Why Should Medical Writers Learn Medical Terminology?

If you’re a new medical writer, you may wonder which skills are essential for success. Whether you choose to write regulatory documents, promotional content, patient education materials, or journal articles, you’ll need a strong writing foundation. Part of that foundation includes learning to understand, write, speak—in general, to communicate!—using the jargon of the field: medical terminology. 

Applying Writing Tutors’ Communication Techniques as a Medical Editor

This blog is based on an article written by Misty Bailey, MA, ELS(D), Kirsten Benson, EdD, and Anne Marie Weber‑Main, PhD, that was originally published in the AMWA Journal.

As a medical editor, your challenge is to use techniques that effectively balance the need for clarity with respect for the authors’ ideas. In other words, communication approaches need to empower authors while accomplishing the common goal of producing an easy‑to‑read piece of writing that clearly and effectively communicates the authors’ message and intent. 

How to Avoid Common Medical Style Mistakes

Medical writing can be a lucrative, rewarding career, but it takes a commitment to understanding grammar and stylistic guidelines. A solid grasp of grammar, punctuation, and medical word usage is required. Some errors are common among new medical writers and even among some experienced medical communicators. A good place to begin fortifying your writing foundation and preventing these errors is a medical style guide.

How to Run an Effective Meeting in 6 Steps

Many medical writers are tasked with more than crafting accurate documents. You might also need to manage projects and teams. 

Part of managing medical communication includes effectively leading meetings so that they drive documents forward to successful completion. 

Whether you're preparing to lead your first meeting or kicking off a new project, follow these best practices to meet your objectives. These best practices apply whether your meeting is in‑person or online.

Asking the Right Questions: Developing Better Discovery Skills

This article was originally published in the AMWA Journal.

All of us have suffered the consequences of expensive, unasked questions in both our professional lives and our personal lives. As medical communicators, we must ask good questions to elicit information, but many of us lack adequate training in this skill. Add to that the natural reticence of some medical communicators, and it is no wonder that we walk away from interviews with subject matter experts or client meetings wishing we had remembered to ask X, Y, or Z. This article offers information as to why questions are so important, what types of questions are useful, how to strategize your questions, how to handle people answering the questions you ask them, and how to answer questions that others ask you.

The Importance of Quality Control in Medical Writing

It’s hard being right all the time.

In fact, we aren’t. Even the best medical writer makes the occasional mistake. It’s challenging to ensure that your project’s content, style, and format are high quality.

That’s where our good friends the quality control (QC) specialists come in. QC specialists look at a document with “fresh eyes” that can spot mistakes an author may overlook. They may also have specific expertise in editing styles, data formatting, data presentation, or document design.

That’s why QC reviews are critical to medical writers.