A New Year

Dear Readers,      A new year, a new decade—where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday we were fretting over a potential meltdown at 12:01 am on January 1, 2000.      As we were driving home on New Year’s Day, my wife asked a startling question, “What have we accomplished in the past decade?” Like most, I go from day to day and think what’s happened is over with, so why dwell on it? The only time I think about the past is when someone requests an updated CV, but this time with a 12-hour drive in front of us, there was no escaping the question. We discussed family accomplishments and realized that seven of our nine grandchildren have been born in the past decade. As I started to think about the decade of medical events, I was overwhelmed at what has come my way. Our wound care practice has developed beyond my wildest imagination, I have been privileged to serve as Clinical Editor of this distinguished wound care journal, and was honored when I was asked to serve as President of the AAWC for the first 2 years of the new decade. The opportunity to share wound care information with people at home and around the world has been a truly unexpected dream. As I said, there is no reason to dwell on the past so now the question is: What are we going to do with the new decade? For some of us elder statesmen, we just hope to see the next decade, and if so, realize that it is a new decade! What do you want to accomplish in the next 10 years? I challenge you to spend a few minutes thinking about that question.      As wound care providers we must continually look for better wound care therapies for our patients. We must not be so egotistical to think that we have all the answers. Akio Morita expressed it best when he said, “If you go through life convinced that your way is always best, all the new ideas in the world will pass you by.” We cannot afford for new ideas to pass us by because truly, there has not been a major advancement in wound care therapy for several years. We have seen interesting new products on the market, but the majority of them are just new variations of old products. What we need is a “breakthrough” product or treatment. I know it is easy for me to say, but we must keep striving for the solution to chronic wounds. We must keep in mind that no matter how impressive the “breakthrough,” it must be easy to use, affordable, and sustainable. Gene therapy is thought to be the next “miracle technology” that will solve all our problems. Even if it is, will it be available and affordable to most patients?      Just as important as finding new, evidence-based technologies, we must be willing to shed the old, unproven ideas. You know as well as I do that most wound care practices are based on very old ideas. Dee Hock, founder and former CEO of Visa said, “The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out.” I certainly hope that the next decade will be the one when we finally put to rest many of the old, unproven wound care therapies and base our care on therapies that have evidence of efficacy.      As you think about the new decade, your goal may not be so grand as to solve the problem of chronic wounds or to provide wound care for all the under-served countries in the world. Start with your circle of friends or wound care center. What one thing could you do to improve the care you provide for your patients? What one small thing could you do to make their lives easier or better? Once you get an idea, act on it. Every journey starts with one little step. Once you start down that path, you never know where it will lead. It has led me to Africa and South America over the past decade-plus. I can hardly wait to see what the next decade will bring. E-mail Dr. Treadwell: woundseditor@hmpcommunications.com.