Medical Writing Medical Communication Lingua Franca and Beyond

Volume 25, Issue 2 - Medical Communication

Lingua Franca and Beyond

Abstract

Communication, communication and even medical communication

What is it about? Let’s start with the Wikipedia definition: “Communication (from Latin comm - ūnicāre, meaning ‘to share’) is the purposeful activity of information exchange between two or more participants in order to convey or receive the intended meanings through a shared system of signs and semiotic rules.”1 So it is about sharing information on purpose, and in this light medical communication should be perceived as any medical information shared between any parties, as long as it is done on purpose. But is it really what we, medical writers, have in mind when talking about medical communication? To check it, I went back to the archive of Medical Writing and even The Write Stuff (Medical Writing ancestor) and searched for a definition or explanation. It didn’t take me long to come across Ryan Woodrow’s article in which he tries to answer a very simple question: “So what exactly does your job involve?” Ryan is a freelance medical communication consultant. His answer is simple and short: “I help pharmaceutical companies to communicate about their drugs to doctors”, but then he elaborates:

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References

  1. Wikipedia. Communication [cited 2016 May 23] Available from: https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Communication
  2. Woodrow R. Freelance Medical Commun ic - at ions Consultant: “So what exactly does your job involve?” The Write Stuff 2011;20(1):17-9.
  3. Davis NM. Medical abbreviations: 5500 conveniences at the expense of commun ic - ation and safety. Huntingdon Valley, Penn - sylvania: Neil M. Davis Associates; 1988.
  4. Brunetti L, Santell JP, Hicks RW. The impact of abbreviations on patient safety. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety 2007;33:(9)576–83.
  5. Kuhn IF. Abbreviations and acronyms in healthcare: when shorter isn’t sweeter. Pediatr Nurs 2007;33(5):392-8.

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Articles

Medical communication writers: Who are they and what do they do?
EMWA News
President's Message
Suggested reading in recent issues of European Science Editing
Medical affairs writing: A key role to relay medical information to everyone
Top ten questions about careers in MedComms
Staying ahead of the game in the changing arena of ethical medical communications - Viewpoint of a freelance medical writer
A PhD and medical writing: A good match
Writing for pharmaceutical or medical device companies: A survey of entry requirements, career paths, quality of life, and personal observations
Medical Gems
The request for proposal process: A brief overview for trainee medical writers
Winners of the Geoff Hall Scholarship Essay Competition
Abstracts from the EMWA Spring Conference Poster Session
News from the EMA
Journal Watch
In the Bookstores
The Webscout
Regulatory Matters
Lingua Franca and Beyond
Gained in Translation
Medical Writing Teaching
Profile - An Interview with Juliane Chaccour - Writing in Mozambique
Letter to the Editor
Out On Our Own

Links

The Write Stuff Archive Contact Instructions for Authors Article Template (Word) Journal Policies

Editoral Board

Editor-in-Chief

Raquel Billiones

Co-Editors

Evguenia Alechine

Jonathan Pitt

Managing Editor

Victoria White

Associate Editors

Anuradha Alahari

Jennifer Bell

Nicole Bezuidenhout

Claire Chang

Barbara Grossman

Sarah Milner

John Plant

Sampoorna Rappaz

Amy Whereat

Section Editors

Daniela Kamir

AI/Automation

Jennifer Bell

Biotechnology

Nicole Bezuidenhout 

Digital Communication

Somsuvro Basu

EMWA News 

Ana Sofia Correia 

Gained in Translation

Ivana Turek

Getting Your Foot in the Door

Wendy Kingdom / Amy Whereat

Good Writing Practice

Alison McIntosh 

In the Bookstores

Maria Kołtowska-Häggström

Lingua Franca and Beyond

Maddy Dyer

Publications

Lisa Chamberlain-James

Medical Communications/Writing for Patients

Payal Bhatia

Medical Devices

Evguenia Alechine

My First Medical Writing

Anuradha Alahari

News from the EMA

Adriana Rocha

Out on Our Own

Tiziana von Bruchhausen

Pharmacovigilance

Clare ChangZuo Yen Lee 

Regulatory Matters

Sam Hamilton

Regulatory Public Disclosure

Claire Gudex

Teaching Medical Writing

Louisa Ludwig-Begall / Sarah Kabani

The Crofter: Sustainable Communications

Louisa Marcombes

Veterinary Writing

Editors Emeritus

Elise Langdon-Neuner

Phil Leventhal

Layout Designer

Chris Monk