Medical Writing 101

Mario Santos is a brown-faced Huck Finn on the banks of his Mississippi, the Chama River. He is Holden Caulfield out of the "gray" city and atop the beautiful mountains of Northern New Mexico, under the influence of a Pentecostal camp meeting; MacCauley Caulkin "Home Alone" and ankle deep in Tabernacle sawdust. Our ten-year old hero asks the hard spiritual questions of existence through a courageous and reckless abandon of convention, and an ADHD passion for adventure. He obliterates religious pomposity and sanctimonious boundaries with his natural discernment of Christian character and religious characters and cuts to the guts of hypocrisy like he's cleaning a freshly caught German Brown' trout. Mario Santos innocently introduces us to a God who might not be recognizable to those convinced of a sterile, stained-glass, Sundays-only deity of cushioned pews and hushed vaunted ceilings. Rolando Benavidez writes as colorful an auto biography as you will ever read, matching the wild wardrobe of a certain angel that keeps plucking Mario out of harm's way as only a supernatural Big Indian can. You'll wonder how the story can be true unless you've also experienced heroic, larger-than-life parents and a hilariously personal God. You don't have to be in the patched-up shoes of a Spanish-speaking, brown-skinned Pentecostal preacher's kid to enjoy Chama Stories, Mario Santos has got that covered and good, as he invites us to hang on for an adventure we won't soon forget. Chama Storiesis a page turning, laugh-out-loud finger-tip trip down the author's memory lane; a dusty lane, set in New Mexico's beautiful Chama Valley, rife with dirt and bumps and outhouses and overzealous deacons and witches and outrageous names and characters too many and funny to list. You'll laugh and cry and wonder why, and in the end you'll be looking for that camp meeting of your own. But be careful, you just might find it.

The first edition of this book (titled “The Clinician’s Guide to Medical Writing”) has become a standard in its field and remains an indispensible reference for any clinician, academic physician, or health professional who wishes to hone their writing skills. However, since its publication in 2004, significant changes have taken place in the way medical professionals communicate with each other and the world. Medical Writing: A Guide for Clinicians and Academicians, 2e retains all of the fundamental writing advice of the first edition and has been expanded to include two brand new chapters: How to Write a Research Protocol (including why a research project needs a written protocol, elements of the research protocol and common problems) How to Write a Grant Proposal (including sections on government and private grant funding sources, what you need to know about grant writing, and elements of a successful grant proposal) New information is also included throughout the book on becoming a successful writer, medical tables and figures, conflict of interest and disclosures, how to review a scientific article, statistical analysis, “pay-to-publish” journal publishing, electronic submission of manuscripts, issues in medical publishing and the future of medical writing and publication. New appendices address commonly encountered research and statistical terms and memorable aphorisms regarding writing, medical and otherwise.

A document may be based on accurate medical and scientific information, follow guidelines precisely, and be well written in clear and correct language, but may still fail to achieve its objectives. The strategic approach described in this book will help you to turn good medical and scientific writing into successful writing. It describes clearly and concisely how to identify the target audience and the desired outcome, and how to construct key messages for a wide spectrum of documents. Irrespective of your level of expertise and your seniority in the pharmaceutical, regulatory, or academic environment, this book is an essential addition to your supporting library. The authors share with you many years of combined experience in the pharmaceutical and academic environment and in the writing of successful outcome-driven documents.​

This book presents must-know facts generally not covered in “How To” books about medical writing. Every medical writer, whether a beginner or veteran, needs answers to questions many might not even know to ask. How does your personality type influence your writing behavior, and what can you do to make writing easier for you? What should you ask before agreeing to co-author an article for publication or write a book chapter? What are some of the current issues regarding copyright and plagiarism that authors may face? What has research discovered about the quotations and references found in journal articles? What do you need to know about open access journals and predatory publishers? Dr. Taylor tells some surprising truths about medical publishing, including possible sources of peer review bias and some alarming influences on what ends up in print. He also relates little-known stories about renowned medical writers such as Sir William Osler, William Carlos Williams and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and the origins of some of medicine’s classic publications. What Every Medical Writer Needs to Know provides information vital for every health care professional who aspires to write for others to read: academicians and practicing physicians; nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants; and professional medical and scientific writers.

"Go write it up!" said your mentor, sending you off with a pile of data and references (or maybe just an idea). Now what? Let this book be your friend and guide, an electronic version of the senior colleague down the hall who answers your writing questions. This book will help health care professionals through their first efforts at medical writing. Focusing on all aspects of submission of manuscripts to medical journals, it is designed to answer questions that many budding authors have. "Medical Writing" starts with the assumption that you have clinical material or data ready to submit for publication in a journal and takes you through the entire process. It provides a practical, systematic approach that has served me well. It includes material on editorial review, and the role of the editorial board. It is designed to serve as a handy reference and supplement to more comprehensive texts. This book is enriched by references to more than 40 authoritative Internet references within the text.

'The Complete Guide to Medical Writing' is intended to consider all aspects of medical/scientific writing in one concise introductory text. It explains how to get published, how to write for a particular audience or in a particular media, what the publishing processes are and what the financial rewards might be.

This book is for the clinician who wants to write. It is for the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who sees patients and who wants to contribute to the medical l- erature. You may be an assistant professor aspiring to p- motion or a clinician in private practice who seeks the personal enrichment that writing can bring. If you are new to medical writing or even if you have been the author of some articles or book chapters and seek to improve your abilities, this book can help you. Who am I that I can make this assertion and write this book, both fairly presumptuous? Here’s my reasoning. As a practicing physician, writing has been my avocation; unlike the authors of many other writing books, I am not a journal editor. Over 14 years in private practice and 26 years in a- demic medicine, I have written all the major models described in this book: review articles, case reports, edito- als, letters to the editor, book reviews, book chapters, edited books, authored books, and reports of clinical research st- ies. Most have been published. Not all. Perhaps my most signi?cant quali?cation is not that I have managed to p- duce a lengthy curriculum vitae. In my opinion, what is more important for you, the reader, is that I have made all the errors. That’s right, the mistakes.

"A plain-language, step-by-step guide to writing particles for medical journals and medical books. Examples, checklists, tips, techniques and advice."