Write Medicine

Are self-doubt and imposter syndrome stopping you from breaking into CME writing, even though you have valuable skills to offer?

Many aspiring CME writers struggle with confidence, especially when they lack clinical backgrounds. This episode addresses the "confidence paradox" - needing experience to gain confidence, but requiring confidence to get that experience - and provides practical strategies to break this cycle so you can successfully position yourself in the CME writing field.

From this episode, you'll learn:

Listen now to transform your mindset from "I don't know enough" to becoming a confident CME writer that clients trust and want to work with.

00:00 Introduction and Overview

01:29 The Confidence Paradox in CME Writing

03:43 Identifying Your Transferable Skills

07:58 Building Your CME Writing Portfolio

11:28 Practical Strategies for Building Confidence

14:54 Conclusion and Next Steps

Are you struggling to understand how the CME industry works—who creates it, how it’s funded, and where freelance medical writers fit in? If breaking into CME writing feels like a mystery, this episode will give you the clarity you need.

Navigating the CME ecosystem can be overwhelming for new writers. Understanding the industry structure, key players, and content types is essential to positioning yourself for success. This episode breaks down the CME landscape so you can confidently find your place and start building your career.

If you're ready to cut through the confusion and confidently step into CME writing, press play now and explore where you fit in this thriving industry.

Have you ever wondered if medical writing could be a fulfilling and financially rewarding career path? If so, how do you know whether continuing medical education (CME) writing is the right specialty for you?

CME writing is a thriving niche that allows writers to contribute to evidence-based education for healthcare professionals while building a sustainable freelance business. However, breaking into CME can feel overwhelming—What does it involve? Do you need a medical background? How do you get started? In this episode, we clear up the confusion and help you determine whether CME writing aligns with your skills, interests, and professional goals.

If you’re curious about CME writing and want to explore how to break into this rewarding field, tune in now and take the first step toward building a fulfilling writing career.

If you’re a medical writer today, you're no stranger to tight deadlines, dense source material, and the pressure to deliver educational content that is both engaging and evidence-based. These demands are particularly acute in the world of continuing medical education (CME), where accuracy, clarity, and relevance matter more than ever.

As the medical writing landscape evolves, so do the tools that support us. Among the most promising of these is MACg, a generative AI-powered assistant that helps medical writers streamline document analysis, content creation, and research. For writers working in CME or adjacent fields, MACg offers more than convenience—it offers a meaningful shift in how we work.

Tune in to learn how I’m using MACg as a collaborative partner in my workflow rather than a replacement for my creative process. 

Resources

Grab your fee trial of MACg

Summer Script Camp

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.

Practical prompts, frameworks, and behind-the-scenes notes on writing high-quality CME — straight to you, no fluff.

→ Subscribe: Become a Write Medicine Insider

Not sure what to work on next in your CME writing? Take the free WriteCME Readiness Index — two minutes to find your stage and get a curated learning path →

Get your CME readiness score

How do you design CME that reaches the communities most affected by HIV—and not just the clinicians who already have access?

If you're a CME professional grappling with how to address layered issues like stigma, housing insecurity, or racial disparities, you’re not alone. This episode dives into what it takes to create truly inclusive education—especially when traditional strategies fall short. Whether you’re designing education for clinicians or collaborating with community partners, you’ll find actionable ideas to bring your programming closer to the ground.

Specifically, you'll learn:

• How to build authentic partnerships with community leaders who can serve as trusted bridges between healthcare providers and hard-to-reach populations.
• The essential infrastructure you need to establish before launching community-based programs, from setting up referral networks that ensure patients don't fall through cracks after screening to tracking both clinical outcomes and demographic data that funders require.
• A proven framework for developing educational content with cultural humility and how to work with expert faculty who understand nuanced communication challenges.

Connect with Dean

🌐 https://DKBMED.COM

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.

Practical prompts, frameworks, and behind-the-scenes notes on writing high-quality CME — straight to you, no fluff.

→ Subscribe: Become a Write Medicine Insider

Not sure what to work on next in your CME writing? Take the free WriteCME Readiness Index — two minutes to find your stage and get a curated learning path →

Get your CME readiness score

Are you a freelance CME writer juggling too many project types and wondering if it’s time to finally “niche down”?

In the world of continuing medical education (CME), clarity and focus aren’t just nice to have—they’re essential for sustainable business growth. If you’re feeling stretched thin, jumping between clients and therapeutic areas, this episode explores how finding a niche can reduce overwhelm, streamline your process, and even attract the kinds of clients who value what you do most. Here’s what you’ll gain from this episode:

• A practical definition of what a niche is—and what it isn’t—so you can stop second-guessing yourself.
• Examples of how different niches can emerge from your background, preferences, or even your favorite types of client relationships.
• A step-by-step approach to experimenting your way into a niche, without the pressure to get it “perfect” from the start.

Tune in now to learn how niching can simplify your business, supercharge your marketing, and help you find work that truly energizes you.

Grab the Niche Discovery Checklist

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.

Practical prompts, frameworks, and behind-the-scenes notes on writing high-quality CME — straight to you, no fluff.

→ Subscribe: Become a Write Medicine Insider

Not sure what to work on next in your CME writing? Take the free WriteCME Readiness Index — two minutes to find your stage and get a curated learning path →

Get your CME readiness score

How can continuing education break down professional silos and foster real collaboration among healthcare teams?

If you create CME/CE content, you’ve likely encountered the challenge of writing for “teams” that still operate in silos. This episode with interprofessional education expert Dr. Tina Patel Gunaldo, Founder, Collaborate for Health, reveals why just using the term “team-based care” isn’t enough—and how content creators can more accurately reflect the evolving nature of healthcare collaboration. As patient-centered models expand and asynchronous care becomes the norm, CME professionals need a deeper understanding of roles, language, and practice contexts to design impactful education.

• Discover the critical differences between interprofessional, interdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary practice—and why it matters for CME writing.
• Learn how to structure education that empowers team collaboration and respects the unique contributions of each discipline.
• Understand the growing role of patients, technology, and asynchronous communication in shaping interprofessional collaboration today.

And if you’re unsure when to use “interprofessional” vs “multidisciplinary”? We’ve got you covered. We created a one-page Quick Reference Guide to help you use team-based language precisely and avoid common traps in CME writing. It’s perfect for writers, educators, and reviewers who want to level up their clarity. Grab the download in the show notes and keep it handy as you create your next piece of content.

Tune in now to learn how you can write CME content that reflects real-world collaboration—and elevates both learner experience and patient care outcomes.

Connect with Tina

Website: https://collaborateforhealth.com

LinkedIn

Interprofessional Terms Quick Reference Guide

Practical prompts, frameworks, and behind-the-scenes notes on writing high-quality CME — straight to you, no fluff.

→ Subscribe: Become a Write Medicine Insider

Not sure what to work on next in your CME writing? Take the free WriteCME Readiness Index — two minutes to find your stage and get a curated learning path →

Get your CME readiness score

Are you unsure which skills you need to thrive as a CME writer (or need for your writers)—or how to prove your value in an increasingly competitive field?

Many medical writers stumble into CME with strong writing chops but little clarity about what the role truly demands. At the same time, education providers struggle to find writers who are not just capable—but competent. This episode bridges that gap. Don Harting and Haifa Kassis join us to unpack the results of their groundbreaking Delphi study on CME writing competencies, revealing what hiring managers really want and how you can grow your career strategically.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. The four core competencies every CME writer should master today
2. Which deliverables are in high demand—and which are vanishing
3. How this competency model can support onboarding, training, and upskilling.

Press play to learn how to align your writing skills with what the CME industry actually needs—so you can stand out, get hired, and grow with confidence.

Resources

Kassis, H., & Harting, D. (2024). Medical Writing for Continuing Education in the Health Professions: A Competency Model. Journal of CME, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/28338073.2024.2422709

Delphi Panelists

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.

Practical prompts, frameworks, and behind-the-scenes notes on writing high-quality CME — straight to you, no fluff.

→ Subscribe: Become a Write Medicine Insider

Not sure what to work on next in your CME writing? Take the free WriteCME Readiness Index — two minutes to find your stage and get a curated learning path →

Get your CME readiness score

How do we create continuing education that prepares clinicians to deliver life-changing diagnoses with both precision and compassion?

In this episode, we explore what happens when the scientist’s role as a communicator intersects with the lived experience of parenting a child with a rare disease. I'm talking with Dr. Jennifer Brown, a geneticist who recently published a memoir, When the Baby is not OK: Hopes and Genes, based on her experience of parenting children diagnosed with PKU through newborn screening.

For CME professionals, this episode is a call to rethink how we center narrative, ethics, and emotional intelligence in our content, especially when evidence alone isn’t enough to support meaningful patient care.

• Learn how outdated narratives and clinical language can alienate patients—and how reframing them can build trust and support retention in care.
• Hear why integrating lived experience into CME is essential for designing education that resonates beyond the exam room.
• Discover how personal storytelling, ethical reflection, and patient advocacy can enrich data-driven CME writing.

▶️ Press play to discover how Dr. Jennifer Brown’s dual lens—as a geneticist and parent—can sharpen your skills as a more empathetic, informed CME professional.

Connect with Jennifer

LinkedIn

Goodreads

Author Site

Bluesky

YouTube

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.

Practical prompts, frameworks, and behind-the-scenes notes on writing high-quality CME — straight to you, no fluff.

→ Subscribe: Become a Write Medicine Insider

Not sure what to work on next in your CME writing? Take the free WriteCME Readiness Index — two minutes to find your stage and get a curated learning path →

Get your CME readiness score

CME professionals, medical writers, educators, and researchers - what would you do if PubMed suddenly became less accessible? You depend on this critical resource daily to find evidence-based information that powers your work. But recent funding uncertainties at the NIH have raised questions about its future.

You need consistent, reliable access to quality biomedical research to meet deadlines and maintain credibility, but navigating alternatives can feel overwhelming. Where would you even begin if your go-to resource is compromised?

Today's episode is your insurance policy. My conversation with medical librarian Rachel Wedeward MLIS, AHIP reveals not only why PubMed matters, but also provides you with practical alternatives, including a downloadable resource sheet, and evaluation strategies to ensure you'll never be left without the research you need - no matter what happens.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• The remarkable infrastructure behind PubMed's indexing system that makes it an indispensable tool for organizing and accessing biomedical research
• A comprehensive overview of complementary resources, including European PubMed Central and specialized databases that can enhance your research approach
• Practical wisdom for evaluating evidence quality

Listen now to expand your research toolkit with expert knowledge that will help you confidently navigate the evolving landscape of medical information resources.

Connect with Rachel

Website

LinkedIn

📚 Resources

PubMed The essential biomedical database maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. A critical starting point for CME writers and medical educators to access peer-reviewed research.

European PubMed Central A free database of biomedical and life sciences research literature from Europe. A strong alternative to PubMed.

Grey Literature Sources Sometimes the best insights aren’t found in journals. Examples of trusted grey literature repositories include:

• Kaiser Family Foundation
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Find guides on Rachel's website

Alex's Sharable Evidence Bank (>70 sources)