Write Medicine

Whether you are an education provider working with a distributed team or a freelance writer working with multiple clients, connecting with your colleagues, peers, and clients is key.

Today I’m taking a deeper dive into connection to explore why it’s important in CME and to offer some different ways to foster connection with clients, colleagues, and content. 

To apply empathy to content creation, you can create content in multiple formats and provide access to that content in multiple ways. For instance, if the primary format is a podcast, including a transcript for people who prefer to read can be helpful. It's important, too, to identify the factors that motivate learners to participate in the educational activity and use these motivation factors to help learners connect with the content. Self-determination theory can be a helpful framework here as a reminder that adult learners need to feel autonomous, competent, and connected to what they're learning, as well as to the people they're learning with.

We can also offer choices in the activity content and ensure the expectations for learners are succinct and clear and cultivate an audience mindset. By gathering feedback and engaging in dialogue with learners we can better understand what's important to them and create content that connects on a deeper level.

✔️ Only connect
✔️ Focus on relationship building
✔️ Cultivate empathy in CME planning, designing, and writing
✔️ Cultivate an audience mindset

Related Podcast Episodes
Conscious Communication in Content Creation
Mentoring You, Mentoring Me: Reciprocity and Relationships
Cultivating a Visual Mindset: Infographics in Continuing Healthcare Education

Articles
Deci EL, Ryan R M. Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health. Canadian Psychology . 2008;49(3): 182–185
Gohil S, Vuik S, Darzi A. Sentiment Analysis of Health Care Tweets: Review of the Methods Used. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2018;4(2):e43
Guevara K et al. Busting myths in online education: Faculty examples from the field. J Clin Trans Sci. 2021; 5(1): e149.
CAST. Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. 

Focus Your Writing with Ben Riggs
Produced by Golden Goose Creative

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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.

Recently I read Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey Through Constraints and Creativity in the ER by Jay Baruch, MD. It's a collection of linked essays, so you can dip into the book in small, snatched moments without losing momentum. If you need an introduction to the always challenging, sometimes messy, but ultimately humanizing work that clinicians do at the acute end of care, this is a great start. 

Jay is a physician and writer who explores how creativity in medicine supports empathy, the cornerstone of clinical care. He is a practicing emergency room physician, Professor of Emergency Medicine at Brown University’s Alpert Medical School, and the author of two award-winning short fiction collections.

In his latest book, Jay interrogates the messy spaces of clinical practice and the art of caring for patients. Today we are talking about connections between writing, healing, and clinical care. We discussed Jay's experience of writing the book, the experiences that led to writing the book, and the ways that writing can help us figure out who we are and what we think and feel.

Alan Bleakley, Emeritus Professor of Medical Education and Medical Humanities at the University of Plymouth calls Tornado of Life the best medical memoir he's read. I can only agree and encourage you to read the book, too. 

Why? Because it'll expand your concept of the healthcare team to include "the regular players already there, humanity scholars, writers, artists, and designers." 

And it'll expand your idea of what CME can do too. 

Resources
Baruch J. Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey through Constraints and Creativity in the ER. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. 2022.   
Baruch J, Springs S, Poterack A, Ganz Blythe S. What Cy Twombly’s Art Can Teach Us About Patients’ Stories. AMA J Ethics. 2020;22(5):E430-436.
Baruch J. Doctors as Makers. Acad Med. 2017;92(1): 40-44.   
Deavere Smith A. Talk to Me. Travels in Media and Politics. Anchor. 2001. 
Scarry E. The Body in Pain. Oxford: OUP, 1987.
Schulz K. Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margins of Error. Harper Collins. 2011. 

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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.

Transforming our own habits is notoriously challenging and changing clinical practice habits even more so. But my guest today shares strategies that CME practitioners can apply to education design and implementation based on understanding clinician readiness to change.

Sara Johnson PhD is a leading expert in behavior change science. Along with Dr. Kerry Evers, she is co-President and CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Solutions, a behavior-change consulting firm and solution provider that empowers people to experience life-changing breakthroughs in health and well-being. Sara also co-edits the American Journal of Health Promotion (AJHP) and contributes to the Knowing Well, Being Well practitioner-focused section focusing on emerging trends in health promotion and well-being. 

Sara's been refining the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change for over two decades and in our conversation she explains how to apply the five stages of change (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) to understand readiness for change as a foundation for clinician-focused education as well as multi-level community-based education.

To this end, Sara shares insights from the Communities United Together for Health enterprise, a multi-level initiative addressing health disparities around diabetes in Black communities, inspired by a collaboration with Dr. Stephen Thomas from the University of Maryland Center for Health Equity. 

Connect with Sara
ProChange Behavior Solutions
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.

Ready for a tour of the European Continuing Medical Education environment?

Eugene Pozniak is Managing Director and CEO of Siyemi Learning, an independent medical education provider established in 2006. In fact, Siyemi Learning is the first non-US organization to be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and is uniquely also accredited on the other side of the Atlantic by the European Board for Accreditation of Continuing Education for Health Professionals (EBAC).

Eugene left the promotional sector in 2000 and has since worked exclusively in CME-CPD, initially devising, and delivering e-learning for the European Society of Cardiology and the Federation of European Cancer Societies. He was Director of Global CME (ex-US) at Wolters Kluwer Health, before setting up Siyemi Learning and the European CME Forum. 

Eugene describes a disparate European CME landscape, driven by national requirements and split by specialties within countries. We explore accreditation similarities and differences between Europe and the US. For example, while European activity-based accreditation systems embrace a granular, structured approach focusing on the format and organization of the educational activity, US accreditation allows comparatively more flexibility to deliver innovative education.

We also discuss the European CME Forum, cofounded by Eugene alongside Peter Llewellyn in 2008, which facilitates open discussion amongst all stakeholder groups and promotes a high standard of CME in Europe. Eugene also set up the Journal of CME (JCME), an open-access, peer-reviewed journal with a global focus on all aspects of CME-CPD, and is a founding member of the Good CME Practice Group.

CME Practice and Accreditation Stakeholders in Europe

Resources
Journal of CME
Good CME Practice group
European CME Forum

Connect with Eugene
email: [email protected]
LinkedIn
Siyemi Learning

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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.

Instructional designers are the architects of learning experiences. 

In this episode, Parker Grant PhD, the co-founder of IDLance, an instructional design freelance agency, discusses the learning process, how to use learners’ experiences to optimize education, and where instructional designers go for their story inspiration. 

Parker advises, “In adult learning, what's really important to know, is that all learning is experiential. What makes learning better is having a multifaceted approach, meaning you don't look at just any one mode of learning as the optimum, but the combination of many facets.”

To these ends, Parker uses concept maps to create learning experiences. He finds that mental models help individuals to visualize other perspectives and shift mental models, thus encouraging consistent performance and improving outcomes. 

Parker describes the core characteristics of well-designed learning activities that allow us to deliver rich learning experiences for healthcare professionals and we discuss how simulations and case studies can enhance the learning experience through feedback and building consequences into the virtual experience. 

Resources
Genter D. Holyoak KJ,  Kokinov BN. (eds) The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science. The MIT Press. 2001.
Stevens AL, Gentner D. Mental Models. NY: Psychology Press. 2014.
7taps Microlearning Platform
Arist

Connect with Parker
Email: [email protected]
IDLance
LinkedIn

📍Grab the WriteCME Roadmap
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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.

What qualities do medical writers need? This is a question I'm frequently asked.

In this episode, expect to hear some robust answers—whatever your niche, specialty, or area of focus.

Holly Hagan MSc, Success Coach for Medical Writers, believes that all medical writers require diplomacy, intellectualism, inquisitiveness, and resourcefulness as fundamental qualities to thrive.

Authentically embodying moral and civic character lies central to her approach to medical writing. In addition, Holly maintains that personal branding goes deeper than your background banner, understanding personal brand to encompass the experience of your every interaction with colleagues and customers.

She advocates that employees and freelancers would benefit from adopting a service mindset. Shifting to a service mindset also allows writers to reframe the taboo surrounding sales into one where we understand and fulfill the customer's needs. Holly advises beginner writers to remain vigilant about opinions versus facts when considering what is possible and recommends using visualizations to stay focused on achieving your goals.

Holly suggests, "I find that it can be really powerful to separate the facts from opinions when it comes to your job search. That core belief will then change what sort of things you see in the visible world."

Connect with Holly
Email: [email protected]
Top Medical Writer
LinkedIn
Holly is presenting at the AMWA Carolinas spring conference: Learn more 

Resources
Clifton Strengths 

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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 of Write Medicine, the tables are turned as I’m interviewed by guest host Holly Hagan. We talk about my own personal journey into CME writing, including how joining the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions was a turning point in my business. Being a part of this community has given me the opportunity to learn about new developments in the field and connect with education providers.

We discuss how I’ve integrated my previous experience and interests into my work,  some key learnings when it comes to running my own business, and I share some of my favorite recommendations for academics or medical professionals who want to explore a career in CME writing.

And on May 5, 2023, I’ll return the favor and interview Holly about her expertise in medical marketing and copywriting. 

Connect with Alex
LinkedIn
Website
Courses, Community, Coaching

Connect with Holly
LinkedIn
Holly is presenting at the AMWA Carolinas spring conference: Learn more  

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If you've been in the CME field for more than a hot minute, you'll know that Graham McMahon MD, MMSc is a medical educator, researcher, and practicing endocrinologist. He is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine and Medical Education at Northwestern University.

Today, we're talking about integrity and trust in CME. We dig into the factors that prompted the publication in 2020 of ACCME's report on standards for integrity and independence in CME, especially the emergence of potential threats to content credibility. Graham emphasizes the importance of nurturing innovation and retaining balance in education and points to the role of content validity as a core part of ACCME's standards and promise to the community of physician learners.

We also talk about the centrality of trust in the process of teaching and learning,  how the concept of an educational home fosters trust among physician learners and the work to be done in the CME community to ensure safe learning spaces and create education that is diverse in focus, content, and faculty contribution.

Resources
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®). Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. 2020.

McMahon GT. Changes to the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Continuing Medical Education. JAMA. 2021 

Sklar DP, McMahon GT. Trust between teachers and learners. JAMA. 2019;321(22): 2157-2158

Connect with Graham
Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education  

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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.

Clinicians, academics, or researchers transitioning into freelance medical writing—whether it's CME-focused or not—often worry about whether it’s the right move to make and whether there will be enough work to support their goals.  

In today’s episode, long-time freelance medical writer Jonathan Agnew PhD, MBA brings a sense of reassurance to these questions and emphasizes the potential for abundantly available work. In addition, he shares tools and techniques to facilitate the freelance process. 

Notably, Jonathon’s mantra is “your mindset underpins your success.”  He recommends that you avoid the perfectionist mindset many clinicians and academics are prone to and instead strive for excellence and quality. 

These goals will give you permission to take risks and enjoy the benefits of autonomy. 

And Jonathan recommends defining quality simply. he says the best metric of success as a freelancer is getting paid and learning to value yourself fairly is a vital business mindset. 

Connect with Jonathan
email: [email protected]
LinkedIn
Website

📍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.

Christine Welniak is an independent medical writer who specializes in cardiology and diabetes. She values opportunities to develop content that helps healthcare providers learn about new treatments that could improve patient outcomes. Christine contends that "content is king" and is central to producing high-quality CME/CE writing. Learning the art of the pitch in her previous life on Wall Street, Christine is well-equipped to discuss why CME/CE medical writers require skills in negotiation and strategy. 

Although CME/CE writers are sometimes undervalued in terms of remuneration, it's possible to achieve above-average market rates. Christine observes that writers who do so demonstrate skills above and beyond excellent writing, such as strategy, analysis, or comfort in talking with faculty members. 

To this end, Christine highlights her top tips for approaching negotiation and empowering yourself to talk about money with ease.

Connect with Christine
LinkedIn

📍Grab the WriteCME Roadmap
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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.