I am very pleased that with this issue, the Journal begins a new feature that will highlight important management issues in any healthcare setting. Dr Ron Goodspeed, a member of the Journal's editorial board, has recently authored a book on the many management "survival" challenges confronting all healthcare professionals. He has generously allowed us to republish certain chapters from his just published book. In this and next approximately 10 issues of the journal we will be publishing 1 chapter from the book.

This issue of the Journal expands the ongoing coverage of differences and similarities between health systems. This time we focus on the United Kingdom and the United States. We are fortunate to have Professor Azeem Majeed, Chair of Community Medicine at Imperial College, London, who provides us with an excellent snapshot of ambulatory care services and management in the United Kingdom. There is a great deal of ferment and interesting developments that are occurring overseas and we are planning ongoing coverage of ambulatory care management issues in other parts of the world. Next up: Latin America.

We continue with our regular features including our column on Health and Human Rights, together with enlightening information from the Republic of Texas.

Norbert Goldfield, MD

Editor