Write Medicine

If you are a Write Medicine listener and are tuning into our First Friday Feature, you are likely a medical writer who is curious about medical writing in the specialized world of CME and I think you'll enjoy this conversation with Dr. David Mendes, who shares insights from his journey transitioning out of academia and into a career in medical writing. 

David completed his PhD in neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal. During his graduate studies, he realized that landing a professorship was unlikely, so he started exploring alternative careers. After finishing his PhD, he secured his first role as a medical writer at an agency and has since worked as a freelance medical writer and translator. In today's episode, David reflects on the skills he developed during his PhD that helped him move into medical writing. 

Key Takeaways:

Time Stamps:

(4:21) - Introducing David

(09:55) - David’s transition from academia to teaching writing and how that informs the work that he does

(15:16) - The prevalence of failure discourse for academics transitioning in or out of a PhD program

(19:51) - What helped David find work that works for him outside an academic context

(24:31) - Evaluating skillset for a transition into medical writing

(31:00) - Key skills to help successfully transition from academia into something else

(40:50) - His actionable advice for PhD students considering alternative career paths

(47:33) - Where to connect with David

Click Here for the Transcript

About David

In 2019, David started a podcast called Beyond the Thesis, where he interviews PhDs about the fulfilling careers they have built outside of academia. Through these conversations, David aims to inspire current graduate students to start exploring non-academic career options much earlier in their studies.

Website and podcast Beyond the Thesis

LinkedIn

About Write Medicine

Hosted by Alexandra Howson PhD, CHCP

Produced by Golden Goose Creative

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Mentioned in this episode:

Fall Back to School Sale

We're running a back-to-school sale September 2 through 12. Standalone CME writing toolkits, business kits, and quarterly WriteCME Pro membership — all at the best pricing we've offered this year. Everything's at www.alexhowson.com. Link's in the show notes.

Plain language is a communication style that aims to simplify complex information and make it more accessible to a wider audience. It involves using clear, concise, and jargon-free language to convey information in a way that is easily understood by the intended audience. The goal of plain language is to eliminate confusion, improve comprehension, and enhance communication between the sender and receiver.

In this episode, I speak with Ahava Leibtag, an expert in plain language and digital content strategy. Ahava is a 2020 inductee into the Healthcare Internet Hall of Fame as an Innovative Individual and has 20+ years of experience in content development. She is the president and owner of Aha Media Group, LLC, a copywriting, content strategy and content marketing consultancy. She is also the author of The Digital Crown: Winning at Content on the Web.

Today we're talking strategies for writing clear, understandable content for online education and digital platforms. 

Key Takeaways

Timestamps

(3:13) - Introducing Ahava

(7:50) - Definition and importance of plain language

(13:00) - Introduction to her Building Blocks: What they are and how they work

(18:32) - Ahava's perspective on all writing is rewriting

(22:56) - Simplifying digital content

(33:14) - How to still have authority and expertise with simplicity

(37:27) - Where to connect with Ahava

Resources

Free ebook. How to Write About Complex, How to Write About Sensitive and Difficult Topics

American Medical Writers Association Plain Language Checklist. 

Connect with Ahava

Aha Media Group

LinkedIn

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Mentioned in this episode:

Fall Back to School Sale

We're running a back-to-school sale September 2 through 12. Standalone CME writing toolkits, business kits, and quarterly WriteCME Pro membership — all at the best pricing we've offered this year. Everything's at www.alexhowson.com. Link's in the show notes.

As we know, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many in-person events to go virtual. While platforms like Zoom made the transition possible, “Zoom fatigue” quickly set in. Audiences have tuned out of long presentations and passive learning formats that are also typical of in-person conferences. 

To combat Zoom fatigue, virtual event organizers need to completely rethink their approach. So to get some ideas on how to do this, I spoke with Chris Elmitt, an expert facilitator and CEO of the virtual event platform Livve, to get his tips on engaging audiences in the virtual environment.

As Chris notes, virtual platforms also have their limitations. “It’s more boring being in a virtual meeting than in a face-to-face meeting,” he says. With less social pressure to remain focused, audiences can easily check out. To keep audience attention, break content into smaller chunks, limit speaker monologues to 9 minutes maximum, and structure overall sessions to 30 minutes or less.

Key Takeaways:

Connect with Chris

LinkedIn

Livve

e: [email protected]

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Mentioned in this episode:

Fall Back to School Sale

We're running a back-to-school sale September 2 through 12. Standalone CME writing toolkits, business kits, and quarterly WriteCME Pro membership — all at the best pricing we've offered this year. Everything's at www.alexhowson.com. Link's in the show notes.

In today’s episode, I speak with nurse educator Martha Johnson MSN, RN, CEN, otherwise known as Breakout RN, about using active learning strategies to engage nursing students for whom it is also often challenging to connect theory to bedside practice, especially in the context of unique patient scenarios. As a new educator, Martha's first theory course was PowerPoint-heavy with a scripted lecture.  She started BreakoutRN to develop a learner-centered model and saw firsthand the improvements in student engagement and their ability to apply what they were learning to a clinical scenario. She encourages all nurse educators to embrace active learning while emphasizing that you don’t have to do it all at once, just take it one activity at a time.  

Key Takeaways:

1. Active Learning: Martha emphasizes that traditional lectures are not enough. Active learning strategies like escape rooms and card decks engage learners mentally, physically, and emotionally, enhancing both understanding and retention.

2. The Nursing Process: This systematic approach to patient care involves assessment, problem identification, intervention planning, and evaluation. Martha's card decks are designed to guide students through this process in a simulated environment.

3. Educational Escape Rooms: Unlike entertainment escape rooms, educational ones have clear objectives and are meant to apply previously learned knowledge. They also offer opportunities to practice skills and professional behaviors like teamwork and communication.

4. Storytelling: Storytelling helps make learning stick in both in escape rooms and card decks. Real-world settings, clinical data, and even social determinants of health can add depth to the learning experience.

6. Interdisciplinary Learning: Martha mentions that some simulations involve interdisciplinary teams, including law enforcement and paramedic students, to mimic real-world scenarios.

Connect with Martha
LinkedIn
Breakout RN

Resources
Hrach S. Minding Bodies.  Inclusive, low-tech, low-cost strategies that deepen embodied learning and the development of disciplinary knowledge and skills. [Use this affiliate link to support the podcast at no cost to you.]

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Mentioned in this episode:

Fall Back to School Sale

We're running a back-to-school sale September 2 through 12. Standalone CME writing toolkits, business kits, and quarterly WriteCME Pro membership — all at the best pricing we've offered this year. Everything's at www.alexhowson.com. Link's in the show notes.

In this episode, I spoke with Sean Sodha, founder of medical content platform Grafi AI, about the promise and pitfalls of generative AI for healthcare content creators. Sean shared his unique perspective on navigating this emerging technology.  We take a comprehensive look at the role of generative AI in medical content creation and explore its promise for augmenting human skills and improving productivity in the medical writing space.

Key Takeaways

Steps for Educators

Connect with Sean
Grafi.ai
LinkedIn

Resources
BioGPT: a useful tool or cause for concern? The Publication Plan. July 2023. 

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In today's episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Rizzo, a trained journalist who turned her curiosity and life-long interest in medicine into a thriving career as a CME writer. Michelle currently works as an associate medical director and senior writer at a boutique CME content company, where she often finds herself writing and researching about rare diseases. She was kind enough to give us a glimpse into her writing process and share some actionable tips for getting into the field without a clinical background. 

Here are three key takeaways from the episode.

This episode has nuggets of wisdom for everyone, whether you’re only thinking about getting into CME or have been in the industry for decades. Share your thoughts and CME career stories in the comments below!

Connect with Michelle
Associate Medical Director, Integrity Continuing Education
[email protected]
LinkedIn

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If you are at all interested in the status of women in medicine and the role of education in addressing gender inequities in the health professions, then you’re going to love today’s episode. I’m speaking with Rebecca Ortega about improving gender equity in cardiology. Rebecca is the Founding and executive director of Women as One, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting talent in medicine by offering professional opportunities to women cardiologists through several different programs. 

1. Rapid Evolution in Cardiology: Rebecca discusses her experience at SCAI, where she was in charge of education. 

2. The Art of Grant Writing: Needs assessment in grant writing. Get clear on why a program is necessary and how it will solve a problem. 

3. Challenges in Procedural Training: It might be straightforward to offer training for new procedures but gender equity is a more complex challenge that requires a different educational approach.

4. Women as One Initiative: This organization promotes gender equity in cardiology through various programs like CLIMB, Escalator Awards, and a talent directory to help diversify clinical trial leadership.

5. Future of Gender Equity in Cardiology: Focus on improving the quality of experience for women in the field rather than just numerical representation.

Resources
🌐 Women as One
YouTube channel
AAMC Gender Inequity Initiative

Connect with Rebecca
LinkedIn

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Mentioned in this episode:

Fall Back to School Sale

We're running a back-to-school sale September 2 through 12. Standalone CME writing toolkits, business kits, and quarterly WriteCME Pro membership — all at the best pricing we've offered this year. Everything's at www.alexhowson.com. Link's in the show notes.

I’m really excited to have today’s conversation with  Dr. Barbie Honeycutt, a faculty development consultant and host of the podcast Lecture Breakers.  Barbi is an expert in the field of active learning and is known for her work on creating engaging and effective learning experiences for students. She is the founder of FLIP It® and Interactive Lectures, two popular strategies for incorporating active learning in the classroom.

Here’s what you’ll learn in today’s episode. 

1. Start with the learner's experience and where they are in their learning journey. Note their preferences for engaging with learning materials.

2. There’s a continuum of active learning strategies to engage learners from low to high intensity, from think-pair-share at one end of the continuum to project-based assignments at the other. 

3. As we know in CME/CE, it’s vital to align activities to learning outcomes. For example: If critical thinking is a key outcome, use case studies.

4. Consider developing your content via inclusive course design principles that use Universal Design for Learning, draw on a diversity of voices, and offer learners choices about which content is most relevant and how to access that content. 

5. Finally, mobile and microlearning are expanding in CME/CE. These are terrific tools for creating bite-sized content for busy professionals to learn as needed. An example might be 2-minute lessons that health professionals can complete on their phones and apply right away.

Resources
➡️ Bucklin B et al. Making it stick: use of active learning strategies in continuing medical education. BMC Medical Education. 2021, 21(44).
➡️ Universal Design for Learning guidelines
➡️ Six Thinking Hats from the de Bono group
➡️ Quick tips to break up lectures

Connect with Barbi
Barbi's website: barbihoneycutt.com
The Lecture Breakers podcast
LinkedIn 

Connect with Alex
LinkedIn
Website

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Instructional design for online courses is a crucial aspect of modern CME/CE. And as online learning has grown over the last 15 years or so, especially so since 2020, instructional designers play a vital role in creating effective and engaging CME/CE content for learners.

In today’s podcast episode, I’m speaking with Mark Hagerty, an expert in effective instructional design in the context of CME/CE with a passion for behavioral and life sciences. 🩺💡

Mark shares insights from his three-decade-long career in education and his background in psychology, biology, and organizational behavior.

Key highlights include:

Mark's advice for anyone looking to improve their instructional design skills? Learn the ADDIE framework, get familiar with key software tools, play around with new ideas, and above all, have fun!

Whether you're a seasoned medical writer or just starting out, Mark's insights around empathy-driven content and immersive learning experiences are indispensable. Implementing strong instructional design principles can elevate any CME or medical writing to better educate and empower healthcare professionals.

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Even those of us who’ve had surgery probably haven’t given much thought to the person who put us under and carefully monitored us while the surgeon did their work. I’m here today with anesthesiologist, author, and test pilot Dr. David Alfery to discuss his book, Saving Grace: What Patients Teach Their Doctors About Life, Death, and the Balance in Between, which was published by Wipf and Stock earlier in 2023. David was a cardiac anesthesiologist for over 30 years, taking patients to the brink of death and back during surgery.

A cardiac anesthesiologist, Dr. Alfery reveals to readers of his book the critical role of the “total stranger [who] would take them closer to death than they would ever come in this life, then bring them safely back."

David’s book explores the highs and lows of being an anesthesiologist, including his personal experience during his own daughter’s surgery. In this episode, we explore fears, aspirations, and motivations of health professionals and how to create and maintain sacred trust between physicians and their patients. 

David shared 3 powerful takeaways: 

1️⃣ Human connection is key: The doctor-patient relationship is a unique space that amplifies all the things that make us human and connect us. Empathy, gratitude, and perspective are the vital keys in our interactions with others.

2️⃣ Corporate medicine has negatively impacted teamwork in the OR by pressuring faster case turnover and high staff turnover. Teams that know each other work more smoothly together. 

3️⃣ Trust and touch: Trust is at the core of the physician-patient relationship, and touch plays a crucial role in building that trust. Yet, there has been a shift in the reception of touch by patients. Personal space and boundaries are more important than ever, and it's essential for healthcare professionals to be respectful and mindful of this.

David D. Alfery. Saving Grace: What Patients Teach their Doctors about Life, Death, and the Balance in Between. Resource Publications. 2023. [this affiliate link earns the podcast a small commission at no additional cost to you] 

📍Grab the WriteCME Roadmap
⭐ Review the podcast
🗞️ Biweekly Newsletter with tips and resources to enrich your CME content niche
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Mentioned in this episode:

Fall Back to School Sale

We're running a back-to-school sale September 2 through 12. Standalone CME writing toolkits, business kits, and quarterly WriteCME Pro membership — all at the best pricing we've offered this year. Everything's at www.alexhowson.com. Link's in the show notes.