Newsletter: December 2013

2013 AMWA Annual Conference – Comments from North Central Chapter Participants

Submitted by Sharon Rosen

Comments from Theresa Hunter, Past President, North Central AMWA Chapter, Sr. Manager, Medtronic Neuromodulation Technical Communications

• Comments on conference workshops, open sessions and/or roundtable discussion that you found to be helpful and/or informative for your work: I’ve been a member of AMWA since 1987 and have attended many, many annual conferences. The open sessions, workshops, and classes are always stellar, and this year was no exception. I focused my attention on writing for patients this year, as it seems my colleagues and I struggle with this. I learned a lot about explaining very difficult concepts in a very understandable manner.

• Benefits of the networking events that you attended at the conference: Aside from the professional benefits of networking, I met some very interesting people I have not seen at AMWA before. I met a woman who writes documentation for attitudinal control on spacecraft [spacecraft’s orientation in space]. How cool is that?

• Ideas that you have for future chapter programs based on sessions that you attended at the conference: There seemed to be a lot of enthusiasm surrounding information on audits and the FDA. Would we like to have a program on this?

• Helpful resources that you discovered at the conference that you would like to share with the chapter membership: A handout from the open session on medical device regulations. Medical Device Regulations

Comments from Ruth Taswell, President, North Central AMWA Chapter, Manager, Editorial and Production, Patient Education, Park Nicollet Institute

• Comments on conference workshops, open sessions and/or roundtable discussion that you found to be helpful and/or informative for your work: With more open sessions to choose from than ever before, choosing which to go to was a challenge—but a good one. I was impressed with the caliber of several leaders, younger and older, at  various open sessions and round tables, and the depth and breadth of their knowledge and experience. It was great learning practical information and tips, as well as the latest, hottest areas to focus on in medical writing.

• Benefits of the networking events that you attended at the conference: The sheer variety of attendees’ backgrounds and focuses was inspiring. Learning from other participants’ perspectives at a round table, and even from those who raised questions to the keynote speakers, was interesting and engaging.

• Ideas that you have for future chapter programs based on sessions that you attended at the conference: Possible programs would be a presentation on instructional design and also a panel of freelance chapter members to provide tips to newer members/recent post-docs starting out in the field of medical writing.

• Helpful resources that you discovered at the conference that you would like to share with the chapter membership:

  • • The CDC Clear Communication Index tool on the web http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/ClearCommunicationIndex/

    • Book: Letting Go of the Word: Writing Web Content that Works by Janice (Ginny) Redish 2012

    • Book: Usability Testing Essentials: Ready, Set . . . Test! By Carol M. Barnum 2011

    • Ten Recommendations for Closing the Credibility Gap in Reporting Industry-Sponsored Clinical Research: A Joint Journal and Pharmaceutical Industry Perspective Mayo Clinic Proceedings May 2012;87(5):424-429 Reporting Industry-Sponsored Research

    • Research Methods & Reporting: Good publication practice for communicating company sponsored medical research: the GPP2 guidelines BMJ 2009;339:b4330 GGP2 Guidelines

    • Updated Aug 2013, Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, ICMJE ICMJE Recommendations

Book Club Update

The next North Central Chapter book club meeting will be January 27, 2014 at The Egg & I.  (2550 University Ave., just west of Hwy. 280 near the Minneapolis-St. Paul border, with 2 free parking lots flanking the building).  The book for discussion is The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD.

Please let Mary Knatterud know by 10 a.m. that Monday morning if you will be joining us.  As always, even if you haven’t started or finished this book, feel free to come and chime in anyway.  Our very friendly group of attendees varies from time to time; new and/or lapsed AMWA Book Club fans are always welcome.  If you don’t want to order a full brunch or lunch, nobody will care if you opt for just a beverage or roll or whatever.  Contact Mary at mkna…@surgery.arizona.edu

And if you’re reading ahead, the next one will be The End of Illness by David Agus, MD. The current plan is for that meeting to take place at the Caribou near Lake Nokomis on April 26. We’ll keep you posted.

Hope to see you at a book club meeting!