Key of the Door, Never Been 21 Before

Abstract

In 2025, The Clinical Teacher (TCT) celebrates 21 years since its early beginnings. To mark the 20^th anniversary in 2024, we invited former editors to reflect upon their tenure about how the journal and its values evolved over time [1]. John Spencer took us back in time and explored how the topics and focus changed, revealing the start-up links with Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) [2]. Stephen Trumble focused on the identities of clinical educators and the need to keep speed with disruptive technologies in order to transform student learning experiences [3]. Jill Thistlethwaite revisited her first editorial in which she discussed coming of age and how she guided TCT through its tricky adolescence, highlighting interprofessional education, and the introduction of the Clinical Teacher's Toolbox [4]. Then, Aileen Barrett introduced a marked shift in how TCT supports not only clinical educators but also early career researchers in bringing their innovations to a global readership within a journal that ‘gives you a hug’ [5].

Collectively, the editorial insights revolved around the concept of age and how various editors have played a part in the journal finding its place [1-5]. And so to turning 21. A time for independence and fortitude, establishing TCT's place as a leading international journal for clinical educators and early career scholars. There are many exciting developments on the horizon as we seek to support and nurture the community. We are the home for innovation and practically focused educational research and look forward to hearing about your new approaches in the coming years. We also want to take the opportunity to highlight some upcoming features of the journal.

Firstly we have a special issue seeking papers on the patient/consumer voice. For this TCT special issue, we aim to showcase the numerous ways in which patients and healthcare consumers are involved actively in health professional education, including but not limited to curriculum design and development, sharing experiences and narratives, facilitating learning and assessment, and being involved in institutional decision making. Guest editors include Angela Towle, Jill Thistlethwaite and Carolyn Canfield representing academics and activists advancing the patient voice. We particularly welcome articles co-authored with patients and community members. Please see https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/1743498x/call-for-papers.

TCT is also taking part in a gender equity in healthcare special issue. We welcome submissions on all aspects of gender equity in healthcare and seek to explore the issues within a global context, across medical specialties, through diverse authorship, and a wide variety of perspectives. Topics may cover areas such as underrepresentation in medical leadership, underrepresentation in particular medical specialties, removing barriers and improving access, or removing gender bias in medical education and teaching practices.

The following virtual issues are now available to read: The Clinical Teacher's Qualitative Research Triptych Series is designed to help clinician educators build a more robust understanding of the nuances of qualitative research. This series has been curated and developed by world renowned Guest Editors Lara Varpio, Katherine Schultz and Abigail Konopasky alongside a stellar cast of established and emerging authors from across the globe. There are currently four Triptychs available covering the use of theory, equality diversity and inclusion, transferability and positionality; with more in development. For more information, see https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1743-498X.triptych-series.

The Integrated Care and Clinical Education virtual issue has been curated by guest editors Duncan Shrewsbury and Monica Moran to showcase discussion on how health professional educators, educational researchers, clinicians and students are preparing for practice in new governance and clinical practice environments driven by integrated care frameworks. For more information, see https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1743-498X.integrated-clinical.

A Games in Health Professions Education virtual issue has been compiled, showcasing publications from both official ASME journals (The Clinical Teacher and Medical Education) on the topics of developing, applying and/or evaluating the use of games or game elements. The content, put together by Sarah Edwards, Michael Cosmini, Teresa Chan and Mikaela Stiver, covers issues such as gamification, serious games, game-based learning and other types of games. For more information, see https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2923.Games-in-Health-Professions-Education.

Moreover, a virtual issue, collated by Gabrielle Finn, Charlotte Richardson, Alison Steven, Jane Greaves and Wai Yee Amy, aims to highlight the often hidden voices, influences and contributions to the field of health professions education. The issue draws on papers from The Clinical Teacher and Medical Education, which includes professions such as nursing, music therapy, physiotherapy, pharmacy, audiology and beyond. For more information, see https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/toc/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2923.hidden-voices-hidden-influences.

A reminder that our early career scholarship section remains open for submissions particularly for ‘research’ or ‘innovation, implementation, and improvement’ article types. We encourage submissions from those who are currently (or were in the last 12 months) enrolled in postgraduate education programmes (including a masters of health professions education or PhD in health professions education). If you are considering submitting work, please also work closely with your supervisor to enhance the quality prior to submission and throughout the revision process. Further details on how to develop ‘research’ or ‘innovation, implementation and improvement’ articles for this section can be found online: https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/1743498x/homepage/forauthors.html.

In 2025, TCT will move to a continuous publication model, which essentially means that readers and authors will be able to cite and locate accepted manuscripts into a current issue at a quicker pace. There is no early view backlog since content gets published directly into an issue. Articles will be published with eLocators instead of traditional page numbers. As editors, we continue to embrace technological advancements to prioritise quality and build a journal to give readers the insight, tips and data to transform educational experiences. To develop the community, in 2025, we have a new cohort of New Voices awardees joining to enhance their knowledge and skills in the peer review of journal articles. More awards and opportunities will be announced in due course. As always, please get in touch if you have any suggestions for how we can further develop the journal and provide easy access to the latest research, practice and thinking in clinical education across the health professions. Happy reading!

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.