Section outline

  • Lecture:

    Public Medical Writing: Communicating about Research with the Public, Policy Makers, and Funders

    AND

    Being Newsworthy: Sharing Your Study Results with the Lay Press


    Faculty:  Margot Kushel, MD and Louise Aronson, MD


    Location:       Mission Hall 1400

    The first half of the session (led by Dr. Louise Aronson) will focus on preparing articles for "public" audiences. Researchers who have the greatest impact on healthcare, patient lives, and the medical system often write both for professional colleagues and for the public, policy makers, potential funders, and health system leaders. Opinion and story-based articles are among the most effective ways to reach wider audiences and have significant, real-world impact. This session will introduce the four main types of public articles-- thought pieces, perspectives, narratives, and op-eds. We will dissect sample articles of each type to identify keys to their success and discuss how to determine the right article type, audience, and approach for your research goals.

    The second half of this session (led by Dr. Margot Kushel) will focus on strategies for disseminating study results in the lay press, including working with university media officers to prepare concise but engaging press releases, summarizing study results in a way that is both scientifically appropriate and easy for lay audiences to digest, and addressing subsequent questions, interview requests, and comments from reporters, media outlets, and the public.  We will discuss how to decide whether a study is "newsworthy", when to start preparing a press release for a study, and how to respond to time-sensitive media inquiries about their research.

    • Session Slides:

    • Lecture slides-- Being Newsworthy File
      Not available unless: You belong to Registered Students Only
    • Lecture slides--Public Writing File
      Not available unless: You belong to Registered Students Only

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Required Reading:

      Browner WS. Publishing and Presenting Clinical Research, 3rd Ed, Chapter 8

    • Optional Reading:

    • Aronson - Story as evidence, evidence as story File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Dahlstron Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Meisel and Karlawish- Narrative vs Evidence-Based Medicine File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Steinner Use of Stories in Clinical Research File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Kwok R. Communication: Two minutes to impress, Nature, 494, 137-138 (2013) doi:10.1038/nj7435-137a URL
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Resources:

    • Optional Assignment #4:  Draft a thought piece, perspective, narrative, or op-ed article related to your research - please e-mail to Louise Aronson at Louise.Aronson@ucsf.edu.