Interested in a career in journalism?

What do you know about journalism? Medical journalism can be a very enjoyable career and it's very different from traditional journalism. To learn more, you can join the Association of Health Care Journalists.

There is also an upcoming Evisors webinar on Aug 6 at 12 pm ET about "Careers in Journalism" and it might be worth exploring. You can learn more about journalism and how to break into the field.

Graduate Program in Science Journalism at Boston University

Want to be a science journalist? Boston University offers Graduate Program in Science Journalism. This program is dedicated to improving the understanding of science, medicine and technology worldwide.


A career in science and medical journalism offers a rewarding opportunity to explore and investigate any number of critical contemporary concerns—from medical and environmental policy to culture clashes and matters of social justice. BU’s one-year Master’s in Science Journalism program is run by internationally known journalists, every one an active and highly regarded expert in the field.

Learn more about this program here.

Enhance Your Marketing Career - Earn a MS in Health Communication

Place no limits on your career in the health care industry. With a Boston University Master of Science in Health Communication online degree, you will:

• Learn to incorporate interactive tools such as social media and e-mail marketing to communicate important health care messages.
• Benefit from the interaction you’ll experience with your fellow students from a diverse mix of industry backgrounds, including: marketing, health care, public relations, journalism, sales, non-profit fundraising, education, and communications.
• Deepen your abilities to influence and communicate health issues at all organizational levels to become an established leader in the health communication profession.

Get started now. The Master of Science in Health Communication at Boston University is the first program of its kind to be offered entirely online, and is shorter than most – complete it in as little as 18 months.

Health Journalism 2011 (Association of Health Care Journalists)

Health Journalism 2011
Association of Health Care Journalists
04/14/11 - 04/17/11
Philadelphia, PA

Hundreds of journalists will meet in Philadelphia's historic district to attend dozens of panels, join workshops, take field trips and report on newsmaker briefings focused on the various aspects of covering health, medical research, public health, policy issues, consumer health and the business of health care.

Along with panel sessions and workshops, special events will include our popular Freelance PitchFest, the 2010 Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism luncheon, exhibitor hall prize drawings and a Welcome to Philadelphia reception.

Among the dozens of expert speakers and instructors joining us this year:

• Brian Deer, the British reporter who exposed the weaknesses in a study that led parents all over the world to withhold vaccines from their children
• Walt Bogdanich, investigative editor for The New York Times and former 60 Minutes producer.
• David Blumenthal, national coordinator for health information technology, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Featured Physician Executive: Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Each week, we feature a physician executive. This week's featured physician is Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN. Here are some snippets about Dr. Gupta:

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the Emmy®-award winning chief medical correspondent for the Health, Medical & Wellness unit at CNN. Gupta, also a practicing neurosurgeon, plays an integral role in the network's lead reporting on breaking medical news, regular health reports for American Morning and Anderson Cooper 360°, anchoring the weekend medical affairs program Sanjay Gupta, MD, and reporting for CNN documentaries. Gupta also contributes to CNN.com and CNNHealth.com, co-hosts “Accent Health” for Turner Private Networks, and writes a column for TIME magazine.

When did Dr. Gupta join CNN?

Based in Atlanta, Gupta joined CNN in the summer of 2001 and led CNN’s reporting on anthrax following the Sept. 11 attacks in New York City.

Does Dr. Gupta still practice medicine?

In addition to his work for CNN, Gupta is a member of the staff and faculty at the Emory University School of Medicine. He is associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital and regularly performs surgery at Emory University and Grady hospitals. He is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves as a diplomat of the American Board of Neurosurgery, is a certified medical investigator, and is a board member of the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong Foundation.

Did Dr. Gupta graduate from an Ivy League university?

Gupta received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Michigan Medical School.

Alternative Careers for Physicians

Have you read the JAMA PULSE edition titled, "Making a Living: Alternative Careers for Physicians?" PULSE is the medical student section of JAMA. Now, this was written back in 1998 and it was written in the context that people believed that we would face a surplus of physicians in this nation. I think we all know that the opposite is now true.

The Editor's Note is written by Jason A. Konner, a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine (remember, this was back in 1998). It appears that Dr. Konner is now a medical oncologist in NY at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (see his bio here). I like his quote where he said, "Tomorrow’s doctors should not be unemployed; rather, they should be redefined." I still believe that's true today. Any physician who chooses to pursue an alternative or non-traditional career path should have the opportunity to redefine a medical career. After all, in today's world, it's rare to find physicians having the opportunity to repeat a residency in a different specialty.

In this edition of PULSE, the two main alternative career paths that get highlighted include:

1. Medical Journalism
2. Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology

MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing

MIT offers a one-year master's degree program in science writing. What is science writing? Here's a snippet from the MIT website:

Science writing means writing about science and technology for general readers. It appears in ordinary newsstand magazines and newspapers, in popular books, on the walls of museums, on television or radio programs. It grapples with genes, fractals, synapses, and quarks, but always with grace and style. Its practitioners worry as much about how to tell the story of science as the science itself—and yet, in maddening paradox, as much about the science as its telling. Science writing tackles big ideas, important issues. It's ambitious, creative, hard to do—harder yet to do well.

Among the alumni, some have written books, others have published in magazines and newspapers, several of them have science blogs, and others are working as full-time science writers.

Recently, I've received many questions related to careers in medical writing and medical communications. If you enjoy being creative and you like to write, then you might really enjoy the independence and autonomy you can experience as a medical writer. Several other universities offer graduate degree courses in science writing, biomedical writing, medical journalism, etc. For instance, the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia (USP) offers a Master of Science in Biomedical Writing and also offers Certificates in Medical Writing.  Boston University offers a Master of Science Degree in Science and Medical Journalism. The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill also offers a Master's Program in Medical & Science Journalism.

To learn more about the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing, click here.

Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ)

The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. There are more than 1,000 members of AHCJ.

This week, the AHCJ is having its annual conference: Health Journalism 2010
04/22/10 - 04/25/10
Chicago, IL

Learn more about the Association of Health Care Journalists here: http://www.healthjournalism.org

Mayo medical students can pursue journalism

It was great to see Dr. Sanjay Gupta from CNN at HIMSS10. When people think about medical journalism, they probably think about Sanjay. Well, if you'd like to pursue such a career path, here's something to consider:

According to several recent stories circulating on the Internet, Mayo Medical School is working with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication to start a journalism degree program for its medical students. Mayo Medical School students from Rochester, Minnesota, will come to ASU after their second year of medical school to fulfill a dual master’s degree. They will be completing a mass communications degree.

The degree program at Cronkite is just one of five dual degree programs that ASU offers Mayo medical students. Other degree programs with ASU are medical-law degrees, medical-bio engineering and medical-MBA at W. P. Carey School of Business and medical-bio informatics.

Read more about this at the Stanford SCOPE blog. Or, you can also read the story on statepress.com.

Thanks to Paula from ReachMD for pointing me to this story.

Excellence in Epilepsy Journalism Award

Care to win a medical journalism award? To encourage journalists to raise awareness of epilepsy and to help break down these barriers, the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) and UCB are pleased to launch the Excellence in Epilepsy Journalism Award. The award will recognize journalists who produce stimulating, informed and compelling news and feature stories on epilepsy.

The Excellence in Epilepsy Journalism Award is a joint initiative from UCB and the International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE) which recognizes and rewards outstanding contributions to epilepsy journalism. There are 3 categories:

• Medical print / online
• Consumer print / online
• Broadcast

The award is open to consumer, health and medical journalists writing for print, broadcast or online outlets.The award is open to stories that have been published or broadcast from 01 July 2008 until June 30 2009.

An independent six member panel will judge entries, looking for responsible, informed and original stories. Entries will also be assessed on the following specific criteria. The work:

• Helps to increase the awareness and understanding of epilepsy
• Gives a voice to people with epilepsy
• Is conceptually or visually innovative and creative
• Is well structured, well researched and compelling
• Uses language responsibly when reporting or writing on epilepsy

Interested in learning more? Click here to go to the UCB website.

SHERP Program at NYU

If you're interested in medical journalism, you should take a look at the SHERP program at NYU. New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) is one of the oldest and most prestigious science journalism training programs in the country. The program was known as 'SERP' until 2006, when the 'H' was added to acknowledge the program's focus on health reporting. Perhaps it should have been an "M" for Medical reporting, but then SMERP just doesn't have the right ring to it. Students completing the 16-month program receive a Master of Arts in Journalism and an Advanced Certificate in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting.

Want more information? Click here.

Congrats to Dr. Ivan Oransky!

Ivan Oransky, MD has been hired as the new executive editor for Reuters Health. Dr. Oransky is a Harvard graduate (BA in biology) and he received his MD from the New York University (NYU). According to the NYU Journalism Facutly website, Dr. Oransky did his postgraduate training at Yale and he has served on the board of directors of the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) since 2002. Dr. Oransky also has experience teaching medical writing in the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP). Previously, he was deputy editor of The Scientist, editor in chief of the medical student section of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA).

Future of Science Journalism

This is from an MIT Museum presentation on science journalism. MIT President Dr. Susan Hockfield states that science journalism “is now, and in the decades ahead, absolutely indispensable.” As we confront global warming and health pandemics, science reporting must be sustained, Hockfield says, “in its rightful place, at the top of the profession and in the thick of the national conversation.”


Speakers:
Jill Abramson
Managing Editor, The New York Times

Philip Hilts
Director, Knight Science Journalism Fellowships, MIT

Cristine Russell
Senior Fellow, Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs

Andrew Revkin
Reporter and blogger, The New York Times

Ivan Oransky
Managing Editor, Online, Scientific American (previously served as deputy editor of , editor in chief of the medical student section of the Journal of American Medical Association or JAMA.

Evan Hadingham
Senior Science Editor, NOVA