And a year later… a new role in my life

Raquel Moreira
Editorial Office
armoreira@fm.ul.pt

About a year and a half ago I accompanied, albeit at a distance, the start of a new project being undertaken by a group of colleagues at my faculty. The several meetings with the faculty secretary, which I attended, allowed me to see the enthusiasm with which this team defined the lined and strategies for that which would later become a project that I also see as being mine.

After many ideas and a great deal of work, News@FMUL was born, and with the exceptional support of our Dean, this newsletter became a serious proposal: a clear backing for the image of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, and mainly a backing of ourselves, the Editorial Team. Each member had a clearly defined role, and together over the year we managed to put 10 issues out. I have to confess that it was really hard work, but it had rewards.

On this first anniversary the team invited me to carry out a different role: that of Information Manager, thus replacing our colleague Susana Leal, who has put so much effort and dedication into guiding this process. I was surprised to be given this challenge, and I am extremely curious and expectant at the beginning of this new stage in my professional and personal life. I am pleased that both of them come together, and I feel that as each day goes by I will learn new things and feel more fulfilled.

In professional terms I recognize that this will be one more step on the way to success, but I am confident, because those who are accompanying me are extremely competent and Professional, and thus I feel that together we will deliver the goods on a monthly basis.

One thing I have to say: Congratulations all and to the Editorial Team! And Many Happy Returns…

My Expectations after the Invitation to be a Member of the Editorial Team

Miguel Andrade
Institute of Introduction to Medicine | Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon | Avª Prof. Egas Moniz 1649-028 Lisboa
Telephone: 21 798 51 75 | Fax: 21 798 51 92 | Internal Extension: 44542
e-mail: mandrade@fm.ul.pt 

When I was invited to become a member of the editorial team of NEWS@FMUL it came as a complete surprise.

Despite the initial impact (not having recovered from the many sensations one feels when going through such a thing), the decision to accept such an invitation needed deep reflection.

The challenge is inviting and motivating, but on the other hand it demands some “sacrifices in terms of effort, planning and personal organisation.

But what, in our lives, does not demand some commitment?

The obvious returns on this come from the satisfaction of being able to participate in an exciting project and to work as a member of a multidisciplinary team in which there is a good atmosphere and where creativity thrives.

Then there is also my old fascination for communication, now liked to the desire to share and learn. Missing out on an opportunity to try out another aspect of the new information and communication Technologies, or letting go an experience in “social communication” (albeit a very superficial one) would be, without any shadow of a doubt, a waste of a great possibility to develop.

It is also important to stress this indiscrete aspiration of being able to visit, at least once, the other side – the backstage of the publication – a world which the reader may often imagine, but which is usually closed off to them due to the natural order of things.

Insignificant aspects like this one are without any doubt an important catalyst for one to overcome any adversities, particularly the most obvious ones.

Neither the weight of responsibility nor the anguish that goes with initial adapting to something new can shake this moment of seduction.

Any mass communication organ, but a newsletter in particular, doubtlessly provides fertile ground for us to test our own abilities even in relation to ourselves.

Whatever happens, there is a statement that always comes to my mind at these times: “The greatest victory is that over ourselves” (from the Dhammapada Buddhist text in the Pãli or Tripitaka Canon).