Patient-reported outcomes: How useful are they? - Volume 26, Issue

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are any report on the status of a patient’s health condition as told by the patient him or herself or through an interview, without any interpretation by a clinician or anyone else. They generate information on those…

Out On Our Own - Volume 24, Issue

None of us like to think of getting older, and retirement may seem like a long way off for many. However, planning for your pension is critical if you want to ensure greater financial freedom without the need to take on so much work later in life.…

In the Bookstores - Volume 22, Issue

The Spirit Level

Ever had a ‘ping’ moment? This book might have been mine. I'm not a natural pessimist, but Western society today seems less cohesive and people more materialistic, stressed, unhealthy, and unhappy than in times gone by. Wealth and s…

The Light Stuff - Volume 22, Issue

Decoding the Japanese Code 1: Yes means yes, and no does not exist At a recent dinner, my husband and I were chatting with a university professor, a Japanese fellow who has lived and worked in Europe and the US. We talked about cross-cultural…

Non-clinical health writing - Volume 23, Issue

We medical writers have a unique and valuable skill set, which includes, most notably, the ability to understand and clearly communicate complex medical information. We are also experts at working with multifunctional teams, compiling detailed…

In this issue of Medical Writing - Volume 23, Issue

Some of you might remember the old days when writing was done with a typewriter, spreadsheets were big pieces of paper, and slides were printed on film. Thanks to computers, these are old memories, and we can all be much more productive. Software…

Out on Our Own - Volume 25, Issue

In this edition of OOOO, we are pleased to bring to you four diverse and thought provoking articles, and some practical tips. We thank you for your contributions and once again invite you to submit any articles that you wish to share with your…

The horror and the pity: Obesity and diabetes - Volume 21, Issue

Something less beguiling for a horror-story addict than the emergence of obesity would be hard to imagine. Start by reading the 27 August 2011 issue of the Lancet. One article predicts that the obesity rate in the UK will make the tremendous leap fro…

President's Message - Volume 24, Issue

Welcome to the first issue of medical writing in 2015 on plain language, which means that this message had better be simple and easy to read. I am a huge advocate of plain writing and, as a Publication Manager, spend much of my time working with…

From the Editor - On social media: Once a passive observer – now an active user - Volume 30, Issue

It is with great pleasure that I write my first editorial for this amazing issue on social media. The idea of this issue came to me in 2019, inspired by two special colleagues.

I had social media accounts even before I became a medical writer. I rec…