[The (Belgian) Journal of Medicine]

During the second half of the 19th century, a growing tendency developed in the Flemish intellectual circles to promote the use of their own language for the cultural, social and scientific development of Flanders. The emergence of a Dutch-language medical press formed an integral part of this movement. The attempt to regularly supply physicians in Flanders with scientific information on medical progress in their own language only succeeded in 1910 with the first issue of the "Geneeskundig Tijdschrift voor België" (Belgian Medical Journal). This journal became increasingly successful, but its edition was interrupted in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I. In 1920, the aim of this publication was pursued by the "Vlaamsch Geneeskundig Tijdschrift" (Flemish Medical Journal) which was published without interruption until the end of World War II (1944). These two journals not only accomplished a task of disseminating scientific information; they also played an important role in the struggle for the recognition of the Dutch language in academic education which led to Dutch becoming first partially (1923) and then completely (1930) the instructional language at Ghent University. That same struggle resulted also in the creation of the "Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie voor Geneeskunde" (Royal Flemish Academy of Medicine) in 1938. The actual "Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde" (Medical Journal) that was launched shortly (1945) after World War II, took over the assignment of providing scientific information. Throughout its existence, the journal was backed by colleagues of the Faculties of Medicine of the Flemish universities and the various sections of the medical profession. As a result, in the fifty-six years of its existence the journal has grown into a permanent value in the field of medical information and continuing education of physicians in Flanders. On the threshold of the 21st century, the "Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde" will have to take up the challenge to further closely follow the extremely fast advances in medical science and also in our society. It will have to make sustained efforts to continuously adapt itself to new circumstances in order to contribute in a correct way to a high-quality medicine in our community.