Many of our readers have seen AFP grow from 12 issues a year to 16 issues a year and now 20 issues per year. With continued growth comes continued change, and with this issue comes yet another change: the frequency of our longstanding “Practical Therapeutics” series has been stepped up to match our faster pace. Instead of being coordinated by one medical faculty each year, the series will be coordinated by two different faculties, each with a goal of producing 10 articles per year.

On page 945 of this issue, you'll find the first in a series of “Practical Therapeutics” articles coordinated by Bryan F. Yeager, Pharm.D., Thomas Armsey, M.D., and Samuel C. Matheny, M.D., M.P.H., from the Department of Family Practice at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington. The series debuts with an article that they coauthored, “Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin in Outpatient Treatment of DVT.”

According to Dr. Matheny, chairman of the department, the series will highlight pharmacotherapeutic recommendations for certain chronic medical conditions seen in family practice. With several of the faculty's 15 members having joint appointments in the family practice department and pharmacy school, they are well situated to provide reviews integrating pharmacology and family practice. Upcoming articles will review the use of antidepressants and oral contraceptives, among other therapies.

In addition to its interests in pharmacotherapeutics, the department offers fellowships in public health and sports medicine and has a strong program in rural health. The department is also known for its accelerated residency program: they were the first to offer a program in which medical students start residency training during their fourth year. Since its establishment in 1973, the department has trained 140 residents. It currently has 24 in training. In three of the past five years, the department earned the Bronze Recognition Award through the AAFP's Family Practice Percentage Awards program that recognizes schools with the highest percentage of graduates entering family medicine residencies.

We thank this leading family practice department for its contributions, and we hope you will watch for these and other articles in the “Practical Therapeutics” series. Articles from the University of Kentucky will alternate with articles from the Department of Family Medicine at Wright State University School of Medicine, Dayton, Ohio.