MEDICAL JOURNALISM

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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ http//www
.studentbmj.com
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Whoever tells the truth, sooner or later will be
caught doing it
Oscar Wilde
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
What I want you to take home from this workshop

• The importance of communicating science
• What is (bio)medical journalism?
• The role of scientific publications
• Reading well
• Writing well
• And, very well
• Multitude of opportunities

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Why should you communicate science to everyone?
Open discussion
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
What is (bio)medical journalism?
Imagine a bridge
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
5
Whoever tells the truth, sooner or later will be
caught doing it
Oscar Wilde
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
What is (bio)medical journalism?
The world
Public and professional readers
Scientific research
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
The role of scientific publications
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
7
Whoever tells the truth, sooner or later will be
caught doing it
Oscar Wilde
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
The role of scientific publications
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
8
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading well
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
9
The only demand I make of my reader is that he
should devote his whole life to my works
James Joyce
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading The first step towards writing
Why should you start reading biomedical journals
when youre only a student? Medical journals are
a way for doctors to keep abreast of the most
recent and relevant developments in their field.
This is essential for long term medical practice,
as medicine is a constantly changing field.
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading The first step towards writing
Why should you start reading biomedical journals
when youre only a student? Practice makes
perfect. By starting early, you stand to gain a
good reading habit, which is perhaps the hardest
thing to achieve.
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading The first step towards writing
Why should you start reading biomedical journals
when youre only a student? Regular reading
stimulates and sharpens one's judgment of a
paper. Passive absorption of any medical
information could prove disastrous.
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading The first step towards writing
Why should you start reading biomedical journals
when youre only a student? Reading medical
journals will also make medical students aware of
the importance of sustained research (basic
science or clinico-epidemiological) in medicine.
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
13
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading The first step towards writing
Why should you start reading biomedical journals
when youre only a student? Finally, it is
worth remembering that medical journals convey
information, information that is power, and power
in the noblest sense of the word power to change
things and to influence attitudes, behaviours,
and decisions. And, most importantly, power to
help your fellow human beings.
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading Beyond information

• Apart from providing good information, reading
  helps improve your own writing
• Learn to distinguish between good writing and bad
• Create personal preferences
• Find your own writing model

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading A few tips

• Begin simply, and do not worry about
  understanding everything that you read. Always
  have a medical dictionary with you, and when in
  doubt, do not hesitate to ask someone you trust.
• Start with student medical journals to get a feel
  for reading journals, and then progress to
  general medical journals. Preferably, read review
  articles before you go on to read research
  papers.

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Reading A few tips

• It might be helpful to read How to read a paper
  by Trisha Greenhalgh or JAMA's User Guides to
  the Medical Literature before you start reading
  research articles.
• Try reading general science journals and general
  medical journals in the corresponding years of
  your medical education. Not only are both
  indispensable, but they may be helpful if you're
  planning a career in research.
• Personal taste and preferences will come in due
  course, as well as a sense of usefulness and
  enjoyment, which ideally come hand in hand.

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Writing well
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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Science exists because scientits are writers and
speakers
Scott Montgomery
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
The basics
Clarity of writing usually follows clarity of
thought. So think what you want to say, then say
it as simply as possible. Keep in mind George
Orwell's six elementary rules ("Politics and the
English Language", 1946) 1. Never use a
metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which
you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never use
a long word where a short one will do. 3. If
it is possible to cut out a word, always cut it
out. 4. Never use the passive where you can
use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase,
a scientific word or a jargon word if you can
think of an everyday English equivalent. 6.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything
outright barbarous.
Source The Economist Style Guide
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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Dont believe people who tell you that writing is
easy
Alex Paton
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Before you begin
Ask yourself the following questions

• What do I want to write about?
• What kind of article should I be writing?
• Who is going to read my work?
• Where would I be submitting this work?
• Do I have enough time to plan and research the
  article?
• What would be the best way to go about writing
  the article?

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Type of articles

• Scholarly writing
• Original research articles
• Review articles
• Editorials
• Art/Book reviews
• Popular writing
• News items
• Feature articles
• Personal views and analyses
• Columns

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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Editors are easily pleased, but not often
Alistair Brewis
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Know your audience
Who is going to read your work?

• General public?
• Be simple, and dont assume prior knowledge
• Researchers?
• Be accurate and to the point
• Scholars?
• Dont waste time in history, they know it
• Professional colleagues (GPs, for example)?
• Tell them what they need to know
• Students?
• Keep it relevant to students, and dont
  patronise

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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The world of medical journalism is small, varied,
and bitchy and is probably not for the faint
hearted
Stella Lowry, Richard Smith
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Submitting to a publication
Some points to remember

• Pitch the idea to the editor, where appropriate
• Read their instructions to authors
• Look at their style guide
• Write a covering letter to sell your article
• Give them adequate time to process your
  submission
• Be prepared for rejection
• Do not hesitate to appeal or to resubmit
• Always learn from your mistakes

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Research, organise and revise
Research

• Use every resource available at your
  disposalBooks, Journals, Magazines, Internet
• Choose from a wide range of sourcesoriginal
  studies, review articles, monographs, interviews,
  personal communications, conferences, press
  releases
• Ensure the credibility of your sources
• Make sure that you cite the sources when you use
  them, else you might be accused of plagiarism

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Research, organise and revise
Organise

• Plan a proper structure for the article, and
  stick to it
• To write is to experiment, and writing is a
  scienceso, take time to structure the article
• Where it is possible to avoid redundancy, avoid
  it it is always a struggle deciding what to
  leave out
• Have an engaging introduction, logical
  development of the body, and an appropriate
  conclusion

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Research, organise and revise
Revise

• Ask yourself the following questions
• Organisation
• Is there a proper beginning and a conclusion?
• Does the article flow logically from one part
  to the next?
• Are there any factual or logical errors?
• Style
• Does it conform to the style of the publisher?
• Are the sentences clear, short, and
  unambiguous?
• Does the article make an easy reading?

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Writing very well
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Example One.
An abstract from a research paper, which you
ought to summarise for a magazine/journal
Using adoptive transfer of lymphocytes given
after host immunodepletion it is possible to
mediate objective cancer regression in patients
with metastatic melanoma. However, the generation
of tumor-specific T cells in this mode of
immunotherapy is often limiting. Using a
retrovirus encoding a T cell receptor, we report
here the ability to specifically confer tumor
recognition by autologous lymphocytes from
peripheral blood. Adoptive transfer of
these transduced cells in fifteen patients
resulted in durable engraftment at levels
exceeding ten percent of peripheral blood
lymphocytes for at least two months post
infusion. We observed high sustained levels of
circulating, engineered cells at one year
post-infusion in two patients, that both
demonstrated objective regression of metastatic
melanoma lesions. This study suggests the
therapeutic potential of genetically engineered
cells for the biologic therapy of cancer.
Source Science 2006 Published Online, August 31
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Example One.
Heres how we have transformed it The
enemy within The vertebrate immune system,
in a limited way, can recognise and destroy
cancer cells arising from within the host by
recognising them as foreign (or non-self).
However, many tumour cells escape this immune
detection, and do go on to cause cancer.
Scientists have been looking for a way to improve
this defence mechanism, and gene therapy seems to
be a possible solution. T lymphocytes were
extracted from the blood of patients who had
malignant melanoma. They were infected with
genetically modified retroviruses carrying the
gene for receptors that can recognise
melanomatous cells. Once infected, the
retroviruses created double stranded DNA from
their RNA, and incorporated the DNA into the host
T cell. In effect, the T cells now began to
express the genes that would enable them to
recognise cancer cells as foreign. The
experimental treatment was tried on 17 patients
with advanced melanoma, who had a life expectancy
of 3 to 6 months. Two of the patients had
complete remission after 18 months of treatment.
Although the modified T cells survived in the
remaining 15, the expression of the crucial gene
for melanoma receptors gradually waned. Further
research is needed to extend and improve this
therapeutic modality to other forms of cancer.
Source studentBMJ 200614355
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Example Two.
A press release reads Over 250 people have
registered their intention to take part in
Europe's very first sponsored Masturbate-a-thon
in London today, reports organiser Marie Stopes
International. People from all walks of life and
social class and every shade of sexuality are
expected to attend the specially converted
photographers' studios in Clerkenwell. The
Masturbate-A-Thon is the brainchild to two
American sexologists, Dr Carol Queen and Dr
Robert Lawrence, and has run in the US for the
past six years raising over 25,000 for women's
health initiatives and HIV prevention, education
and treatment organisations. This event will also
benefit HIV and sexual health charity Terrence
Higgins Trust. At the Masturbate-a-thon,
participants get loved ones to sponsor them for a
certain amount of money for every minute they
masturbate during the Masturbate-A-Thon, the
number of orgasms they achieve or simply for
having the courage to turn up and take part!
In aid of global sexual and reproductive
health agency Marie Stopes International, and
sponsored by ID Lubricants (UK), the leading UK
brand of personal lubricants, the event also aims
to act as a public education device to increase
the use of self pleasure as a strategy for safer
sex and to dispel the shame and taboos that still
persist around the subject of masturbation.
Source www.masturbate-a-thon.co.uk
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Example Two.
Heres how the studentBMJs version for our
humourous section, Eyespy, reads In support of
(arguably) the safest form of sex, Marie Stopes
International organised Europe's first ever
"masturbate-a-thon" on 5 August in London. Their
aim was to dispel the shame and taboos that still
persist around this form of sexual activity.
Participants were sponsored by friends and loved
ones, and the event took place in an (arguably)
welcoming environment, with dedicated areas to
suit all tastes - from solo booths for the more
nervous to mixed sex areas for the adventurous.
That the adventurous were not allowed to venture
beyond their allotted territory should not come
as a surprise.
Source studentBMJ 200614352
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Multitude of opportunities
BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
32
What you must on no account do is wait for
inspiration
John Braine
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Write for us
Five simple steps to get published in the
studentBMJ

• Pitch the idea to the editor (studenteditor_at_bmj.co
  m)
• Consult the author guidelines available on our
  website studentbmj.com
• Write the article, with an expert, if necessary
• Submit the article at http//submit.bmj.com
• Wait for a decision after peer-review

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
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MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Get involved with us
Why not work with us?

• Become a student adviser for the sBMJThis will
  tell you how your paper will be assessed by the
  BMJ
• Apply for the Clegg ScholarshipCome to the
  offices of the BMJ in London, and learn all about
  medical journalism by working with us for eight
  weeks
• Steal my jobbecome the next student editor

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ
34
MEDICAL JOURNALISM
The quintessential arm of biomedical research
Recommended reading

• Greenhalgh, Trisha. How to read a paper. BMJ
  Books, Blackwell Publishing
• Albert, Tim. Medical Journalismthe writers
  guide. Radcliffe Medical Press, Oxford
• Sackett, David and colleagues. Clinical
  Epidemiology.A basic science for clinical
  medicine. Little, Brown and Company, Boston,
  Massachusetts
• The Economist Style Guide/Oxford Style Guide
• Turner, Barry. Writers Yearbook. MacMillan
• Montgomery, Scott. The Chicago Guide to
  Communicating Science. The University of Chicago
  Press, Chicago.

BALAJI RAVICHANDRAN Editor, studentBMJ