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Winter 2014   

By Jennifer Minarcik
When J. Patrick Barron, professor emeritus, Tokyo Medical University, first moved to Japan as a student, "I had no idea my career would lead me to this award," referring to the Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award, presented each year during the AMWA annual conference to "an active member who has made distinguished contributions to medical communication or rendered unusual and distinguished services to the medical profession."
Barron joked that during his early years in Japan, he was once referred to as the "kingyo no fun;" which translated means "the excrement trailing behind the goldfish."
Barron has had a distinguished career: During his time in Japan, he pioneered the idea of a medical communication center that could provide support to authors and help facilitate research information out of the country (a difficult chore, in that most Japanese scientists were not fluent in English at the time). He promoted English for medical purposes and education throughout Japan, and he created a novel website dedicated to assisting authors who wish to publish their findings in journals outside Japan.    

Outstanding Service; A Call to Action 

He recalled one instance where an English publication rejected a paper Barron had edited on behalf of his Japanese colleagues as "needing a native English speaker." When Barron wrote to the journal, explaining that he was not only a native English speaker but had undergraduate degrees in English, and queried about the specifics of the editors' statements, his letter went unanswered.
"But several months later, the paper was published in its entirety," he said. Even today, there remains an Eastern publication bias that Japanese and Asian authors continue to face when trying to publish an article in English. Barron also discussed the need for international standards to globalize English for medical purposes throughout the world.

Barron concluded his lecture by challenging audience members.
"Why is AMWA not in Asia?" he asked. He suggested that "working together to facilitate improvement in medical communication globally" could be the catalyst for accelerated treatments and better healthcare. He believes AMWA members are "the perfect group of communicators" to join him in this cause.
For more information on J. Patrick Barron and his efforts, visit his website at www.Ronbun.jp 

Also during the awards luncheon, the 2014 Golden Apple Award was presented to AMWA-DVC's Thomas Gegeny, MA, ELS, for his excellence in workshop leadership.
The 2014 Fellowship to 3 outstanding AMWA members, among them AMWA-DVC Freelance Conference Chair Lori De Milto. Other recipients included JoAnne McAndrews, PhD, and Deborah Whitppen. An honorary fellowship was awarded this year to Justina Molzon, MS, JD, of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for her efforts in fostering relationships between medical communicators and the FDA.

Jennifer Minarcik, MS, is a freelance science and medical writer.  

By Kristine Shields

Each year, AMWA honors a distinguished writer for excellence in communicating healthcare issues in the public domain. This year's Walter C. Alvarez award was presented to Rosemary Gibson, MSc, on October 11 at the 2014 AMWA Annual Conference in Memphis, Tenn. Gibson is known for her ground-breaking work in giving voice to patients who have experienced preventable injury or death within the US healthcare system. 

Giving Voice to the Patient and Their Caregivers

Upon accepting the award, Gibson, senior advisor to The Hastings Center and section editor for the "Less Is More Perspectives" in JAMA Internal Medicine, candidly discussed her path to writing about her passion.

Stating that "data persuade, but emotions motivate," Gibson described the process of writing two books that shared the stories of people whose lives have been affected by preventable medical errors or unnecessary treatments:

• Wall of Science: The Untold Story of the Medical Mistakes that Kill and Injure Millions of Americans (2003)
• The Treatment Trap: How the Overuse of Medical Care Is Wrecking Your Health and What You Can Do to Prevent It (2010)

 (All of Gibson's books are available at this link)  

Finding the Courage to Speak Up

Gibson spoke about her struggles to expose the "shame and blame" culture within the medical profession.
Having worked for more than 16 years in palliative care at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, she spoke of the courage it took to publish a book about the fallibility of healthcare providers like her colleagues, her mentors, and her friends. But ultimately Gibson found comfort, safety, and camaraderie from those very colleagues. All of us, she said, regardless of income, education, or position, are vulnerable to medical errors.
Her greatest joy, she said, is "hearing from people who are alive" because of her work. 

Writing for the Public Good

Calling medical errors "the only leading cause of mortality that we do not count," Gibson stated, "We need to talk about it and measure it in order to fix it." She credits the work of medical writers and publishers that has led to increased awareness of patient risk including: 

• The routine publication of hospital readmission rates
• Papers addressing the overuse of procedures, tests, and technologies like back surgeries and CT scans
• Studies indicating that malpractice rates go down when hospitals and healthcare providers are more forthcoming about errors
• The resulting increased awareness has led to changes in practice that support patient safety:
• The marking of the location on the body where the surgery will be performed before the patient is sedated
• The Choosing Wisely Campaign wherein medical specialists identify the top five categories of patient risks and publish the steps they are taking to reduce them

Learn and Network at the 2015 Freelance Conference 

Every June, AMWA-DVC volunteers take on their new roles (some keep them from year to year, some are elected positions that have a 12-month tenure). Here, to make it easier for our members, we're including some of the volunteers and how to reach them. If you have any ideas for upcoming programs, articles you'd like to see or write, or general questions/comments about AMWA-DVC, use the emails below to reach officers and committee chairs.

Some Key AMWA-DVC Volunteer Email Addresses

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