This editor profile is the ninth in a series which will introduce you to a selection of our editors.
This week we have an interview with Dr. Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, Editor-in-Chief of Best Practice & Research in Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology.

What aspect of being an editor do you find most rewarding?
Making sure that the practitioners have good knowledge about the subject as it evolves, so they can further increase care for their patients.  With the Best Practice series, where we select a topic to focus on, people write to me after and tell me how it has helped them to change their practice. 

What would you change about your role as editor or the scientific journal publishing industry if you could?
The only thing would be to see how accessible journals are for various people.  For instance, the Best Practice series is produced in English and there are a lot of practitioners, in countries like Japan, that don’t speak English.  Accessibility of the materials is really important. In certain areas like Africa and India, they can’t afford to buy the literature.  How do we get the knowledge there without cost or language restrictions? 

How do you balance your role as editor with your other roles?
It takes extra time; you need to spend the weekends and evenings working.  I travel a lot, so I take the transcripts with me and, instead of watching the movie, I’m reading papers.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I had what I call evolving ambitions. Initially I wanted to be a pilot, then a doctor, then a GP and, ultimately, an obstetrician. Children are attracted to jobs with uniforms.  As you approach university, you realize there are more jobs and things to do.

Why did you choose medicine as your field of study?
I got to know some students who went to medical school. Hearing about their work really interested me, the science aspect, but also the need to be a good communicator. I was attracted to the idea of spending my time with patients and trying to figure out what could be done. An important part of being a good physician is being a good listener. 

Tell me about collaboration. What is the secret to success?
I had a lot of collaboration in my early days with doctors from Sweden. They would come to Singapore, where I used to work, and we would bring our ideas to the table to see how we could work together. To collaborate well, you need to be prepared to travel and meet people.

What gets you up in the morning?
I just get up on my own at 5:15, there seems to be a clock in my head.  I often work until midnight, there’s always so much work and I have to prioritize. I supervise a number of junior doctors and I need to spend time motivating them.  They stimulate me by asking questions and they want the answers so they can get better at what they’re doing. 

What is the biggest lesson you've learned in your career?
The biggest lesson is that success comes with hard work. People talk about luck, but you produce that by working hard.  It means you have to sacrifice the usual pleasures that others enjoy.

What is your biggest achievement?
I have contributed to our specialty in a number of ways. I enjoy my role as Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St. George’s College, London. I was the secretary General of the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and I’m now the President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK; a college that produces a lot of leading materials and programs relating to women’s healthcare. It sets standards of practice in all hospitals and I am proud to be leading this organization.   It is nice to be acknowledged in this way by my peers and to do good work in this specialty.

What is your favorite quote?
There are several, of course.  One simple one might be: “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.” It is from one of the Hindu philosophers, Chinmayananda.

What are you currently reading?  Would you recommend it?  If so, why?
There’s an interesting book written by Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister, called Courage: Eight Portraits. Essentially, he’s portraying eight leaders who have gone out of their way to do things differently, like Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.  They took the majority view and worked against the odds for the betterment of all people.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
Hindu philosophy, specifically the Bhagavadgitha. It’s a story about a king fighting against his own brothers for the sake of good.  They are having a discussion on the battlefield.  It’s full of quotes about how to live a good life, not to regret what you are doing and to do what is best for the good of others. I normally have a CD of it in my car, or when I travel.

What would you like your legacy to be?
That I contributed to the field, at least in a small way. To improve women’s health is my chosen vocation. I like to think that I contributed through my scientific research, writing papers, editing and in my clinical work. 

What do you like to do for fun?
I like to meet with my friends and talk about issues in life.  We only meet three or four times a year, but we’ve been getting together for decades.  We talk about how things are in our personal lives and the world around us.  In my extra time, I like to travel and explore new cultures, to see how people in other places live now and what their history was before.