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).

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.

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

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!

AMWA-Canada Symposium Reminder

Time is running out to register for the AMWA-Canada Medical Writing Symposium taking place in Ottawa on April 18th, 2008. The deadline for registration is this Friday, March 14th.

This one-day events offers four AMWA workshops, three are accredited for the cores certificates and one is accredited for the advanced certificate. If you're enrolled in any of these programs, this is a great way to get the credits and meet up with some of your Canadian colleagues.

The event takes place at Foustanellas Auditorium of the Ottawa Heart Institute, located on the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital. Workshops include:

Writing and Designing Materials for Patient Education (EW/PRAM) with Sharon
Nancekivell

Improving Comprehension: Theories and Research Findings (EW/ED) with Tom Lang

Principles of Pharmacoeconomics (EW/PH) with Christopher J. Longo

Reporting Randomized Trials in Science Journals (ADV) with Tom Lang.

Medical Writing Symposium in Ottawa

AMWA-Canada has announced the 'line-up' for its medical writing symposium that will be held on April 18th at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in Ottawa, Ontario. The symposium offers four AMWA credit workshops in two streams followed by a networking dinner. The workshops are nice cross-section of different styles and levels of medical writing. It looks like there is something for everyone. Note, that you do not need to be enrolled in the AMWA certificate programs in order to attend the workshops.

Here are the workshops on offer:

Writing and Designing Materials for Patient Education (EW/PRAM) [Course#224] Through lecture and discussion, writers with little or no experience in writing for patients will work through the “what, who, and how” of a patient education piece: planning, research, writing, design, production, and evaluation. Participants will critique sample booklets and review the homework. APPROXIMATE HOMEWORK TIME:2-3 HOURS. Workshop Leader: Sharon Nancekivell

Improving Comprehension: Theories and Research Findings (EW/ED) [Course#207] This lecture and discussion session for both experienced and novice writers will cover theories and findings from the scientific study of written communication. Applying these findings to medical writing can produce measurable differences in how well readers locate, comprehend, and use information. Participants will explore ways to apply the concepts to improve the readability of a piece of medical writing. APPROXIMATE HOMEWORK TIME: 3 HOURS. Workshop Leader: Tom Lang

Principles of Pharmacoeconomics (EW/PH) [Course#216] This workshop will introduce the principles of pharmaco-economics to medical writers unfamiliar with this field.The lecture will cover trial design, cost determination, sensitivity analysis, and research perspective in a nonmathematical manner. Groupwork will emphasize application of these principles to published materials. APPROXIMATE HOMEWORK TIME: 1-2 hours. Workshop Leader: Christopher J. Longo

Reporting Randomized Trials in Science Journals (ADV) [Course#719] This workshop is designed for experienced medical writers who want to report clinical research studies with a high degree of sophistication. The form and function of each component of the research article will be reviewed; however, emphasis will be placed on how to report all aspects of randomized controlled clinical trials. Participants will practice applying a set of detailed guidelines for reporting specific aspects of study design, research activities, and outcomes. APPROXIMATE HOMEWORK TIME: 3 HOURS. Workshop Leader: Tom Lang

For more information, visit the AMWA-Canada website