Letter to the Editor Guidelines

The following guidelines cover submission of the compulsory task, Letter to the Editor as a formative assessment task.

PLEASE NOTE: WHILE SUBMISSION OF THIS TASK IS COMPULSORY, PUBLICATION IN THE QUARTERLY IS A SEPARATE ISSUE.

The Letter to the Editor of The Quarterly is the communication of comments, arguments, new information or calls for action, to an identified group of medical colleagues with an interest in health administration.

1. Select any article written in The Quarterlyin the past 24 months and write a Letter to the Editor in response to the issues that arise. The Letter will reflect the Candidate’s understanding of her/his role in relation to the competencies of medical expert, communicator, collaborator, health advocate, manager, professional and/or scholar e.g.
   1. The Candidate dis/agrees with the sentiments;
   2. The Candidate feels that there is evidence that was not mentioned and more could be said about a specific point in the article;
   3. The Candidate has had a similar experience in a different setting;
   4. The Candidate feels that more could be done about the issue.
2. Make a clear reference to the author, title and edition of The Quarterly.
3. Letter will be 300-350 words (Maximum 400).The word count must be indicated on the submission cover sheet.
4. Submit your Letter to the Editor with the FTP Assessment Task Cover Sheet completed and signed off by your Preceptor.
5. Feedback will be provided by senior RACMA Fellows as marks out of 100 points as follows:
   1. Relevance to the readers of The Quarterly (10)
   2. Analysis (20)
   3. Structure including logical sentence and paragraph structure, construction of argument and turn of phrase (20)
   4. Grammar, spelling, word limit (20)
   5. Appropriate referencing (10)
   6. Clear relationship to a competency (s) (20)
6. A recommendation for publication will also be provided:
   1. ‘Accept as is’
   2. ‘Accept with minor revisions’
   3. ‘Major revisions recommended’
   4. ‘Reject as a submission for a Letter to Editor of The Quarterly‘
7. If (i) or (ii) have been nominated, the Candidate will be invited to complete forms in relation to publicationThe Letter to the Editor is a compulsory formative assessment task in the Medical Management Practice Program (MMPP) for Candidates via Standard Pathway. A Candidate’s work previously submitted to The Quarterly will not be accepted unless it was first assessed by a College Censor.
8. Submit your Letter to the Editor via the eETP tool on the College web site. Your document should be in Word format and uploaded as an attachment with the FTP Assessment Coversheet which has been signed off by your Preceptor.
9. A Letter to the Editor submitted within 4 weeks of an edition of The Quarterly will be evaluated by the Editor and may be printed provided that it meets with the Letters to the Editor Guidelines written in that publication.
10. If your Letter to the Editor is found suitable for publication in The Quarterly, you will be invited to complete forms in relation to publication andyour name will be published at the bottom of your article. NOTE: No letter will be considered for publication unless your name and contact details are provided.
11. The Editor of The Quarterly has the discretion not to publish a letter. Letters which are heavily biased, defamatory, racist, sexist, will not be published nor will they be considered for marking Where there are several letters submitted, the Editor will strive for a balance of views where there is a range of opinion expressed. This is best achieved where there is volume of letters submitted. When few letters are received about a topic and such are published, the Editor makes no claim to support the opinion expressed.
12. Letters to the Editor may be reasonably edited for clarity, length, fairness or for ‘safety’.
13. If you don’t want your work edited, then ask that it be published in full, or not at all, at the time that you submit it for assessment.