Technical Communication and the Role of the Public Intellectual: A Community HIV-Prevention Case Study    

This article argues that technical communicators are uniquely poised to function as public intellectuals. To demonstrate this point, the author offers the example of her work on a major AIDS prevention program report. Situating this work within the history of technical communication, the current discussion of rhetorics of risk, and the writing classroom, the author argues that technical writers don't have simply the opportunity to engage in textual activism; in many cases they have no alternative.

Bowdon, Melody. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Case Studies

Technical, Medical, Science Writing Links

A collection of links to advertising, business, technical, science, medical writing and editing services.

WritingNetwork. Resources>Directories>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Toolkit for New Medical Writers

Medical writing is a great career! The work is interesting and often lucrative, and the demand for medical writers is high. Few people start out to be medical writers; most of us fall into it. Some of us have scientific or medical degrees (e.g., MD, PharmD, PhD in a scientific field) and have worked in the field (e.g., as an academic, bench scientist, physician, pharmacist) or in administration and somehow find ourselves doing medical communications work. Some of us have Journalism or English degrees, work in communications, and end up writing about health and medicine. There are two basic types of medical writer: scientific and non-scientific or marketing. In general, scientific medical writers have advanced science-based degrees (science, medicine, pharmacy, etc.) and often learn about writing by becoming a medical writer. Marketing medical writers have a journalism or English degree and often learn about medicine by becoming a medical writer. Scientific medical writers generally do more scientific/technical writing for professional audiences. Marketing medical writers do marketing-oriented writing, often for consumers or lay audiences.

AMWA. Resources>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Turbulent Times in Health Care: Creating a Flexible Document Management System  

Imparting knowledge effectively both internally and externally is a challenge for any company. Within the health care industry, communication is further challenged as scientific and technological advancement, increased consumer expectations, and the initiation of health care reform keep the industry and knowledge within health care organizations in a flux. To communicate effectively to external customers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa has created a group of internal documents to manage the information necessary to create the documents customers receive. These internaI documents integrate the basics of information design and technical communication, color, styles, consistent structure, document relatedness, and a flexible document management system to make the creation of benefits policies (the external documents) better, faster, and cheaper.

Weiner, Carla A. and Michelle Loefer. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Biomedical

Usability Testing of Medical Instrument Instruction Manuals  

This panel will discuss usability analysis, user testing, and revision of a medical instruments manual. The study showed that a hidden audience constituted the real users of the manual and that that audience served as an unintended intermediary between the writers of the manual and the users of the instruments. Usability testing showed the merits of a design for the manual that served both the intended and unintended audiences.

Beckmann, Christopher P., Nancy L. Bayer, and Robert Krull. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Biomedical>Usability

Use of Race and Ethnicity in Biomedical Publication

Researchers, clinicians, and policy makers face 3 challenges in writing about race and ethnicity: accounting for the limitations of race/ethnicity data; distinguishing between race/ethnicity as a risk factor or as a risk marker; and finding a way to write about race/ethnicity that does not stigmatize and does not imply a we/they dichotomy between health professionals and populations of color. Josurnals play an important role in setting standards for research and policy literature. The authors outline guidelines that might be used when race and ethnicity are addressed in biomedical publications.

Kaplan, Judith B. and Trude Bennett. JAMA (2003). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Ethnicity

Users' Guide to the Promotional Literature

The group 'No Free Lunch' is composed of health professionals trying to avoid the excesses of pharmaceutical marketers. This is their guide to interpreting pharmaceutical promotional materials. Other sections of this website are also of interest.

Lack of Evidence Based Medicine Working Group, The. nofreelunch.org (1999). Resources>Publishing>Biomedical>Rhetoric

A Visual and Social Analysis of Optometric Record-Keeping Practices    

This article investigates the contribution visual rhetoric and rhetorical genre studies (RGS) can make to health care education and communication genres. Through a visual rhetorical analysis of a patient record used in an optometry teaching clinic, this article illustrates that a genre's visual representations provide significant insights into the social action of that genre. These insights are deepened by an insider analysis of the patient record that highlights how content analyses of visual designs need to be elaborated by contextual considerations. A combined visual rhetoric and RGS analysis shows that clinical novices learn to interpret the record's visual cues to safely traverse the complex requirements of this apprenticeship genre. The article demonstrates that visual rhetoric research can meaningfully contribute to the understanding of genres by presenting an enriched contextual analysis achieved by consulting with context insiders.

Varpio, Lara, Marlee M. Spafford, Catherine F. Schryer and Lorelei Lingard. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Visual Rhetoric

Visual Information about Medicines for Patients

In Europe, when someone gets ill, it is common to visit a doctor. Most consultations end when a doctor prescribes a medicine that can be obtained from a pharmacy. After collecting the medicine a patient has to decide if the use of this medicine is more beneficial than not taking it. In order to make this decision, and in order to take medicines effectively, information is essential. Not only the instructions about how much to take and at what times, but also the potential risks caused by interactions with other medicines and common behaviour (eating, smoking, drinking, sleeping, exercising). It also becomes necessary to know how to recognize that a medicine does what it supposes to do. Historical developments have led to a tightly regulated situation in which the patient gets a clear message that health care providers (pharmaceutical industry, pharmacists, prescribers, etc) do not care very much about informed patients.

van der Waarde, Karel. University of Alberta (2003). Articles>Communication>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Washington DC: Panel Discussion about Usability in Healthcare

The Washington D.C. Usability Special Interest Group teamed up with the local Usability Professionals Association to present a panel discussion about usability in healthcare. Did you know that rising costs, an aging population and pressure to adopt new technologies increasingly strain the healthcare system? At the same time, patients and their families have ever-more access to health information, and many want healthcare to become more patient-centered.

Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2007). Articles>Usability>Biomedical

Workplace Genres as Outcomes of Affiliated Professions' Interests and Practices  

Often the first of many documents written about patients, the Emergency Medical Service's run report genre is a preprinted form on which prehospital care providers record the events of an emergency. These forms are important analytically since they represent the evolutionary outcome of the practices and interests of the multiple professions engaged in caring for critically ill or injured patients. Relative positions of power, authority, status, and autonomy among a set of affiliated professions can be examined by studying the historical evolution of a shared workplace genre such as the run report.

Munger, Roger H. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Genre>Biomedical

Writing Across the Chemistry Curriculum  

While chemistry faculty agree that writing is an important professional skill, few know how to teach it. They lack a strategy for incorporating writing into their courses, skill in designing eflective writing assignments, and knowledge of evaluation methods. Our practical manual, funded by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation and the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, will provide chemistry and other science faculty with these skills along with a set of ready-to-use assignments for their courses. The manual will allow chemistry faculty to teach writing purposefully and effectively, focusing on the scientific content while systematically developing this all-important skill.

Kovac, Jeffrey and Donna Walter Sherwood. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Writing Technical Documents for the Global Pharmaceutical Industry      

Technical writers in the global pharmaceutical industry write for two major audiences: regulatory agencies and healthcare practitioners. These audiences differ in their information needs and expectations. Therefore, information products that address these audiences must balance the competing forces of business interests, market penetration, and the cultural variables of products so tied to people's beliefs. Pharmaceutical writers may carry an extra burden because the topics of their documents have such a potential for social benefit or serious harm. Electronic technology can greatly enhancing writers' abilities to meet these document needs, but system incompatibilities must first be overcome. Audience analysis still remains the key to crafting effective pharmaceutical documents.

Bonk, Robert J. Technical Communication Quarterly (1998). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

The New Copyright Law: Its Impact on Bio-Medical Communication

Under previous copyright legislation and jurisprudence, medical, and to a lesser extent, educational professionals, were afforded broad discretion under the judicially created fair use doctrine. The Copyright Act of 1976 creates a statutory definition of fair use and prescribes a test to be used in determining when a use is "fair" and when it is infringement. Central to this test is "impact of potential market value" of the material. Biomedical communication involves material with a very high unit cost which is not offset by anything approaching mass distribution. There is no special exemption for, or understanding of, biomedical communication in the new law, with the result that the potential for a restrictive impact is great.

Johnson, Mark. ERIC Digest (1978). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>Biomedical

The Use of Electronic Mail in Biomedical Communication    

Publication in general medical journals stimulates more conventional than electronic mail. However, the content of e-mail may be of greater scientific relevance. Electronic mail can be encouraged without fear of diminishing the quality of the communications received.

Costello, Richard, Anthony Shaw, Roz Cheetham and Robert J. Moots. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (2000). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Email

Health Informatics: Current Issues and Challenges    

Health informatics concerns the use of information and information and communication technologies within healthcare. Health informatics and information science need to take account of the unique aspects of health and medicine. The development of information systems and electronic records within health needs to consider the information needs and behaviour of all users. The sensitivity of personal health data raises ethical concerns for developing electronic records. E-health initiatives must actively involve users in the design, development, implementation and evaluation, and information science can contribute to understanding the needs and behaviour of user groups. Health informatics could make an important contribution to the ageing society and to reducing the digital divide and health divides within society. There is a need for an appropriate evidence base within health informatics to support future developments, and to ensure health informatics reaches its potential to improve the health and well-being of patients and the public.

Bath, Peter A. Journal of Information Science (2008). Articles>Knowledge Management>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Better Reporting of Randomized Trials in Biomedical Journal and Conference Abstracts    

Well reported research published in conference and journal abstracts is important as individuals reading these reports often base their initial assessment of a study based on information reported in the abstract. However, there is growing concern about the reliability and quality of information published in these reports. This article provides an overview of research evidence underpinning the need for better reporting of abstracts reported in conference proceedings and abstracts of journal articles; with a particular focus in the area of health care. Where available we highlight evidence which refers specifically to abstracts reporting randomized trials. We seek to identify current initiatives aimed at improving the reporting of these reports and recommend that an extension of the CONSORT Statement (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials), CONSORT for Abstracts, be developed. This checklist would include a list of essential items to be reported in any conference or journal abstract reporting the results of a randomized trial.

Hopewell, Sally, Anne Eisinga and Mike Clarke. Journal of Information Science (2008). Articles>Scientific Communication>Research>Biomedical

Technical Communicators Put the "Public" in Public Health    

How does Web 2.0 fit into the world of public health? STC Fellow, Dr. Thomas Barker discusses the values of social networking in regards to largescale public disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina and the SARS outbreak.

Barker, Thomas. Intercom (2009). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Social Networking

XML In The Pharmaceutical Industry: Structured Product Labeling

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are required by law to compile and maintain over a multi-year life-cycle, large and complex collections of documents for submission to national regulatory agencies in order to obtain and sustain marketing approval for drugs and biologically active substances. The content includes both data and textual narrative, and is of great value in terms of intellectual property and legal liability. Over the past few years a cooperative effort between the regulators and industry has developed XML-based standards for electronic submission.

Thomas, Keith. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>Biomedical>XML

XML Initiatives in Pharma

The pharmaceutical industry has been slow to adopt XML until recently. Initiatives in the US and EU, as well as other jurisdictions, have begun that use XML to define important documentation formats as part of the drug product life cycle. In the US the FDA is mandating that drug product descriptions called "labels" be submitted in an XML format called the Standard Product Label (SPL) language by the end of 2005 and similar mandates are being made in the EU and other regions. Since most pharmaceutical companies are international, companies are scrambling to figure out the best method for managing their data in order to meet all of meeting these specific requirements. Also, drug label information will become an important component in the broader set of medical records and prescription standards that are being developed concurrently. This session will describe the roles and status of these standards, initiatives for adoption in the US and the EU, and provide some ideas on strategies for managing data within this complex set of requirements.

Waldt, Dale. IDEAlliance (2005). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>XML

Getting There: Medical Writing

Medical writing is a career that is often not predetermined but decided upon en route. Medical writers are well-rounded in terms of having both communicative and scientific knowledge, and this also means that a wide range of academic backgrounds and job experiences are welcome in the field. Medical writing allows for acquisition of various necessary skills through whichever means most suits the individual.

Gies, Heather. Cord Weekly (2009). Careers>Writing>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Scope of Medical Writing  

Medical writing requires a combination of technical skills in medical sciences and rhetorical skills in language arts.

Early, Debbie. AMWA (2005). Presentations>Writing>Technical Writing>Biomedical

What Employers Look For in Medical Writers  

What Qualities Do We Look For? Enthusiasm for writing -willingness to go the extra mile. Ability to gather, synthesize and critically analyze large amounts of data. Express ideas succinctly –not “academic” documents.

Gurr, Jim and Victoria Seidenberger. AMWA (2005). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing>Biomedical

New Medical Writers Survey  

The most important skills or previous experience in securing present job: medical/scientific knowledge/understanding; writing skills/experience; ability to meet deadlines.

DeMilto, Lori. AMWA (2004). Careers>Writing>Technical Writing>Biomedical