5 Tips for Equity and Inclusion in Medical Writing and Editing

Talking so everyone can hear

We have heard the words “equity” and “inclusion” many times in recent months. But we may not all have connected them with our work as writers and editors in health, medicine, and science. How can medical communicators help create a more equitable, inclusive world?

As writers and editors, we can play a role in giving all people the opportunity to understand and use health information so that they can participate in clinical trials, understand their health care providers’ instructions, and take other actions that help reduce and eradicate social, economic, and health disparities.

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.

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.

Quality Control Review of Safety Narratives: Beyond Checking the Data

This article is based on content presented by Kent Steinriede, MS, at the AMWA Medical Writing & Communication Conference. It was originally published in the AMWA Journal.

“Find out what the story is,” Kent Steinriede stressed throughout his session about the quality control (QC) review of safety narratives. Steinriede highlighted the elements of the safety narrative, source documents and tools used in QC review, and tips for best QC work.

The Proofreading Solution for Perfectionists

Once Upon a Time…

When I wrote my first manuscript 23 years ago, I had to do all the formatting manually. Many of you probably still remember that feeling of sand under the eyelids after manual imputation and formatting of a long reference list, and cursing badly if, at the end of the day, the text contained 33 citations while the reference list included 35 positions…