start—best practice and problem solving in clinical practice.

But you knew most of this – at least, given that you’re reading this we assume that you belong to the 70% of our readership who tell us that they usually or always read E&P. So what’s new? Well, the first thing is to introduce a deputy editor. Until now the Editor in Chief of ADC, Howard Bauchner, has led the development of E&P. However, now that it is firmly established, he’s handing over the reigns to Ian Wacogne, a general paediatrician who has had roles at ADC including associate editorship and section editing interpretations in E&P.

The plan is to build on the solid foundation of E&P; to develop and improve the sections you like and to introduce other sections. We’re also planning to experiment with some new formats; for example, the excellent illuminations and dermatophile sections are well suited to a question and answer format using multiple choice questions or extended matching. We’re hoping to present some pictures to you and ask you to commit to an answer, before presenting you with the answers. We’ve had some debate about whether the answers should be over the page or whether we would tease you into the next edition; at first we’ll probably do the former, unless you tell us that you have no self-control. We’d also like to build this into a set of questions you can return to online. We hope at some point to link some of the outcomes of this to points that will be registerable with whichever organisation monitors your ongoing professional development – Continuing Professional Development points via the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the UK. Also coming soon will be new sections on evidence-based medicine and a series about research methods for the clinician who is engaging with the scientific literature.

This first epistle – so called because we were looking for a word which began with the letters E and P and was about writing – is in print, but subsequent ones ay appear in print or online. We’re going to launch a blog to which the deputy editor and others can contribute, keeping you up to date with what’s being written for the journal and what else you might find of interest to read. The word epistle is from the Greek, relating to something which has been sent and has acquired the English meaning of a communication or letter. We’d like to continue this communication through the pages of the journal and we’d welcome contributions, suggestions and (constructive) criticism. We’ve lots of ideas, but would welcome others. We hope you remain active owners of the journal and look forward to hearing what you think. Please feel free to email us at ian.wacogne{at}bch.nhs.uk.