The complete guide to medical writing PDF
Preview The complete guide to medical writing
00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page i The Complete Guide to Medical Writing 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page ii 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page iii The Complete Guide to Medical Writing Edited by Mark C Stuart BPharm PGDipCDDS DipBotMed MRPharmS (cid:2) London Chicago 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page iv Published by the Pharmaceutical Press An imprint of RPS Publishing 1 Lambeth High Street, London SE1 7JN, UK 100 South Atkinson Road, Suite 200, Grayslake, IL 60030-7820, USA © Pharmaceutical Press 2007 © John Kirkman 2007 Chapter 1 ‘Style for accurate and readable medical writing’ © The Plain English Campaign 2007 Chapter 2 ‘Writing in plain English’ © Paula Hayes 2007 Chapter 17 ‘Writing and implementing procedures’ is a trade mark of RPS Publishing RPS Publishing is the publishing organisation of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain First published in 2007 Typeset by J&LComposition, Filey, North Yorkshire Printed in Great Britain by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall ISBN 978 0 85369 667 4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. The publisher makes no representation, express or implied, with regard to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. The right of Mark C Stuart to be identified as the editor of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page v Contents Foreword vii Preface ix About the editor xi Contributors xii Section 1: Medical writing essentials 1 1 Style for accurate and readable medical writing 3 2 Writing in plain English 36 3 Referencing 50 Section 2: Reviews and reports 61 4 Writing a research report 63 5 Reviews 75 6 Medical case reports 97 7 Conference posters 106 Section 3: Medical journalism and mass media 125 8 Writing an editorial 127 9 Writing a letter to the editor 140 10 Writing for magazines and newspapers 151 11 Writing press releases 178 12 Advertisements 187 Section 4: Medical writing in education 215 13 Writing examination and assessment papers 217 14 Presentation materials 233 15 Writing a thesis 248 v 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page vi vi Contents Section 5: Medical writing for medical professionals 271 16 Writing medicine information for healthcare professionals 273 17 Writing and implementing procedures 301 18 Writing marketing authorisation applications for medicinal products 317 Section 6: Medical publishing 357 19 Medical media and the law 359 20 Writing and editing books 389 21 Writing for the internet 406 22 Getting published 427 Appendix 1: Common medical abbreviations 463 Appendix 2: Measurements 469 Appendix 3: Normal values for common laboratory tests 471 Appendix 4: Proof correction marks 474 Appendix 5: A to Z of medical terms in plain English 476 Index 482 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page vii Foreword I am in the habit of referring to medical writing as a blossoming niche. In fact, that is an understatement. Medical writing is undergoing something equivalent to the Big Bang. Historically, scientific documentation was prepared by only those individuals who had done the research. They designed the experiments, thought about how to analyse the data and wrote up the findings them- selves. Over time, specialists such as statisticians were added to the pool of authors. The writing, however, was not seen as something one needed to be specialised in, and continued to be written by the clinician or scientist who had something to say. It has only been in the last 10 years that people have begun to recog- nise that writing is a skill, and that having writing as a specialized function can improve the effectiveness of communicating. Once this idea took hold, it began to spread like wildfire. We are now at a point where medical writing is generally acknowl- edged as a fundamental skill set in the task of scientific communication. As a result, the demand for medical writers has grown enormously over a short period of time. This led to the ‘Catch 22’ situation of many people with no experience seeking to begin a career as a medical writer but employers seeking to hire only those with years of professional experience. As Vice President of the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) I am exposed to the many different facets of writing that belong under the single umbrella of medical writing. The spectrum includes writing an advertisement campaign and branding of pharmaceutical images, as well as writing a clinical study report or scientific manuscripts. I interact with the people in these hugely varying fields of medical writ- ing and see what their concerns are, what hurdles they are faced with and what their end of the industry is about. This gives me a fascinating and integrated perspective into the world of medical writing from the writer’s viewpoint. On the other side, as the Managing Director of my own medical writing company, I am exposed to what the clients are looking for from the writers they hire. What they need are not only writers who can craft vii 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page viii viii Foreword well-written text and data presentations, but who also understand the purpose of the document they have been hired to write. Medical writers need to bring a toolbox full of skills to ply their trade, and the clients don’t want to have to fill it for them. This is why I was so pleased when I heard that this book was being written. With ever-increasing numbers of new writers entering the arena, we need to collect and pass on knowledge from experienced writers. Training is one means of doing this, but a resource book that someone can refer to over and over again is irreplaceable. This book is just that. It is ambitious in its scope, touching on just about anything a medical writer may ever need to write. It covers all angles of scientific and medical documentation, from the regulatory domain to the advertising arena. It covers fundamental principles of good writing techniques and delves into a broad spectrum of documents, providing tips on how to write each different kind of document and explaining their purpose. A book like this has been long awaited in the medical writing community, and I applaud those who finally sat down and brought it together. Julia Forjanic Klapproth, PhD Vice President European Medical Writers Association January 2007 00 Prelims 1532.qxd 12/3/07 14:44 Page ix Preface This book has been written to enable medical professionals and students to communicate scientific and medical information effectively. From the time of entry into undergraduate studies at college or university, medical and life science students undertake medical writing in one form or another. This skill in communicating medical information quickly becomes an integral and evolving part of their professional lives. As a student you begin to employ medical writing skills to write up laboratory reports, create presentation materials and write your disser- tation or thesis. As a graduate healthcare professional you will probably give expert presentations and provide medical information to patients and peers. You are also likely to be involved in communicating written advice at a public level, which may involve the general media and popular press. After establishing yourself as an expert in the medical community, you may even write or edit your own book. Similarly, as an academic, writing presentation materials and examinations becomes a part of your professional life. If you work in the pharmaceutical industry, you may be involved in writing copy for advertisements or in applications for new drug licences. Presenting and communicating information effectively in any med- ical document is of paramount importance. The facts must be presented in such a way that they can be understood as intended. Many medical manuscripts are used for the diagnosis and treatment of patients: if they are misinterpreted, the consequence could be harm to the patient. Far too many errors that occur in medical practice are the result of poorly written documents, which in turn can result in miscommunication of information. Medical and scientific concepts can be complex and challenging to understand, even for the experts, but regardless of your field or level of expertise the standards of good medical writing should still apply. The aim is to present clear and accurate information that can be interpreted, validated and used safely. This book will help you do this. It also covers many ethical and legal principles, such as copyright and patient confidentiality, which are commonplace in medical communications. ix
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