MIT’s OpenCourseWare is an online catalog of course materials designed to help those who may never get a chance to enroll at school of MIT’s caliber. With free access to past class materials, students (and those who wish to become students again) gain access to past class syllabi, lectures, and more.
Technical communication in the medical and public health field is in high demand today, and in the Spring of 2007, MIT offered an undergraduate course for those who wanted to learn more – Introduction to Technical Communication: Perspectives on Medicine and Public Health. The courseware from that class is available for free through the MIT OpenCourseWare program (some textbooks require a purchase).
The course description reads:
(more…)
No matter what you may be paid as a technical writer, one thing is clear: technical writing is a valuable skill for the hiring company.
When a writer is able to lay out complicated information in a user-friendly way, not only are those using the information better served, but there are financial benefits as well.
Imagine having an outline for how one might follow a complicated procedure in a medical facility. With a technical document in place, there are clear understandings about what equipment is to be used, when it is to be used, and how it is to be used. If an entire medical system follows the directions, there is a reduced chance of wasted supplies and labor.
(more…)
The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t just make medications for patients to take. In order for physicians and patients to use these medications appropriately, the instructions for the medication need to be easy to read and easy to implement. With the proper medication notes, a patient can be accurately assessed to see if they’re the right fit for a treatment plan – or not.
In Burlingame, California, the Center for Professional Advancement is offering a course in technical writing for pharmaceutical and allied industries. This weekend course will help not only those dedicated only to medical technical writing, but also to those who are tasked with creating the medications.
(more…)
Medical writing can be the perfect second or supplementary career for nurses who don’t want to simply quit their job or retire.
While it certainly seems a nurse’s work is never done, some might want to use their skills in other careers. After all, you can’t lift patients out of beds forever. Once you’ve moved past a more physical nursing position, surely you can use other skills you’ve picked up along the way.
Not a Medical Mystery
Nurses have to chart the progress of patients as they care for them. In doing so, medical writing skills naturally develop:
- Command of medical terms – Nurses begin to pick up the nuances in medical terminology the more they use these terms in charts, reports, progress notes, etc. While they might have the basics down at the start of their training, the learning process continues as they move between positions in a hospital or clinic.
- Clarity of instructions – Since nurses’ notes need to be clear for others to read and use, writing clarity will improve. A nurse knows what they need to say for someone else to understand. They also understand the potential consequences for misinterpretation.
- Certain formatting rules/style guidelines – Every hospital and clinic may use a different set of writing guidelines, causing a nurse to learn several systems throughout the course of a career and to begin to see the limits and the advantages of those systems.
(more…)
Medical writers might not have the same training as a doctor or other medical professional, but this does not mean their writing isn’t important. In fact, the medical writer (or, more broadly, medical communicator) is a person who takes on other tasks that the doctors, scientists, and other medical professionals may not want to or be able to handle on their own.
Here are some of the types of tasks often performed by a medical communicator:
- Describe research results – according to the needs of the audience, which may include the public as well as health care professionals or scientists.
- Create documentation for product use – such as pharmaceuticals or medical devices, helping to educate the consumer or the medical professional on the safe and effective use of the product.
- Create regulatory documents for government agencies – such as new drug applications or FDA briefing documents.
- Write patient educational materials – including brochures, news articles, Web content, and books.
- Create sales training and marketing materials – for the pharmaceutical industry and other affiliated medical professions
A medical writer’s tasks and the standards that guide their deliverables can vary greatly depending on the audience and the extent to which those deliverables are subject to regulatory scrutiny. For example, many documents need to comply not only with what information must be conveyed, but in some cases with regulatory guidelines for formatting and structure of those documents.
While it’s true that many medical writers find themselves in the drug or biotech industries, medical communicators are important in a wide variety of settings, some calling for generalists and some for specialists.
Some people specialize in scientific writing and/or editing for medical professionals. Others work in medical marketing, advertising, or public relations, or in journalism, writing for a lay audience and/or medical professionals. Some communicators are freelances and work in one or more areas. Source: Where do medical communicators work?, American Medical Writers Association (AMWA)
Another career option? Fantastic. The world can always use a few more writers.
Need a medical writer? Whether you need contract or direct-hire, we can recommend one or more medical writers with the appropriate skills, experience, and location who can get the project done right and on time.
