Re: GI endoscopy

I would like to respond to the article “GI endoscopy in rural communities: Experience of a rural family physician in British Columbia” (BCMJ 2009;50[6]:300-303).

I am a family physician and the author of the cited 1997 articles describing my initial experience in esophagoduodenoscopy and colonoscopy. Since then I have successfully performed many thousands more procedures as well as newer procedures such as pill endoscopy and ambulatory esophageal pH monitoring capsule (Bravo) placement. Though I practise in Georgia, I was trained in Edmonton, Alberta.

I would just say that I applaud the practice of endoscopy by well-trained family physicians in Canada and hope that Canadian doctors continue to encourage this kind of practice.

—Richard Pierzchajlo, MD 
Tifton, Georgia

Richard Pierzchajlo, MD,. Re: GI endoscopy. BCMJ, Vol. 51, No. 8, October, 2009, Page(s) 354 - Letters.



Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

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