Careers in Medical Writing

In the last month, I have had the pleasure of being invited to two careers events at local universities here in Montreal. The first was the Science Career day organized by Career and Placement Services at Concordia University. The second was an information evening on careers in science writing hosted by the Graduate Students Association for Neuroscience at McGill University. It was fabulous to see so many students interested in medical writing as a career.

As I mentioned at both events, the demand for science and medical writers is growing. South of the border, the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics says that writing is consistently a strongly employable field. It also goes a step further, commenting specifically that demand for writers with expertise in science is medicine will increase in coming years because of the “continuing expansion of scientific and technical information and the need to communicate it to others,” especially for a general audience.

A relatively recent Services Canada Occupational Outlook (2006-2008) states that writing careers in Quebec continue to benefit from the “strong performance posted by the information and professional, scientific and technical services industries.” They cite specialty information channels and the Internet as being strongly responsible for the growth. During the same period, the unemployment rate in all writing fields in Quebec, including creative and translation, was less than 3%. It did not break down prospects or unemployment rates into individual writing fields, but no matter how you look at it, odds are pretty good that if you have the credentials and the talent, there should be no shortage of work.

I've uploaded onto Slideshare the presentation I made with Nathalie Ross at the GSAN event. I hope you find it useful!

Careers in Medical Writing

Travel Awards for Canadian Science Journalists to Attend AAAS

::Via the CSWA::

CSWA and EurekAlert! Announce Competitive Travel Awards for Canadian Science Journalists

Together with the Canadian Science Writers’ Association, EurekAlert!, the global science-news service for journalists, today announced a competitive travel awards program to help Canadian journalists participate in the 2012 AAAS Annual Meeting taking place in Vancouver from February 16 to February 20.

EurekAlert!, the online science news service sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), will provide travel awards to 13 eligible Canadian reporters and two journalism students to help cover the cost of attending the 2012 AAAS Annual Meeting. Each travel award will cover up to $1,000 of expenses upon submission of a signed request including original receipts and boarding passes.

The Canadian Science Writers’ Association will review nominations for the awards before passing finalist recommendations along to EurekAlert!

Nomination Criteria:

• Nominees eligible for travel awards must be full-time freelancers or reporters employed with accredited Canadian media outlets, covering science, technology or health-related topics. Travel awards are also available for one undergraduate and one graduate student studying science journalism.
• Nominees must not hold any ineligible dual affiliations; such roles may include, but are not limited to: financial consultant/investment advisor, policy analyst, public information/marketing professional, researcher, or manuscript editor/reviewer at a peer-reviewed journal. Any affiliation with AAAS is also deemed ineligible.
• Awardees must use one of seven preferred hotels in Vancouver, to be posted to the AAAS Meetings site as soon as registration opens (http://www.aaas.org/meetings). The travel award is applicable toward hotel costs or flights.

To nominate students, please submit two writing samples and a letter of recommendation from a professor to office@sciencewriters.ca The deadline for nominations is Dec. 1, 2011.

To nominate journalists, please send contact information, an editor's letter of recommendation and two or three clips to the Canadian Science Writers’ Association, care of office@sciencewriters.ca The deadline for nominations is Dec. 1, 2011.

The AAAS is a non-profit organization that seeks to promote quality science reporting around the world. AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal The CSWA is a national non-profit alliance of professional science communicators in all media. Its mission is to increase public awareness of science and technology in Canadian culture and to cultivate excellence in Canadian science writing and journalism.

For additional information about the EurekAlert! travel awards, contact Kristina Bergen (office@sciencewriters.ca) or Jennifer Santisi (jsantisi@aaas.org).

Manuscript Writing Workshop in Toronto Oct 28

I saw this in the Canadian Journal of Diabetes. I'm not sure if this is open to anyone or just those attending the CDA/CESM Conference, but if you're interested, it can't hurt to contact them and ask.

Writing Workshop
David C.W. Lau, Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Diabetes, will be leading a writing workshop that will take place during the 14th Annual CDA/CSEM Professional Conference and Annual Meetings. The seminar will focus on writing scientific and medical manuscripts for peer reviewed journals.

Date: Friday, October 28, 2011
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre-South Building, Toronto, Ontario
Cost: Free

For Inquiries:
cjd@diabetes.ca

Medical Writing I: Manuscripts at Concordia this Semester

I've been confirmed to teach the Medical Writing I: Manuscripts (CEJN 130) at Concordia's School of Extended Learning this semester. Classes are every Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm starting September 20th and running for 10 weeks.

Description: Students will learn how to access, understand and evaluate information on medical topics, including primary research articles, review articles, practice guidelines and poster presentations. Included in the discussion will be literature searches, document preparation, charts and tables, abstracts, guidelines for publication, and covering conferences as a medical journalist. Students will learn how to write an abstract, a clinical paper, and a review or magazine article.

The cost is $255. You can register in-person, by mail or by fax until the start of class. If you are already a Concordia student you can also register online via MyConcordia. The registration form is here. Please direct any registration-related questions to Communications and Public Relations. You can direct any course-related questions to me via e-mail.

Please note that if the course does not minimum enrollment then the class is cancelled. I often don't find this out until a few days before class starts. In the event of a cancellation, you will be notified by the University. If this happens, please feel free to contact me, since I do occasionally teach workshops not affiliated with Concordia. I can add you to my mailing list so you can find out when they are.

UPDATE: Concordia just confirmed that the class will definitely run this semester.

Mini-Med & Mini-Pharma at McGill

Mini-Med and Mini-Pharma at McGill have teamed up to offer weekly lectures on a great line-up of medical topics. They include, embryology, cardiology, obesity and diabetes, infectious disease, Alzheimer's disease, and neuroscience.

If you're free Wednesday nights and you're looking to learn more about these topics, register soon. My past experience is that they fill up quickly. The lectures are at a lay-person level, which makes them accessible and easy to understand. They are also packed with information and current research.

Intro to Medical Writing Presentation

Last June I was honoured to co-present a workshop on medical writing at the PWAC annual conference with fellow medical writer Giancarlo La Giorgia. In the presentation we discussed the scope of medical writing, what it takes to break into and succeed in the field, some basic tools of the trade, and some tips for finding work.

Here are the slides from the presentation. We hope you find it useful.

Medical Writing 101 (PWAC)

View more presentations from Amanda Strong.

Event: Navigating Promotional Material Through PAAB

The next Montreal American Medical Writer’s Association (AMWA) networking meeting will take place on Wednesday, June 22nd at 7pm. It is entitled “Navigating Promotional Materials Through the PAAB Landscape: A Behind-the-Scenes Look”.

The evening is being organized by Crystal Kaczkowski and the guest speaker will be Lara Holmes, an experienced medical writer/copywriter who has been working in pharma advertising for the past 14 years. During that time, she has had extensive experience with PAAB. The intention of this presentation is to provide some “inside” information on how to avoid the common pitfalls of developing promotional materials for PAAB review.

The topics that will be covered are:

• Product Monograph insight
• Claims support (acceptable references)
• Adapting global/US materials
• Promotional pieces “wish lists”
• Launching a new product
  

Members and non-members are both welcome to this discussion. If you are interested, please RSPV to Crystal at medicalwriter@videotron.ca by Tuesday, June 22 EOD so she know how many chairs to tell the restaurant to set up. (Since traffic can be unpredictable, she has arranged the reservation for 6:45pm, so it is fine to come a bit earlier than 7pm).

Wi Sushi
3697, boul. St-Jean corner Devon
West Island, QC, H9G 1X2 | Dollard-des-Ormeaux
514.696.3399

Medical Writing 101 on June 18th, 2011 in Montreal

I'm really pleased to announce that I will be co-presenting an introduction to medical writing at the Professional Writers' Association of Canada (PWAC) national conference on June 18th, 2011 in Montreal.

Medical Writing 101
Are you curious about medical writing but not sure exactly what it is, what qualifications you need, or what kind of writing work is out there? Join Amanda Strong and Giancarlo La Giorgia as they share their experience writing for the pharmaceutical industry and medical publishers. Learn the basic tools of the trade, how you can build your portfolio, and where to find work.

The professional developmen presentation is mostly an information session about medical writing, the skills and education you need to succeed in it, and how to break into the various sectors of the field. The course fee is $80 ($60 for PWAC members), or free if you register for the full conference ($325 for non-members, $275 for PWAC members).

Here are the other professional development session taking place on the Saturday being presented at the PWAC conference:

• Editors Panel with Susan Nerberg (Deputy Editor, enRoute), Drew Nelles (Editor in Chief, Maisonneuve) and Carmine Starnino (Senior Editor, Reader's Digest)
• Writing for Trade Magazines: Breaking In and Staying In with Suzanne Boles
• Unleash Your Inner Entrepreneur: Panel with Hugh McGuire, Ben Yoskovitz, Jean-Benoit Nadeau & Craig Silverman
• Medical Writing with Amanda Strong and Giancarlo La Giorgia
• Computer-Assisted Reporting in 2011: A Journalist's Guide to Twitter, Facebook, and New Mobile Tools with Elias Makos
• The Pitch of your Life: Writing Book Proposals with Julie Barlow
• On Solid Grounds: Write to Live with Jean-Benoit Nadeau
• Travel & Food Writing with Alexandra Forbes

Complete descriptions, as well as information about other events--such as the Intensive Workshop on Contracts, Negotiation Skills and Small Claims Court--and registration are available on the PWAC site.

Current Workshop Offerings

I have been getting a lot of requests for in-person workshops recently. Here are some workshops that I've offered previously or have ready-to-go.

I strongly believe that students get the most out of workshops if they have to do some work before heading into the classroom, and then the classroom learnings are followed up with post-course assignments. All participants in my workshops gets some sort of personalised feedback on their work; and all workshops include in-class activities and opportunities for participatory learning.

If you're interested in any of these, please let me know. I'm very open to travel outside of Montreal. Typically I ask for a minimum six people to run a class. An overhead projector that I can hook up to my laptop is required for all my workshops. A whiteboard or flipchart to write on during the workshop is also really appreciated.

Finding and Assessing Literature
Duration: 2 hours plus pre-course and post-course assignments
Internet access is required to run this course
This introduction to finding and assess bibliographic literature in the health sciences focuses identifying pertinent, credible and current sources of information for medical writing projects. Topics include getting the most out of PubMed; search engines/databases other than PubMed; and other credible sources of information, like textbooks, authoritative web sites, government databases, NLM Gateway, Cochrane reviews, etc. The workshop also includes tips on developing a search strategy, narrowing down search results, keeping record of your search results, and assessing the strength and relevance of the literature found during the search.

Understanding and Critically Evaluating Clinical Research Articles
Duration: 2 hours plus pre-course and post-course assignments
Medical writers frequently have to assess clinical research articles to determine if they are pertinent, credible and current sources of information. This workshop reviews some of the elements of evidence-based medicine, study design, common ways of presenting data, and basic statistics. Participants will learn how to critical assess methodological quality of a study, and identify its strengths and limitations. The anatomy of a research article will be discussed.

Copy Writing Basics for Pharmaceutical Advertising in Canada
Duration: 3 hours plus pre-course and post-course assignments
Recommended skills: some comfort reading clinical papers; basic knowledge of charts, graphs and tables; prior exposure to pharmaceutical advertising is useful
There are many important differences between pharmaceutical advertising and non-'pharma' advertising, such as a tightly regulated environment, a multilayered approval process, and differences between the 'target' of the advertising and the end user. This workshop reviews the basics of pharmaceutical advertising and copy writing, including approval processes, developing copy, making sure your manuscript has the appropriate balancing copy and footnotes, keeping track of references, and tips for making sure what you write is "layout-friendly".

Developing Slides and Slide Notes for Oral Presentations
Duration: 3 hours plus pre-course and post-course assignments
Good slides and slide notes can make all the difference to an oral presentation, whether it’s a presentation of results at a conference or a CME activity. This workshop will review the basic principles for creative effective slide presentations, including creating a good logical flow of information, effectively conveying key messages, creating slides that complement the oral presentation, avoiding common mistakes, referencing and citing sources of information. Creating slide notes for different types of presentations will also be covered.

Upcoming AMWA Workshop in Montreal

How to ensure your website never makes you any money as a freelancer
American Medical Writer’s Association meeting, Wednesday, Oct 6th, 2010
Location : La Milsa Poisson, 1431 Bishop, Montreal (just North of St. Catherines.)

The American Medical Writer’s Association (AMWA) invites you to our next networking meeting on Wednesday, Oct 6th at 6:45 pm entitled “How to ensure your web site never makes you any money as a freelancer.” Andy Gural presents a tongue in cheek talk about how to improve your web presence. Both AMWA members and non-members are welcome to this dinner meeting. There is no charge other than what you order for your own food and beverages.

Please RSVP to medicalwriter@videotron.ca by Monday, Oct 4th at the latest so I know how many chairs to tell the restaurant to set up, but note that you will not receive a confirmation.

Location : La Milsa Poisson, 1431 Bishop, Montreal (just North of St. Catherines)
514-282-6666
www.lemilsa.com

Organizer:
Crystal Kaczkowski
Freelance Medical Writer/Copywriter
514-585-3077
medicalwriter@videotron.ca
www.medwrite.ca

AMWA Dinner: Professional Uses of Social Media

The Montreal members of AMWA-Canada are planning an informal open roundtable discussion on the Professional Uses of Social Media at Stash Café, Old Montreal, on January 28th. I'm sure there will be some gem of information for everyone, whether you're new to social media or already using some of the tools. Here is there announcement:

AMWA Open Roundtable: Professional Uses of Social Media
How many remember the good old CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy or other proprietary dial-up days? 9600-baud modems? Audio couplers? Those ISP services are the rudimentary forms of the social media we use and mostly take for granted today. The AMWA Canada chapter hosts a moderated discussion of some social networking tools/environments in current use.

Especially useful for medical writers are AMWA's own listserves, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. We’ll also mention the free, self-administered network creation tools Ning and Yahoo Groups.

Bring your own experiences, tips and ideas to share with other medical writers on successfully using social media to enhance your professional context and generate business. Discussion will be moderated by AMWA member Everett Larsen, who also serves as President of STC Montreal.

Where? Our favourite Polish restaurant…

200 Rue Saint-Paul O
Montreal, QC H2Y 1Z9
(514) 845-6611
www.stashcafe.com

6:30-8:30 pm, Thursday, January 28

Please RSVP to medicalwriter@videotron.ca by Monday, January 25th so I can let the restaurant know how many people to expect.

Any technical questions about the content to be covered should be addressed to Everett at larsene@primelink1.net

Everett Larsen & Crystal Kaczkowski

Two Health Canada Tools Worth Bookmarking

I can't count the number of times I refer to Health Canada's Drug Product Database when I'm researching a project. It's a wonderful source of information. Here is the description from the Website:

The DPD contains product specific information on drugs approved for use in Canada. The database is managed by Health Canada and includes human pharmaceutical and biological drugs, veterinary drugs and disinfectant products. It contains approximately 23,000 products which companies have notified Health Canada as being marketed.

Information available in the database includes the following parameters:
1. Brand Name
2. Drug Identification Number (DIN)
3. Company
4. Active Ingredient(s)
5. Route of Administration
6. Product Monograph (PM)
7. Pharmaceutical Form
8. Package Sizes
9. Therapeutic Classification (AHFS and ATC)
10. Active Ingredient Group (AIG) Number
11. Pharmaceutical Standard
12. Veterinary Species

In addition to the DPD, you can also access a database of NOC listings from the Drugs and Health Products section of the Health Canada Website. This is a great tool if you need to find out what drugs have been approved under a specific therapeutic class. Sometimes, the listing contains a link to a fact sheet and the summary basis of decision for approval, which I've also found helpful for some projects.

Medical Writing Course at Concordia

Concordia University in Montreal is once again offering a medical writing course this winter. The course is online and starts the week of January 11th and runs for ten weeks. You have until Monday December 7th to fax or mail in your registration (Maddeningly, registration via the Internet is not yet available.), after which you'll have to drop it off in person downtown. The course only runs if there are enough people registered by the end of next week. I should be teaching it, but Concordia does not confirm with me until later this month. (The joys of being sessional!)

CEJN 132N Medical Writing: Promotional and Continuing Health Education
In this on-line course, students will learn how to access, evaluate and use information on medical topics in order to start writing for the pharmaceutical industry. Topics covered include pharmaceutical advertising and copywriting, medical education, patient education, writing for the web, multimedia and newsletters. (Note: Medical Writing I CEJN 130 is NOT a prerequisite for this course. (Cost: $255 CDN)

Registration form and instructions are here.
Complete course calendar is here.

Any questions? Leave me a comment or drop me an email.

::EDIT:: Since this is an online course, there are isn't a fixed class time. I usually do a a few online chats for Q&A through the system used for the online course. These will probably alternate between Tuesday or Thursday evenings. The transcript of the Q&A is available online if you miss the Q&A. I also keep weekly online 'office hours' via skype.

Five Golden Rules of PowerPoint

I think most of us have heard the expression "death by PowerPoint," yet despite our awareness of how excruciatingly painful a bad PowerPoint presentation can be, many of us still make them. Whether it's CME presentations, rep training programs, or marketing strategy pitches, we've all seen the eye-glazers.

A lot has been written on how to create a good PowerPoint presentation. Here are my top five things to keep in mind:

1. Make sure that your presentation has a point and a structure, and that each slide supports both.
2. Avoid clutter. Neither the presentation nor the slide should be cluttered. (Unless, of course, the clutter is a prop for the point.) Use only a few fonts, colours and layouts.
3. Allow only one key message per slide. The message should be clear and any text or imagery on the slide should support it.
4. Use the slide to augment and reinforce what you're saying, not to reiterate it. Don't duplicate what you're saying on the slide. People read faster than you talk.
5. Create handouts from the notes section, not the slides. This helps keep your slides crisp and focused. Besides, you can actually put more information in the notes sections than you ever could on the slide itself.

Do you have a golden PowerPoint rule, or set of rules? Share them with us. Leave a comment or drop me a note.

Unravelling Project Details

I'm a big advocate of spending a little bit of time up front on a project before starting in on the 'real work.' This involves making sure that my understanding of a project accurately reflects the vision and needs of the client, as well as ensuring that I have everything I need to get rolling once I sit down to the task. There are few things worse than getting my head into a project only to discover that I'm missing a key piece of information. This almost always results in delays and frustration.

Over the years I've developed a shopping list that I go through with my clients. The list varies a bit by type of project, but the major categories are always the same:

• A written brief, project description or summary of deliverables. The name will vary depending on the client and the type of work, but it's purpose is the same. It clearly defines the details of the project. For advertising and marketing work, it should also provide a rationale for the project and key background information. If your client doesn't provide one, create it yourself and have your client sign-off on it.


• Context. Find out if the piece is part of a larger program. If it is, ask about the goal of the program and how your projects fits into it.


• References and support material. Before you start a project, be clear if you are responsible for finding references and support material, or if your client will be providing them. I have some clients who provide me with an outline and all the references needed to write the project, and other clients who give me a topic and expect me to do all the legwork. Most fall somewhere in between.


• An internal style guide. This is especially important for manuscripts and marketing materials. If your client doesn't have an internal style guide, ask if they have a sample of a similar project that you could use as a guideline. For marketing projects, also ask for a brand guide that includes commonly-used headlines, taglines, sign-offs etc.


• Timelines. Don't get caught by surprise. For example, be clear if the delivery date from your client is their project completion date or your delivery for the first draft. Also make sure that your timeline builds in adequate time for research, writing, review and revisions (client, medical/regulatory, PAAB, etc), translation and layout.


• Finally, for projects going through PAAB, pertinent PAAB history. Ask the client if they've had any significant discussions with the PAAB in past over content, context, or support materials.

I usually go through this list verbally with my clients. Some topics, like PAAB history, is best done in conversation anyway. I then confirm my needs in a follow-up e-mail, indicating the date I need the materials by.

PAAB Delivers on Social Media Training

Earlier this week, the PAAB gave a panel discussion and learning event around the use of social media in pharmaceutical marketing in Canada. It was excellent workshop and a fabulous example of collaboration. At the start of the day, participants were promised that by the end of it they'd be able to define social media and its applications, as well as to better identify what is acceptable under Canadian regulations. The session accomplished this through a combination of presentations and case studies.

For those new to social media, Nathalie Bourré, a pharmaceutical marketing and social media consultant, gave a quick introduction to the arena. This was followed by a presentations by Patrick Massad, the Chief Review Officer at the PAAB, and Henry Anderson, who manages interactive marketing in the Americas for Novartis Consumer Health. Afterward, participants put their knowledge to the test as an expert panel weighed in on the feasibility, legality, and review requirements of several case studies involving different aspects of social media. Members of the panel included Ray Chepesiuk from the PAAB, Ann Sztuke-Fournier from Health Canada, and three industry representatives: Nathalie Bourré, Henry Anderson, and Christian Roy (Pfizer Canada; Montreal session) or Pat Forsythe (Allergan Canada; Toronto session).

While their opinions didn't always agree 100%, a few bits of consensus were clear:

• The same rules that govern print media apply to social media and web. For example, branded promotion geared towards physicians must be gated to avoid consumer access.


• Just like print media, intent of dissemination and control of content are key. Are you providing unbiased information or promoting a product?


• If you create the discussion environment, you are responsible for monitoring it. Moderate discussions to remove off-label and promotional comments by participants. Be clear and pro-active about your posting and moderation policies.


• Don't use social media for the sake of using social media. Make sure it fits into your marketing strategy. Marketing principles have not changed with the rise of social media, only the medium.

A few participants, myself included, live-tweeted the event. To find out what we thought, simply seach #paab on Twitter.

Mediaville: A Freelance Extravaganza

It seems my recent blog posts are all about promoting local seminars and events. I'll have to remedy that soon. In the meantime, here is an announcement about an event co-sponsored by many different writers' and editors' professional associations in Montreal. The format combines PWAC's traditional 'boot camp' with a freelance-employer 'mixer' that has become an annual tradition in Montreal. It looks like a great event.

Mediaville Montreal
Saturday, October 24, 2009
11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Best Western Hotel Europa
1240 Drummond Street, Montreal

From the Mediaville website:
Mediaville Montreal is a professional development and networking event organized by and for freelance media professionals. If you are an independent writer, editor, publisher or translator, you won’t want to miss it! Over 100 freelancers are expected to attend.

There will be expert panel discussions on how to build a successful freelance media career and how to develop your freelance business, a workshop on how to sell your services to the federal government, a client-freelancer mixer, and an inter-association networking event (a list of potential clients attending the event will be provided as they’re confirmed).

Early-bird discount on tickets until October 9!

Paper to Pixel: Editing for the Web

If you're in Montreal and work in multimedia, especially websites, you won't want to miss this. The Editor's Association of Canada (EAC) is offering a full-day seminar on editing for the web.

The workshop will be held next Thursday at Hotel Ruby Foo's and costs $220 ($160 for EAC members). It's a hands-on workshop. The organizers are asking participants to submit case studies and come prepared to work on real-life problems.

I've attended several EAC seminars in the past. They've all been excellent.

Hooking-Up Freelancers and Employers in Montreal

Last year, the Montreal members of the Canadian AMWA chapter organized a mixer to help freelancers connect with potential employers in the area, and vice versa. The event was really succesful. The event is repeating again next week. It's also open to non-AMWA members. Bring plenty of business cards!

American Medical Writers Association – Canada (Montreal area) Chapter presents:
2nd ANNUAL FREELANCER – EMPLOYER MIXER
Mesa 14, 1425 Bishop, Downtown Montreal, 284-0344
Wednesday, August 5th 2009, 6:30 pm

The pleasure of your company is requested at the 2nd annual American Medical Writers Association freelancer-employer mixer. This dinner event will encourage medical writers (and related professionals) to interact with the companies that hire them.

Freelancers, now is your chance to “show your stuff” to prospective employers who may be looking for talent like yours! We had a great event last year with a large turnout, so anyone who missed it is welcome to attend (AMWA members and non-members alike).

Please feel free to forward this invite to anyone who may be interested, writers and employers alike! For anyone who may know an employer (pharma company, medical communications firms, and CROs, etc.) and is shy to invite them, please advise me and I will send them an official invite. We’ll only have a successful event if we have a mix of both! Please ask them to RSVP by email with me so I can keep a tally of how many people to expect (medicalwriter@videotron.ca).

There is no fee, only what you order for food/or beverages. Don’t forget to bring lots of resumes, business cards, etc. Also feel free to bring your portfolio (if you have one) and put it on display. You will have the option to provide a very brief description (roughly 2 mins) of your services in an informal manner and to mingle with prospective employers. Employers will also be invited to give a brief description of their needs as well, be it medical writing/editing or graphic design etc.

Please RSVP by July 31st (although don't think you can't come to the event if you don't RSVP in time!), but please give me as much notice as possible, so I can let the restaurant know how many chairs to set up. Mesa 14 is a wonderful Mexican restaurant on Bishop near the corner of St. Catherine's.

Crystal Kaczkowski, MSc.
Freelance medical writer
medicalwriter@videotron.ca
(514) 585-3077

PAAB Answers Questions About Social Media

I was very pleased to see that the PAAB is offering a panel discussion and learning event around the use of social media in pharmaceutical advertising in Canada. Pharmaceutical companies are already using it, so the session is sorely needed.

The panel will consist of representatives from PAAB, Health Canada and marketers. According to the announcement on the LinkedIn group for the PAAB, by the end of the event, attendees will be able to:

• Define what “Online Social Media” is and explore its most common applications;
• Identify the most popular social media websites and their key demographics;
• Determine the various applications and benefits of using online social media in Canadian pharmaceutical marketing;
• Undertake approved and acceptable practices for using online social media for marketing and advertising efforts;
• Examine and identify specific examples of acceptable social media marketing practices within the Canadian regulatory environment

This looks like a great event. Dates are set for September 29th in Montreal and September 30th in Toronto. 'Hope to see you there!