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Welcome to medical school. You got accepted. You've survived the first few days. You've even made it to opening the student BMJ . You should be proud of yourself.

The last thing you want to hear is how hard the next few years will be. Of course that is exactly what you will hear from students who have been there before you. Just as you begin to find your feet, someone will delight in telling you that the course is endless, the exams are impossible, you won't have a social life, and there are huge pressures on your bank balance.

But it doesn't end in tears for everyone. Medicine is undoubtably a challenge, medicine is also fascinating and opens doors for you that you didn't know existed.

As the only international journal for medical students, the student BMJ wants to reflect the whole experience of studying medicine. We have some pearls of wisdom to help you through the course, both from experienced doctors and from other students. Sometimes though, you won't want advice, you'll just want to know that someone else knows how you feel. Life, Letters and Soundings sections are almost exclusively written by medical students. It is reassuring to realise you aren't the only one who is broke, homesick, disillusioned, or loving medicine and fed up with everyone else moaning.

If there is one moan about the medical course that nearly every student seems to share, it is that much of the training seems irrelevant to the practice of medicine. "Studying medicine is like learning to drive a car from a text book," a friend who recently graduated complained. She said she'd learnt all the names of all the mechanical parts and how they functioned, but didn't know how it fitted together until she began her house jobs. Then she felt so unprepared, it was like taking a car for a spin with no experience of sitting behind a steering wheel. In the education section we try and prepare you by spelling out the basics of medicine, guide you through all the tricky things like taking blood and passing exams, and widen your horizons with articles on subjects like medical ethics.

Most of what you learn at medical school is relevant - eventually - but to deal with the volume of knowledge, it is broken down into manageable chunks. Because you learn subjects in isolation from each other it is easy to forget how they fit together. There will be times - probably as you try and master biochemical pathways at dawn - when you will ask yourself: "What is the point?" The student BMJ may not always provide the answer, but it is a reminder of a world out there, with editorials on topical issues, and a news section covering everything, from the politics of junior doctors hours to new advances in medicine.

That doesn't mean you have to know it all. In fact there is increasing recognition that doctors shouldn't rely on their memory, mostly because they are inaccurate and because technology can do much of the work for them. It is time to get computer literate. The student BMJ has its own web site at www.studentbmj.com and offers help for the uninitiated.(1 2) Each month we have a regular feature called Net.Philes that lists the best medical Internet sites around, as well as some just for fun.

And talking of fun: remember that a medical degree is only a part of your life. There is plenty of time to enjoy yourself, whatever other students would have you believe. That's why the Life section of the student journal is the most popular. Not only is it the place where we redress the balance between work and play. It is also where you can find out about some of the opportunities available, places to go for your elective, and in our Out There diary we list events you can go to all over the world. The Life section also covers a wide variety of career opportunities. Not only do we give you ideas, but also information on training, contacts and an insight into the ups and downs of each job.

We try and tailor the journal's contents specifically to your needs. The articles are chosen by medical students, there is a student editor, and over half of the material is written for or by medical students. If you live in Britain you can get the student BMJ for free by joining the BMJ's parent company, the British Medical Association (BMA). It provides a wide range of services, including a confidential stress counselling line. If you live abroad (as over 5000 of our readers do) you can subscribe directly. Contact telephone numbers and addresses are listed below.

Whatever your comments on our journal we want to hear from you. And if you find the financial pressures getting to you - why not write an article for the student BMJ and earn £100. Contact the student editor for information. I look forward to hearing from you.

References
1 Pallen M. Getting started on the Internet. student BMJ 1997;5:16-8.

2 Pallen M. The world wide web. student BMJ 1997;5:60-2.

Contacts
To join the BMA, contact your local BMA office, or simply phone for an application form, tel: 0171 383 6598

The BMA's confidential counselling service, tel: 0645 200 169.

If you live outside Britain and want to subscribe to the student BMJ directly call +44 (0)171 383 6398, fax +44 (0) 171 383 6118 or E-mail geetha@compuserve.com