Many medical writing projects start with a literature search and review. But conducting a thorough literature search can be time-consuming. How do you effectively gather all the information you need?
Here is a way to do it.
Tag: medical writing
Medical Writing Tips, Tricks, and Beyond: What I Learned From AMWA-MAC’s Annual Conference
American Medical Writers Association’s Mid-Atlantic Chapter held its annual meeting on March 4, 2016 in Gaithersburg, Maryland. With 10 workshops specially designed based on members’ feedback, the meeting attracted 44 medical writers and editors from all over the country.
In addition to 4 credit workshops taught by Tom Lang, a legendary medical editor, and Art Gertel, the 2014 AMWA Eric Martin Award winner, the meeting also offered 6 noncredit workshops on a wide range of practical topics.
Having earned credits for all the credit workshops, I decided to participate in 3 noncredit workshops: one in the morning and two in the afternoon.
Here are a few examples of what I have learned.
Ready, Set, Go, and Keep Going!
Perseverance pays off. The message stuck with me when I was writing this month’s profile article on Wendy Young for the American Chemical Society.
Young, vice president of discovery chemistry at Genentech, has a stellar career that makes many people envy. As a graduate student, she was part of the discovery team that invented Alimta®, one of the most effective chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of lung cancer. As a research scientist and project team leader at her first biotech job, she helped discover and move multiple candidates into clinical trials for oncology and thrombotic indications. As a vice president of discovery chemistry at Genentech, her team has significantly contributed to the discovery of more than 17 clinical candidates.
Drug discovery and development, however, is not for the fainthearted. As Young said in the profile article, “There are a lot of failures before you hit on success.” And “You have to be willing to keep getting up after being knocked over.”
To succeed in the field of drug discovery and development, Young believes persistence is a must. I believe the same is true with any profession, scientific and medical writing as well.