I did not expect to get into medical writing as a career. I knew I wanted to write from a young age. My high school biology classes fascinated me. But I didn’t think of combining the two. Also, my interest in biology was mostly technical, not practical. I entered college planning to study both English and biology, but had no […]
Best and Worst Medical Information Sources
It can be hard to sort through the myriad sources of medical information online. Most people don’t know a lot about medical topics (which is the reason they’re looking the subject up) and will take whatever they find at face value. But not all information is equally accurate. That’s also something most people know. So how can you tell what […]
The Best Feedback I’ve Gotten
Every writer lives for feedback. It’s not just because they want to hear their writing is good; although most of them do. Feedback is the basis of editing. It’s where you see how your writing has affected others. I don’t think I’m any different in that regard. But there are really two types of writing feedback I have to focus […]
Medicine, Not Politics: A Warning
Medicine should not be political. It doesn’t sound like a complicated statement. But it comes with a related one; medical issues should not be second to political ones. If medical evidence is contrary to political belief, political belief should know when to step down. If only that were so. However, there’s been a recent influx of political belief that has […]
Miscommunication and disaster: lessons from Anne Fadiman
Anne Fadiman’s National Book Critics Circle award-winning book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is the story of a young Hmong girl with epilepsy. Her parents speak no English and are completely unaware of anything related to modern medicine, and the doctors that treat her know almost nothing about the Hmong and their culture. Not surprisingly, the two […]
When An Assignment Goes Wrong
I still remember my first article. A small medical trade journal wanted me to write a medtech piece. I hadn’t written any long articles at this point. I could add another piece to my (at the time pitiably small) portfolio. It didn’t even require an interview; I just needed to email the contact they gave me a few questions. From […]