Medical writing!  

Answering some basic questions: What? Who? How? Where?

As I think of topics to post on my blog, it occurs to me that the best way to start would to write on topics related to the blog & thereby have an understanding of it.

And then there is no stop since my pen starts writing as my minds speaks continuously; as though I speak in person to my colleague explaining my nature of work & the explanation.

These are the questions I wanted to be answered when I ventured first into it & got answered from varied sources. I wish it is of help to some who too are at present freshers stepping into it whether out of curiosity, interest or career decision.

MW- in India, it’s the buzz with all life science graduates especially the doctors in case of clinical research. May be that’s because doctors identify medical writing to their background of medicine? I don’t mean to say MW is all connected to CR. It’s absolutely not restricted to CR. This, I, found out only later. And I’m sure some would have made that out already. What I would like to point out in this post is peculiarly your (beginner’s) initial questions.

MW:

1.        What is it?

2.       Can I do it? The eligibility.

3.       How do I learn & pursue it? The technique.

4.      Any courses that will be useful? The hot shot teachers.

Medical writing: What is it?

·         First of all, it is simply a form of communication in English.

·         Next it is related to health, whether general (heath awareness, news, facts & tips) or specific (scientific, medical).

·         Persons interested & determined can do it! Are you one?

Let us consider that you are interested a human health related topic (scientific or non-scientific) on paper. The aim of writing such an article is that somebody is going to read it. The reader may differ, it could a person who understands the scientific complexity or who does not. In the same manner the simplicity of the write-up will differ. The trick lies in first understanding the topic yourself & trying to explain or say pass on the key message in the least words of simple understanding. I mean you don’t want somebody else trying to simplify your article!!    

So you are the connecter between those have researched, experimented, experienced some medical or health facts that they want to convey to their peers or the mass. So we could state that:

       Researcher/    —–MW—-   Reader

    doctor/scientist                 (Medico/Non-medico)

I hope to have put it in the simplest form. Of the different forms of medical writing, we will discuss in my future article.

Usually, articles aimed at people who understand this intricate medical science (usually doctors/peer researchers/research authorities/medical, pharmacological students, et al) the language may not be very easy to interpret & the use of research & medical terminology may be maintained.

On the contrary if the reader is a consumer and is curious to understand the general information of the human body’s physiology & pathology and the medical interventions available. The topics must be in words that would be understood without much difficulty without losing the mandatory message. Now this is the challenging phase!

Eligibility: How do I know I can do it?

The 3 important must haves: Science, English, Communication skill.

The above paragraphs boil down to the point that if you are someone who understands (it’s very important) the health/ medical facts n that you can very well & simply communicate to your respective audience… I think you win! So it is recommended by those who recruit you that you know science and can write well. It also pays to say that one better be good at spoken & written communication.

What should I do to get into this?

Work on your strengths!

To answer that question you need to know in prior what do we know, so that we learn what we don’t. Right?  So if you know science, learn the writing skill and on other hand if you are very good at expressing on the paper then learn some science!

What about science?

Does medical writing mean medicine as in medical colleges, doctors, pharmacology and all that? Not necessary! Yes you read it right. You must have made out that there is writing for websites, magazines, pharma companies, journals, medico-marketing to say the least. These are some of what I discovered. Of course they don’t end there. I am myself still to find out & dig into it more. And I promise keep all I find of concern to post it here right on MW. So do you think that you are interested in say some health related topic like yoga and health? And you go on to write on this topic after a decent R&D to a point that you are now ready to project that knowledge to everyone around you. Now don’t tell me, “next?” yes you are a medical writer.

Writing skills? What are they?

OK what do exactly mean by write well. See one can surely use flowery language to make an article look or sound good. But does it add any value if not then sorry no use.

·         Can you explain something to an audience in writing?

·         Can you be simple?

·         Can you keep up the message all through?

·         Can you get to the point?

There are a lot of tips that are spread on your ‘World Wide Web’ browser. Of course I’m not sure to have seen all them. Like some I found on daily writing tips, medical writer (a medical writing blog itself), and medical writing network. But I’d first like to stick to

§         Read the subject

§         Understand and contemplate over it

§         Start to write whatever you have understood from it

§         Think in terms of the audience. Can they understand this? Of what help is it to them?

§         You need not be right from the very start. You can correct later after the whole article is over. So you put down on paper all you think you would want to tell your reader.

§         After the above step is the start of correction. This is what is called proof-reading.

Formal training? Where can I learn?

When browsing I found the established ones as AMWA, EMWA, AIMWA and many more to name. May be I have not encountered many of them myself! In an attempt to do justice to it I leave this part to the established medical writers. Here also I wish to endorse that although formal training is of utmost value but it can wait. That’s how I think of it! I simply draw this from the fact that I myself into it without the training which I plan to pursue in near future. Does this fact help you in any way?

Bottom-line

Does that make MW simple to you? Now you can sit back from your comp & evaluate for yourself what are strength & weakness. I mean if you think that you know medicine or interested in spreading/conveying about health then work on the writing part. On the contrary if you think you can write well then start learning health- related topics. Of course I can’t tell you get yourself a 5 yr medical degree as in India but you can start by selecting a favorite topic n reading all that you can.

For those who still are thinking, “Will I be able to do it?” I just have one line to share with you (I geared up with this one)…

“The creator has not given you a longing to do that which you have no ability to do”

-Orrison Swett Marden.

Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work. And on being aware I surely do not want to be a part of it. So I affirm that all this understanding of this topic is through the sites AMWA, EMWA, Medical writer, Medical writing network, Daily writing tips and all those to whom conversed. I have surely not copy-pasted anything from any website (other than the meaning of plagiarism).