Write for us! Join our team of contributors

If you like to write, join our team of medical writers. You can click here to see who's currently contributing to the MedicineandTechnology.com website.

By writing for us, you'll have the opportunity to raise your visibility on the Internet and expand your social network. You'll also have the chance to connect with key executives in the medical and health technology industry.

We are primarily looking for physicians, medical students, and others who have a background in health care to join the writing team for these websites:

1. http://www.MedicineandTechnology.com
2. http://www.MedicalSmartphones.com
3. http://www.MobileHealthComputing.com

Articles that you write are meant to be informal, editorial blog posts where you will have the opportunity to share your personal experiences and opinions about some of the current trends in medicine, mobile health, and health information technology.

AMWA’s 70th Annual Conference

Interested in medical writing? Then you may want to attend the upcoming AMWA conference. I'm currently a member of AMWA and I find that it's a great organization for physicians, clinicians, and scientists working in the field of medical writing.

Here are some details about the upcoming meeting:

What's at the AMWA Annual Conference for You?

    Networking, education, professional development, career opportunities, information about the latest trends in the industry, and a great deal of fun awaits you at the 70th Annual Conference of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) in Milwaukee, November 11-13, 2010.

    This year’s conference boasts 40 open sessions plus a keynote address that are included in your registration fee. Expert speakers will be discussing topics such as the quality and integrity of indexed medical literature, creating patient-friendly documents, getting organized for better productivity, regulating health and medical information on the Internet, the power of social networks, and much more.

    This year’s conference will also offer 94 workshops and 72 breakfast roundtable discussions to bring you up-to-date on the latest developments in technology, current publication standards, regulations, and best practices. Attending AMWA’s workshops is the perfect way to update your knowledge base, expand your professional development, or earn credits toward your AMWA certificate.

Check out the “What’s at the Annual Conference for Me?” flyer to learn more.

Is health contagious?

This is a guest post by Ethan Segal, MD. If you're interested in submitting a guest post, please contact me.

There is an interesting article in the NYtimes magazine, "Is Happiness Catching?," Is Happiness Catching? - NYTimes.com. The article deals with the phenomenon of "social contagion, " that behaviors, like overeating or smoking can spread through friendship networks. Two social scientists, Christakis and Fowler, published a study in 2007, that analyzed the friendships in the thousands of study participants in the Framingham Heart Study, the landmark study on health and heart disease. They found that good behaviors-like quitting smoking or staying slender or being happy-pass from friend to friend almost as if they were contagious viruses. The same was true of bad behaviors-clusters of friends appeared to "infect" each other with obesity, unhappiness, and smoking. There was a lot of criticism of the study when it was published regarding confounding variables such as the influences of environment (a McDonald's opens in a neighboorhood that makes the social group fat), or that the results were due to "birds of a feather flock together."

While I don't think the notion that social reinforcement influences behavior is an earth-shattering hypothesis, but some of their specific findings were provoking. For instance, if an individual became fat, not just did it make it more likely that their best friend became fat, but that third and fourth degree friends also were likely to soon gain weight. Also, if an individual moved outside the area, the social network still had its effect, arguing against an environmental effect. That means if you gain weight, your friend of a friend who you dont really talk too that much might also gain weight because of you. The authors themselves talk about their findings raising personal responsibility, for instance, the author says after he saw the results it prompted him to lose five pounds and listen to happy music when he got home to his family. He might influence not only his family, but maybe a friend of a friend's family as well. Another interesting point was the effect of publishing your personal efforts to lose weight or quit smoking on your Facebook account. Public health could potentially benefit from using such social networks to influence health behaviors.

This guest post was written by Ethan Segal, MD. Ethan Segal earned a BA from Amherst College and a MD from Tufts University School of Medicine. He is currently working freelance as a medical writer and applying to residency programs for July 2010. He can be reached at Ethan.Segal(at)mac.com

More People Getting Interested in Non-Clinical Opportunities

I seem to be meeting more and more people who have questions about non-clinical opportunities in medicine. I'm not talking about specialties that involve the least amount of patient interactions like pathology. I mean that people want to leave the clinical setting and enter the world of business. Or, they want to work for themselves and do some medical writing. For those of you who have an interest in non-clinical jobs and opportunities in medicine, I encourage you to subscribe to my updates on my blog that is dedicated to this topic: http://www.nonclinicaljobs.com

Blogging for Supplemental Income

You've probably heard that you can make money by blogging. It's a great non-clinical opportunity if you enjoy writing. But how do you get started? What type of blog should you create? Can you make more if you write a medical blog? These are some of the questions that I often get asked.

Blogging can be a hobby (that may result in some supplemental income) or it can be a full-time career. There are people who have left six-figure salaries to go into full-time blogging. Remember the story about the nephrologist Arnold Kim who left his clinical practice to be a full-time blogger? I'm sure that KevinMD also makes a significant amount of money through his blog. I often wonder if he will leave clinical medicine to devote his time fully to his writing.

Blogging is a great option for retired physicians and other healthcare professionals who enjoy writing about different things. Keep in mind that the largest revenue generator are advertisements. However, there are other unique opportunities if you capture the right audience with your blogs.

To get started, I suggest that you use Blogger on Google. It's free and easy to create a Google account. Plus, after you create your blog, you can use Google Analytics to see what type of traffic you're getting on your blog. Many people also use WordPress for their blogs.

Medical Transcriptionists

Do you know how to find a medical transcriptionist? Is it like finding a medical writer? With all the new drugs that are out there, it can get difficult to keep up with all these names. If you want to follow the life of one medical transcriptionist in India named Raj, then I urge to visit his blog. He provides some great commentary and tips about medical transcribing from an overseas perspective.

Life as a Medical Writer

What does it mean to be a medical writer? I encounter this question quite often. Medical writing is about as broad as the world of medicine. If you become a doctor, you may be an internist, a dermatologist, a radiologist, or a surgeon. All these specialties are quite unique and very different.

The world of medical writing is also quite vast. You may get involved in regulatory and safety reports. Want to write research protocols? Do you enjoy marketing? How about writing some promotional pieces? Then you have the world of certified CME which is NOT promotional. Medical writers can also get involved in writing chapters within textbooks. If you're familiar with health literacy issues, then check out consumer health and patient education. There are many opportunities in various consumer-friendly websites, but you have to write at a 6th grade literacy level. The term "ghost writing" is frowned upon in the medical industry, so don't brag about your ghost writing experience. Finally, there's the world of blogging. Some medical writers have been very successful as bloggers.

Opportunities in Medical Writing

A student recently asked me if you had to be a physician to be a medical writer. The answer is no. Opportunities in medical writing are vast. If you want to write and be a lifelong writer, then you can excel in this field as a nurse, a PhD, a PharmD, an MD/DO, or even an MS in biomedical writing. Some medical writers also do really well with a BS or BA in scientific journalism or biology. You'll have more opportunities if you have an advanced degree, but it's not a requirement to be an excellent writer.

Keep in mind that many clinicians may start out writing, but then they advance into other senior positions that may involve project planning, team management, company strategy, new business development, etc. Others love to write and that's their passion, so they have no ambition to do anything else.

Online Master of Science in Health Communication

Boston University (BU) offers an Online Master of Science in Health Communication. For those of you who are considering a career transition into medical communications, you may want to look into this relatively new degree program. I miss my days in Boston. It's such a wonderful city for a college student. However, if you don't live in Boston, you can still get educated by some of the great colleges in New England. Boston University is an internationally respected university with a reputation for excellence and extensive research and ranks among the Top 100 National Universities according to U.S. News & World Report college rankings. Boston University is regionally accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc. (NEASC).

Non-Clinical Medical Opportunities for Physicians and Other Clinicians

updated again on 9/15/2011

For more info, please visit (and bookmark) my other website that is devoted to non-clinical opportunities: 

http://www.NonClinicalJobs.com


If you're a physician and you're considering a non-clinical career, you may be wondering about all the opportunities out there. I get asked about this all the time. Over the years, I've had a chance to meet different physicians working in various companies and industries.

The following may apply even if you're not a physician. If you're a clinician (nurse, nurse practitioner or advanced practice nurse, pharmacist, physician assistant, medical assistant, medical researcher, podiatrist, physical therapist, psychologist, counselor, etc.), many of these opportunities may still be appropriate for you.

First, ask yourself what you enjoy. After all, if you don't enjoy clinical medicine, you don't want to end up doing something else you're not going to enjoy. Then, start networking like crazy. Leverage all the online social networking sites (like LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, etc.) and get reconnected with old colleagues, classmates, and friends. Find out what people are doing. They may help you get connected to some key people. You may find some of the best opportunities this way. If you're a woman, you may want to check out MomMD (www.mommd.com) and join a community of women who are seeking non-clinical opportunities ranging from part-time to full-time work.

The following list of opportunities is clearly non-exhaustive and many of these areas have significant overlap. This list is based on my personal interactions with people in these roles and as I meet more people, this list grows.

Here is my growing list of non-clinical opportunities for physicians (not in any particular order).

1. Healthcare administration, medical management, hospital administration, managed care - Are you a seasoned healthcare executive? Do you enjoy making administrative decisions? Then join the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE) and run a hospital or a managed care organization. If you have a strong interest in managed care, then check out the NAMCP (National Association of Managed Care Physicians). You may want to get an MBA or an MMM (masters in medical management) if you don't already have one. An active US medical license is required for most (if not all) of these positions.

2. VC (venture capital), finance, Wall Street, market research, etc. - Got an MBA? If not, are you thinking of getting one? Some will argue that once you have an "M.D." after your name, it may not matter as much where you get your MBA. However, I would argue that your MBA is your path to networking opportunities, so where you get your MBA is critical if you want to have a solid network. Once you get your MBA, you can work for venture capital (VC) firms, dig into market research companies, or work for Wall Street. Heard of the Gerson Lehrman Group (www.glgroup.com)? No clinical experience necessary for many of these opportunities, but it's always helpful so that you can effectively communicate with KOLs (key opinion leaders) in the field. Many joint MD/MBA students have ventured directly into very successful careers this way. Also, an MBA is not necessary if you have some good business skills and understand the healthcare industry. You will need strong people skills and a willingness to work long hours.

3. Writing and medical communications (includes promotional education, certified CME/CE, consumer health education, and much more) - Do you enjoy writing? Many physicians and non-physicians have very successful careers as medical writers. The field is open to people who enjoy fiction writing, publications, research, or other types of writing. You can get involved working on journal publications, developing promotional content for marketing campaigns, or developing CME programs. Join the AMWA (American Medical Writers Association) and look for opportunities. You can work from home as a freelance writer and have a very flexible schedule. Or, you can work for a publisher or another type of healthcare communications company. You can find a list of some companies by looking at the North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies, Inc., (NAAMECC) website. No clinical experience necessary.

4. Technology and Informatics (health information technology, healthcare informatics, EHR/EMR, PHR) - Want to develop or improve an electronic health record (EHR) system? Do you love informatics? Then join the CCHIT (Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology), the AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association), and the AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association). Clinicians use EHRs and patients (or consumers) use PHRs (Personal Health Records). There are many companies attempting to integrate the data between PHRs and EHRs. There is a national initiative to improve and standardize public health informatics, so now is a great time to enter this industry. No clinical experience necessary, but you should be familiar with ICD, CPT, and other billing codes used in this industry.

5. Disease management, Personal health record (PHR) - Managed care organizations (MCOs) are always looking for better disease management (DM) programs for their plans. Some MCOs develop their own DM plans and others outsource them to external companies. These companies create and deliver various services to managed care organizations, including DM, wellness programs, personal health record (PHR) services, etc. Do you ever get educational pamphlets from your own health plan? Who puts them together? Who designs and develops these wellness and preventive health programs? It's not always WebMD. There are other companies that provide similar services.

6. Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Medical Device - If you're a medical specialist, there are many opportunities to do research for these companies. If you don't enjoy research, then you can develop marketing strategies. Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements have become very popular these days. See all those ads in the medical journals? Get ready for that "corporate America" lifestyle if you plan to venture into industry. You may be working even more hours and carrying a Blackberry instead of a pager, but if you climb that "corporate ladder" and play the corporate game, you may qualify for an early retirement. Young people who are fast learners may be very aggressive and advance rapidly. Be prepared to have a younger boss if you're a seasoned clinician.

7. Independent medical examiner (IME), Expert witnessing, and Legal medicine - Personal injury, medical malpractice, nursing home care, etc. There are firms that specialize in specific areas (like nursing home cases). Want more information? Join the American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM). You can also become board certified by the American Board of Legal Medicine (ABLM).

8. Public health, population health, health policy, and government health - Get an MPH, join the APHA (American Public Health Association), and find a local health department. Or, join the CDC and travel the world. Develop strategies to improve population health. Some pharmaceutical companies also have public health sections and are very devoted to public health and international health (Pfizer in particular comes to mind). Bridge gaps in healthcare disparities. Work for the FDA or a state or local health agency.

9. Consulting - The world is open. Want to work for yourself or for a company? Many healthcare companies are looking for experts to help them develop, refine, and improve their products and services. It may be hard to get started unless you've already established connections. Once again, social networking becomes critical. Your initial success will depend more on who you know.

10. Research - Academia vs. private vs. industry vs. CRO. You don't have to go into industry to do research. Look for a Contract Research Organization (CRO) in your area. Join the ACRO (Association of Clinical Research Organizations). You may want to look at PPD (no, this is not the TB skin test). PPD is a large global CRO. Of course, there are also many other CROs.

11. Executive recruiting, search firm, headhunting, human resources - Physicians can work as an executive recruiter to hire and place other physicians. You can also work your way up and manage other recruiters who do the hiring. Remember, these 'head hunters' get paid a commission based on the salary of the person they place. The $ earning potential can be tremendous if you're successful.

12. Start a company - Have an innovative idea? Start a company! New companies seem to be sprouting all the time. Stay connected with people and keep your eyes open for new ideas. Get an MBA and meet people who can help you get a concept off the ground.

Not sure where to start? As I mentioned above, start building your social and professional network. Reconnect with people and ask many questions. Find people who are in various positions and ask them what they like/dislike.

Join some associations to build your network and to find companies. Note that some associations are specifically for physicians, but many are open to all types of healthcare professionals. Also, even those that are specifically for physicians (such as the ACPE) offer affiliate memberships for certain non-physicians.

ABLM: American Board of Legal Medicine
ACHE: American College of Healthcare Executives
ACLM: American College of Legal Medicine
ACPE: American College of Physician Executives
ACRO: Association of Clinical Research Organizations
AMDIS: Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems
AHIMA: American Health Information Management Association
AMIA: American Medical Informatics Association
AMWA: American Medical Writers Association
APHA: American Public Health Association
CCHIT: Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology
NAMCP: National Association of Managed Care Physicians
SoPE: Society of Physician Entrepreneurs

Thinking about getting an MBA? Read articles related to the MBA here.


I hope some of this is helpful. I'm always revising this as new information comes in, so check back to see what's new.

For more info, please visit (and bookmark) my other website that is devoted to non-clinical opportunities: 

http://www.NonClinicalJobs.com

Question re: opportunities in medical communications and CME

I got a question the other day re: opportunities in medical communications and CME

Here was my response:

Non-clinical opportunities tend to be regional. If you live in the northeast, you are surrounded by medical communications companies. They tend to cluster around pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, so you'll also find some in the west coast, Chicago, Kansas City, Indianapolis, and several other cities. This doesn't mean that you can't have a chance if you don't live in those areas.

Many people become very successful as freelance medical writers living anywhere in the country. A really useful resource for medical writing is the AMWA. You can join and get involved in many different ways. It's always hard to start as a freelancer, but if you're a strong writer, you'll find opportunities. To learn more about the CME industry, I'd encourage you to check out the Alliance for CME and NAAMECC.

30 Best Careers?

There's a story on Business Week that was published last month. It's the "30 best careers for 2009." There were several healthcare positions on that list. However, "physician" didn't make the list. Interestingly, physician assistant (or PA) did make the cut. Do you know what else was interesting? Ghostwriter was also on that list. So was health policy specialist? If you want to see the entire list and read more about these different types of jobs, then take a look at the story.

Writing Jobs

Disclaimer: I don't know much about this site, but I stumbled upon it and thought that it might be useful to some clinicians who are looking for some freelance medical writing opportunities:

http://www.writejobs.com/

AMWA 2008: Setting the Pace

The 2008 AMWA conference is titled: Setting the Pace. The meeting in Kentucky this year. It occurs immediately after the AMA 19th Annual Conference of the National Task Force on CME Provider/Industry Collaboration, “Certified CME for Better Patient Care: Navigating the Regulatory Environment.”

For those who are interested in learning more about medical writing opportunities, this meeting is a great place to network and discover how others have gotten started.

Jobs for Physicians with No Residency Experience

For more info, please visit (and bookmark) my other website that is devoted to non-clinical job opportunities: http://www.NonClinicalJobs.com/

I've met many medical students considering the non-clinical path. The infamous question that always seems to come up is: "What types of non-clinical jobs can I get if I don't do a residency?"

The answer is that it really depends on many other factors. The question is not a simple one, since if you're interested in the business/finance side of the world and have an MBA with some real-world work experience, then you may be fine without doing a residency. In fact, many very successful people have gone that direction.

However, if you don't have an MBA and you don't have any real-world work experience, then it may be more difficult (but certainly not impossible) to find some really promising careers that align with your goals and interests. This will largely depend on your geography, your flexibility, and your willingness to learn new things and to explore your talents and capabilities.

Ask yourself a few things:

• Are you absolutely certain that you don't enjoy clinical medicine? It may be much more difficult to go back to a residency later in your life. Have you explored Preventive Medicine/Public Health? Have you considered part-time work? To get to some of the best opportunities, you may need to start in a clinical career, get some experience, and then transition out of clinical medicine.
  

• How important is salary? I realize that it may seem superficial, but it's very practical if you have loans, a family, etc. If you have another source of income or if you're married and your spouse makes plenty, then you're in a totally different category when you're looking for work. This is why some people love part-time or even freelance jobs where they can work from home.

• What do you really enjoy? Some love/hate business. Some love/hate writing. At the end of the day, your work/life balance may be the most important thing to you. After all, if you have the opportunity to pursue a clinical career, the main reason driving you away from that must be because you don't enjoy that type of work.

For more info, please visit (and bookmark) my other website that is devoted to non-clinical jobs, careers, and opportunities: http://www.NonClinicalJobs.com/

Master of Science in Health Communication

Interested in health communications? Medical writing?

Well, two major schools in the Boston area are offering a Master of Science in Health Communication

Tufts and Boston University

The program at BU is an online multidisciplinary program consisting of 10 courses. The program at Tufts is offered by Tufts University Medical School in collaboration with Emerson College.

Medical Writing Community

What does it mean to be a medical writer? How do you get started? If you're not sure, I invite you to join me in a FREE community of medical writers.

http://medicalwriting.ning.com/

Here, you can ask questions, meet others, exchange ideas and stories, and get advice. I hope you find it useful.

Working from Home

I seem to be meeting more and more professionals who decide to get a job where they can work from home. There have been times when I've had to work from home and it can be very challenging if you're not used to it. There are so many potential distractions and ways that you can lose focus. However, if you prioritize and place the important tasks in front of you, then you can do it successfully.

Among those I know who are working from home, the main things they emphasize are:

1. Have strong computer and technology skills. Know how to web conference and make effective use with speaker phones for long conference calls. You'll be e-mailing attachments back and forth so be familiar with various applications and file types.
2. Be available. Use a mobile device if you have to, but make sure that people can reach you by phone and e-mail during normal business hours.
3. Be willing to travel as needed. Depending on your type of work, you may be required to travel for certain meetings.
4. Deliver on time. That will show that you're focused and dedicated.
5. Set time apart for work. Some people I speak to tell me that they work even more hours at home compared to the office. Make sure that you're not trying to do different things while you're working.
6. Balance your life. The home/work balance must be checked periodically. Otherwise, you're entire life may get engulfed by work.

Medical Writing Salaries

There's an interesting blog that quotes salary figures. The blog is called "MD Salaries" and there is an entry about "medical writer salaries."

The difficult thing about quoting salary figures is that the range can be extremely broad depending on your experience, education, background, skills, etc. It also really depends on the industry. The phrase "medical writing" now covers such a diverse field, ranging from creative writing, research protocols and safety reports, news articles and reporting, CME/CE, marketing and promotional documents, and so much more.

I don't think I've ever found an industry that has a broader salary range that the non-clinical healthcare industry for clinicians.

Medical Communications and CME

Wherever you have a cluster of pharmaceutical companies, you're likely to find communications companies that provide one of two services: 1) certified medical education (CME/CE) or 2) marketing/promotional education.

Both offer what is known as "medical education" but the key difference is whether the education is certified CME/CE or non-certified.

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) has changed its guidelines in many places over the last 5 years, so the rules on CME has evolved dramatically. If you have interests in the CME/CE world, I suggest that you get familiar with the North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies, Inc., (NAAMECC). That's a good place to get started.