Medicine and the Arts (MATA) is a treasured feature of our journal Academic Medicine. MATA elevates a creative work and a companion commentary related to a range of issues and experiences in the field of academic medicine.  

MATA debuted in 1991, before journal content was published online. Now, more than 3 decades later, we are navigating an intricate landscape of copyright and permission requirements each time we agree to publish a MATA submission.  Often, we cannot obtain permission to include copyrighted works of art in our permanent online archive. Not only is this logistically burdensome, but it leaves our MATA feature incomplete online, which is where most people access content these days. In a 2023 AM Rounds post, we outlined some of these challenges related to our long-running MATA feature. 

To ensure that all our journal’s content is fully accessible to all readers regardless of the platform they use to read it, we have decided to take some time to reimagine the MATA feature. We will be pausing new MATA submissions until we can announce our plans for the future of MATA and provide updated guidance for our authors. All submissions currently accepted or under consideration will continue to move forward through the review and publication processes according to the current submission guidelines. 

We are grateful to all the authors and readers who have supported MATA over the years. As Academic Medicine approaches its 100th anniversary in 2026, we are excited to continue our journal’s dedication to the arts and humanities in academic medicine in a way that will be sustainable for the next 100 years!