While the first edition of the Neonatal manual was published in 1988 it was actually started in 1984 during my neonatology fellowship at University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington. The original writings that formed the basis of the book were fairly modest and started as a series of handouts designed to help students and residents get through and learn during their NICU rotation. These handouts included something called “On Call Problems” that became a central defining concept of the manual and have now have been reproduced in a wide number of specialties and publications.
Because of a complicated twin pregnancy during my fellowship in Lexington, I had to delay my training and finish my required neonatology fellowship time at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Therefore, the origins of this manual began at University of Kentucky while I was a fellow with Dr. Doug Cunningham’s program. However, the first edition writing portion was ultimately completed during my fellowship training in 1987 at Johns Hopkins University and working at the newly established Bayview campus NICU under Dr. Fabien Eyal. This has made the book somewhat unique since it was originally written from the perspective of two neonatology training programs, UK and Hopkins. Over the years this fact, along with the addition of other authors from around the United States and the world has helped to diversify our content and provide a more comprehensive view of the field.
Another exciting ongoing aspect of this manual has been its global reach. It is encouraging to witness the improvements in Neonatal care in many countries around the world. I have been priviledged to visit units across the US and around the world to witness first hand the practice of neonatology in all of these settings.As these improvements have taken place we have a growing number of readers from all over the world. Over the last several editions, we have incorporated an international editorial board. Some of the countries represented on our board include Poland, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Finland, Japan, India, Canada, and Australia. These physicians, along with our international contributors, help to make the manual a useful reference worldwide. To further demonstrate our international impact on the care of neonates the manual has been translated into 12 different languages over the last 25 years. These translations include Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Chinese (short and long form), Turkish, Greek, Yugoslavian (now Serbian), Italian, Hungarian, and Korean.
I would like to thank and acknowledge Drs. Doug Cunningham and Fabien Eyal, my valued mentors and longtime associate editors for their guidance. Dr. Cunningham has retired from his major role in the book and in his honor the 8th Edition was dedicated to his illustrious career in the filed of Neonatology. Dr. Fayez Bany-Mohammed, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Program Director of the Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellowship Program at the UC Irvine Medical Center is now Associate Editor for the 8th Edition.
My sincere gratitude to the numerous contributors to the current and past editions for their efforts on behalf of the manual. Although the leadership and editorial staff at our publisher, now called McGraw Hill Medical, has undergone many changes over the years, the company’s overall commitment to the book has remained strong. It is one of the popular aditions to their AccessMedicine.com site. It was a termendous honor to have the book officially renamed "Gomella's Neonatology" for the 8th edition. Lastly my sincere appreciation to our readership for their feedback that has made our book a widely used reference in the field.
Tricia Lacy Gomella, MD
UK College of Medicine 1981
UK Pediatrics 1984
UK Neonatology 1986
Johns Hopkins Neonatology 1987
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