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KEY IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM FIRST-TIMERS: 2012 AMWA ANNUAL CONFERENCE

By Amy Rovi

Amy Rovi is the editor of AMWA-DVC's quarterly newsletter, the Delawriter. Her company, Medivor, LLC, develops regulatory documents and medical marketing materials for Web and print.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: THE 2013 AMWA ANNUAL CONFERENCE WANTS YOU!

Share your expertise at the 2013 AMWA Annual Conference, to be held November 6-9, 2013, in Columbus, OH. Presenting a session at the Annual Conference offers several benefits. For example, you can establish yourself as an expert in your field, refine your presentation techniques, and help grow your subspecialty; in addition, many employers will pay for conference attendance only if the employee presents.

Get all of the details by checking out the 2013 Call for Proposals. Expand your horizons and plan to present in Columbus! The deadline for submitting proposals is February 28, 2013.

AFTER THE GOLD RUSH: NLM AND GOLD NUGGETS OF INFORMATION!

Join us from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. on February 20, 2013 for our first webinar of 2013. Kate Flewelling, MLIS, outreach coordinator at the National Network of Libraries of Medicine-Middle Atlantic Region, will update you on the library's latest information innovations. The cost for this 60-minute webinar is $10, and preregistration is required.  

Register through the AMWA-DVC Web site. 

By Brian Bass

Susan Aiello, DVM, ELS, noted for her innumerable contributions to AMWA at the national level and a favorite daughter of the Delaware Valley Chapter, accepted the esteemed Swanberg Distinguished Service Award in Sacramento at the 72nd Annual Conference this past October. Distinguished service to AMWA has been a centerpiece of Susan's membership, and she is an inspiration to any AMWA member who wants to get involved.

Susan joined AMWA in 1986 and was a valued member of DVC until she relocated to the Ohio Valley Chapter. In 2005, she received the Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching in the AMWA education program, and she has been a frequent workshop presenter at the AMWA-DVC Princeton Conference where she will be teaching again this May. Susan has also served in numerous positions on the AMWA Executive Committee.

In her Swanberg Award address, Susan spoke of one of her greatest passions: books. And after experiencing her presentation, you may never look at the books on your shelf the same way again. She showed us the proper way to prepare a book for reading so you don't break the spine, and brilliantly entwined her love of books and reading with thoughtful and often hilarious glimpses into how both have shaped her personal and professional life.

You can experience Susan's wonderful presentation for yourself on YouTube, where it's presented in 2 parts: 

Part 1: http://youtu.be/q6E7rF2dGjE

Part 2: http://youtu.be/hyi1S7vWUJE 

Brian Bass is author of The Accidental Medical Writer and president of Bass Global, Inc.

By Kent Steinriede

Strong Chinese and foreign investment has created a boom in pharmaceutical and medical device research that shows few signs of slowing. "They're incredibly talented people who want to make things better," says Michael Platt, MS, president of MedVal Information Services, which has offices in Shanghai and Skillman, NJ.

However, these busy Chinese researchers need medical communicators who can help them publish their research in English-language journals. At the December educational dinner, "Made in China, Written in the USA: Opportunities for Medical Communication," at the ECRI Institute in Plymouth Meeting, PA, Platt and Seth Goldenberg, PhD, co-founder of the Asia Pacific Bio Intelligence consulting firm, shared their expertise and experience working in the Chinese healthcare market and biomedical writing and publishing.

"Like everything in China, it all has to do with the government," says Goldenberg. Currently the Chinese government is pushing to modernize the healthcare industry and provide universal healthcare for more than 1.4 billion people by 2020. Meanwhile, the government spent $131 billion on healthcare infrastructure between 2009 and 2011. More than 15,000 hospitals and clinics have been built or planned in recent years, says Goldenberg, a former FDA regulatory chemist who worked in China and is also a senior principal scientist at NAMSA, a global medical device research organization.

Markets for Medical Writers in China 

Western pharmaceutical firms are also busy growing in China, with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Sanofi and Roche each capturing a market share of 5% to 8%. Pharmaceutical companies have in-house medical writers for regulatory submissions, but they usually outsource their publications writing. This is a good market for English-language medical writers because Chinese researchers often receive incentives and rewards to publish their findings in international journals, says Platt. The proportion of academic biomedical publications with Chinese authors has grown from about 2.5% in 2002 to nearly 8% in 2012.

However, not all Chinese research studies and manuscripts are ready to be published in Western peer-reviewed journals. Many studies lack novelty and the appropriate methodology that peer-reviewed journals expect. Also, Chinese manuscripts often contain speculation and, because Chinese researchers are generally not familiar with the CONSORT guidelines for reporting randomized trials, are not well-organized. This is where the medical writer and publications specialist comes in, says Platt. A writer and editor who can help clean up the grammar and language in manuscript and organize it properly can be a great value to Chinese clients, he says.

A medical writer can also help the Chinese client manage expectations for the manuscript. Researchers the world over would love to see their work published in the New England Journal of Medicine, but not all studies and manuscripts are suited for the most prestigious journals. Platt says this presents challenges because Chinese researchers are often under pressure to publish in high-impact English-language journals, and the researchers can become quickly dissatisfied with the writer or consultant when the manuscript is rejected. So it's important to set the expectations up front and to be familiar with open-access journals that may be more likely to accept a manuscript and publish in a timely manner, Platt says.

Another challenge is that North American-based medical writers can easily price themselves out of the market because Chinese budgets are generally about half of those of North American or European clients, Platt says.

Doing Business in China

Contacts, at least a letter of introduction, are key. "If you're going to go there and do business, you'd better know somebody." Politically connected medical societies are the best way to gain access to researchers, experts and opinion leaders. If you have an area of specialty, Platt recommends contacting the secretary of the Chinese society for that specialty and asking for an introduction.

From there, plan on investing in plenty of face time before your contacts become clients. China has a much slower way of doing business, Platt says.

Kent Steinriede, MS, is a regulatory writer for Icon Clinical Research and Pennsylvania program chair for AMWA-DVC.

IN MEMORIAM - EDIE SCHWAGER, DECEMBER 16, 1916 - OCTOBER 17, 2012  

Edie Schwager joined AMWA in 1964 and served two consecutive terms as president of the Delaware Valley chapter (1973 to 1975). She shared her wisdom with AMWA members through her "Dear Edie" columns in the AMWA Journal and was honored by AMWA for numerous accomplishments spanning several decades.

By Kelleen N. Flaherty

Dear Edie,

No... "dear, dear, dear, dear, dear Edie."

I first met her in 1999, when I asked her to be a guest speaker in my introductory biomedical writing course in the Biomedical Writing programs at the University of the Sciences. I couldn't believe she said "yes."

She said "Let's go to dinner, instead." So we did, my whole class, to a restaurant near where she lived in west Philadelphia. She sat like a queen before her subjects, at the head of the table, and answered questions for two hours. Shot from the hip. No research.

Then she took us on a tour of her fantastical home, two stories of bookcases, books packed up to the ceiling, and the full OED on a wooden pedestal in the middle of the room, like a shrine. She was sweet and warm and welcoming, but to me it felt like an audience with royalty.

I wrote her a couple of questions for her column over the following ten years, but otherwise hadn't any contact, besides taking her seminar at an AMWA meeting. Then came the request from AMWA for locals to visit Edie in the nursing home where she resided, post-stroke, to help her continue with her column. It was about an hour away from where I lived, and I jumped at the chance.

I walked into her room. She looked at me, blinked, and said "Kelly!" It had been easily ten years since I had seen her. "I still have your CV in my files."

I hugged her; we talked for over two hours, got caught up, and went to work on her column. Monthly visits turned to near-weekly visits. I'd walk in and she'd say "business or pleasure?" I'd look at her to see how fatigued she was, and if she was, I'd keep the AMWA questions in my bag, sit down, hold her hand, and complain to her about my mother, who was making me crazy. "She needs to grow up," said Edie, once, and made me laugh.

I was mandated to bring her a chocolate milkshake every time I visited, made only with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup - not chocolate ice cream. Twelve ounces. I stopped at a Baskin and Robbins every time I went to see her, and had them make a chocolate shake - to her specs - and defiantly had it put in a fourteen-ounce cup, for which I was fortunately not upbraided. Every time I walked into the B&R, they'd just start manufacturing the milkshake.

I'd sit, hold her hand, laugh, and listen to her regale me with stories about her once having set Isaac Asimov straight, how she never missed a deadline, and how she had to fire the occasional client. She'd wax eloquent about her pet peeves: use of the word "verbal" when the correct word was "spoken," "vestigial tails" such as using an unnecessary "-ical" at the end of a word (eg, "pharmacological" vs "pharmacologic"), and "effectiveness" vs "efficacy."

The young nurses' aides adored her; Edie referred to them as "just a doll, a doll," and they smile, call her "Miss Edie," and remind me continually that she was an important medical editor. Edie had a very mischievous streak in her. An aide was once talking about the important medical stuff Miss Edie did, and Edie said with complete, gentle authority "You know, before the Ten Commandments were edited, the Seventh Commandment didn't have the word "not" in it." The aide - whom Edie knew was very religious - went wide-eyed. Edie strung her along for a bit, and then told her she was kidding. I was not up on my Commandments and I asked her what she had said, and Edie said "well, the Seventh Commandment read 'thou shalt commit adultery.'" And I was all like "jeez, Edie," and she chuckled sweetly and said "all in good fun."

Working on Edie's column with her was and remains the highlight of my medical writing career, and the most flattering opportunity I have ever had. Edie was sweet, funny, bright, and thankful for everything she had, right up to the end. I will miss her badly.

Kelleen N. Flaherty, MS, is Assistant Professor of Biomedical Writing at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, PA.

WHAT DOES DVC REALLY MEAN?

Sure, we are the Delaware Valley Chapter, which happens to be the largest chapter of AMWA. But, what does DVC really mean? What does our abbreviation represent? Let's create some new C's! How about Delaware Valley Challenge, Corner, or Content?!

Challenge:

Do you have fresh ideas or stories that will inspire or challenge our constituents in the Delaware Valley? Let us know!  

Corner:

Can you share some helpful tips, tools and sites that will help others? Let's create a corner or section of our newsletter dedicated to ongoing tips, tools, and sites. Please send them our way!

Content:

Yes, you get the idea. We are seeking content for the Delawriter.

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Copyright ©American Medical Writers Association-Delaware Valley Chapter 2013. You may not copy or reuse the content of this newsletter without our written permission.