Welcome to the June 2025 chapter newsletter. 

CHAPTER NEWS

• In-Person Book Club Meeting

• Summer Networking Sessions

• Last Call: Fill Out a Survey for Group Volunteer Event!

• New Column Launch: Interviewees Needed

• Membership Committee Chair Vacancy

• Join our AMWA North Central LinkedIn Community 

FEATURE ARTICLES

• Member Moment: Paul Mamula 

JOB BOARD

• Announcements

CHAPTER NEWS

In-Person Book Club Meeting 

Our next Book Club will be an in-person event on September 22, 2025. We will discuss Bottle of Lies: The Dark Side of the Generic Drug Boom by Katherine Eban. We will meet at the Como Pavillion in Como Park in St Paul at 2 pm. We’ll meet outside, and in case of bad weather, we’ll retreat to the plaza. One need not have read the book or be an AMWA member to attend. Also at this meeting, we will choose next year’s selections, so if you have a book (or books) you think is a good one, please bring it (or them) along. Do join us for a lively discussion! 

Summer Networking Sessions

Our summer virtual networking sessions are in full swing! We look forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming events. This event series is open to anyone interested in learning more about different aspects of medical writing and connect with people in the field. Please note that these are informal conversation-style sessions moderated by a session-lead and attendees are encouraged to participate in a group discussion. No sign-up is required, and non-members are welcome! Click on this Virtual Networking Schedule for more information. 

Last Call: Fill Out a Survey for Group Volunteer Event!

As a way to connect with fellow medical communicators while also contributing to our community, our chapter is planning a group volunteer event at Open Arms of Minnesota. 

Open Arms is a nonprofit organization that prepares and delivers medically tailored, nutritious, made-from-scratch meals at no cost to critically ill Minnesotans and their loved ones. Open Arms "believe[s] that food is medicine, and there's always room for one more at [their] table." As volunteers, we will be preparing, portioning, and packaging meals. No experience is necessary; Open Arms will provide all training.

Please join us in this wonderful opportunity to contribute and connect. So that we may obtain an estimate of those who are interested in participating, as well as preferred location and dates, please complete this short survey by Friday, June 20, 2025. 

New Column Launch: Interviewees Needed

We are launching a new column to spotlight the amazing members of the AMWA North Central Chapter – and we want to feature you! If you are interested in being interviewed and sharing your career journey, insights, and some personal tidbits, please reach out to Tess van Ee (tssvanee@gmail.com) to get on the interview list. This is a great way to get to know our vibrant community and we appreciate your participation.

Membership Committee Chair Vacancy

The AMWA North-Central Chapter is looking for a volunteer to fill the Memberships Committee Chair position. The Membership Chair’s role is to update the membership list monthly to ensure the active members are on the email list and that expired memberships have been removed. If you would like to join us or have any questions regarding open roles, please reach out to bod@amwanorthcentral.org. 

FEATURE ARTICLES

Member Moment: Paul Mamula

By Tess van Ee  

Some medical writers get their start in scientific communications through their choice of study or the guidance of a career counselor. Others see medical writing as an alternate career to research or healthcare, where they can still use their degree(s) in science and medicine. 

Then there are those ushered into the industry by their curiosity. Paul Mamula, AMWA North Central’s book club leader, is one of the latter. I sat down with Paul to discuss his medical writing journey and his time participating in the chapter.

Q: What did you want to be when you grew up? Did that inform your studies? 

A: I was inspired by Louis S.B. Leakey, a paleoanthropologist, to study physical anthropology. I earned a BA in biology at Wabash College and spent a year at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. During that year abroad, I took anthropology courses and visited sites in Egypt and Lebanon. 

Q: Describe your educational journey. Where and what did you study? 

After earning my undergraduate degree, I earned an MA in physical anthropology from Arizona State University in Tempe. When I didn’t see many job opportunities in anthropology, I found work as a technician at a genetic counseling lab, completing gel electrophoresis, karyotyping, and other laboratory tests. My time in the lab inspired me to return to school and earn a PhD in medical genetics. 

Q: What were your first work experiences after graduating?  

A: I found a post-doctoral position at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). I had intended to enter biotechnology, doing industrial research and development. About that time, molecular biological advances were making their debuts, and there were multiple practical applications in the field—people were producing insulin in bacteria, and more products were being developed, albeit slowly. The problem was that the industry entered a hiatus by the time I got ready to apply, so I took a position as a research scientist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. 

Q: You spent many years studying and working in labs before you began writing. What influenced your move from the bench to medical writing? 

A: Biomedical research was very stressful. The work hours were crushing, the jobs were in expensive places to live, and I worked five, six, and sometimes seven days a week. It was a grind. My wife was also in science, which compounded the stress. After a while, we decided we wanted careers that were better for mental health and gave us time to have a life! 

We ended up moving to Minnesota. Our deal was that whoever got a job first—we both had been laid off—was where we would settle, and I got the first offer during a recession. After a one-year stint at Celox Laboratories (now Protide Pharmaceuticals) and another layoff, I answered an ad in the Star Tribune for a position with an amorphous job description. It turned out to be in a publication I had read often as a researcher. The job was editing and preparing medical manuscripts, which sounded interesting and intellectually stimulating. Even though I didn’t have editing experience, I was very familiar with the field and was hired as a medical editor for Hospital Practice, a McGraw-Hill publication. 

The content was fascinating, and the role was a nice fit because my career had straddled medicine and science. As a bench scientist, I was always interested in more than what I was working on. Exploring new topics wasn’t encouraged, which was short-sighted since a lot of times, insights come from outside of your discipline. During my eight-plus years at McGraw-Hill, I explored all sorts of topics. I also wrote a few small pieces and did lots of substantive editing and rewriting. 

Q: What other medical writing positions have you held? 

A: After my time at McGraw-Hill, I worked for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota for three years before transitioning to freelance writing and editing. I took on projects for biopharma and medical technology companies, including Beckman Coulter and Boston Scientific. I also continued to write articles and edit manuscripts. I retired in 2020, during the pandemic. 

Q: It sounds like medical writing was a perfect fit for your interests, experience, and education. What were some key moments as you continued your medical writing career? 

A: A little luck is needed to get started, like when I found the job application in the newspaper. I liked taking on diverse projects, which often led to additional work. Although some people like to specialize, I found the breadth of my experiences came in handy for getting new freelance work. 

My PhD helped with my medical editing career. During my time as a scientist, I made a lot of connections with people who later needed someone to write articles for them. Also, MDs and PhDs appreciated feedback from an editor with a PhD and a science background. I had to do some very substantive editing during my career!  

Q: When did you become aware of AMWA? What led you to join the organization? 

A: I was encouraged to join AMWA while at McGraw-Hill. I took an essentials course through the organization, which helped me brush up on my grammar and get familiar with the AMA Manual of Style, and I later earned an advanced certificate in writing. 

Q: When did you start volunteering with AMWA? 

A: I joined in 1998 and served as chapter president from 2000 to 2002. Our long-time secretary-treasurer died in a car crash during my tenure, and there were a lot of things we had to get straightened out. That was when AMWA was less formal, and the group only held two meetings a year. 

I also served as chapter advisory representative from 2018 to 2019 and have now been part of the book club for almost 19 years, writing about it for about 15. The book club has had notable meetings, including hosting writer Maryn McKenna twice (Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA; Beating Back the Devil) and hearing about Jeffrey P. Matovic and James Fussell (Ticked: A Medical Miracle, a Friendship, and the Weird World of Tourette Syndrome) from Matovic’s wife, Debra Janning Matovic, who filled in by cell phone when Jeffrey became ill just before the call.

AMWA was the first scientific organization I joined where the people were welcoming. At national meetings, they would just come up to you and talk, and were more than happy to provide advice, references, and suggestions. It was a huge contrast to other organizations. 

Q: I’ve also noticed people are friendly in our chapter, but I assumed it was because we are Midwesterners. Is that not the case?

A: Medical writers are just friendly across the board! 

Q: Now that you are retired, what motivates you to continue to be involved in AMWA? 

A: I look at it as service to the chapter. I serve as an unofficial chapter historian now, and I’m happy to be able to encourage newer volunteers in their work and assist as a chapter reference, for example, providing ideas for meetings and thoughts on what has or hasn’t worked in the past. 

Q: What advice would you give new members about participating in AMWA? 

A: What you put into the organization is what you’ll get out of it. Don’t be afraid to put yourself into it and be active about making connections with other people. You don’t want to reach out to people only when you need a job. You never know who you will meet. Even though membership is expensive, if you make use of the organization’s workshops, courses, and members, it offers a lot. 

Although AMWA has changed a lot since I joined, the organization is far more collegial and helpful than any other professional organization I’ve belonged to. The field is broad, and I don’t think one can get a better idea of what is possible than with AMWA. It’s the best place to find writing and editing niches.