The Clinician’s Guide to
Medical Writing
The Clinician’s Guide to Medical Writing
Robert B. Taylor, M.D.
123
Robert B. Taylor, M.D.
Department of Family Medicine Mail Code FM
Oregon Health & Science Univ. School of Medicine Portland, Oregon 97239-3098, USA
taylorr@ohsu.edu
CIP data available upon request.
ISBN 0-387-22249-9 Printed on acid-free paper.
© 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.
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This book is dedicated to two mentors who have been important in my life:
Martha E. Irwin, my Latin and Spanish teacher, who taught me to value words and their meanings,
and
Charles F. Visokay, M.D., my first medical editor, who helped me learn how to write for clinicians.
Preface
This book is for the clinician who wants to write. It is for the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who sees patients and who wants to contribute to the medical lit- erature. You may be an assistant professor aspiring to pro- motion or a clinician in private practice who seeks the personal enrichment that writing can bring. If you are new to medical writing or even if you have been the author of some articles or book chapters and seek to improve your abilities, this book can help you.
Who am I that I can make this assertion and write this book, both fairly presumptuous? Here’s my reasoning. As a practicing physician, writing has been my avocation; unlike the authors of many other writing books, I am not a journal editor. Over 14 years in private practice and 26 years in aca- demic medicine, I have written all the major models described in this book: review articles, case reports, editori- als, letters to the editor, book reviews, book chapters, edited books, authored books, and reports of clinical research stud- ies. Most have been published. Not all. Perhaps my most significant qualification is not that I have managed to pro- duce a lengthy curriculum vitae. In my opinion, what is more important for you, the reader, is that I have made all the errors. That’s right, the mistakes. Over the years, I have jum- bled spelling, mixed metaphors, tangled syntax, gotten lost in my own outline, written on unimportant topics, and submit- ted articles to the wrong journals. But along the way, I have published 22 medical books and several hundred papers and book chapters in the literature. This book is written to share what I have learned—what works and what doesn’t in med- ical writing.
This book is intended to help clinicians translate their practice observations and ideas into written form and even- tually into print. In striving to achieve this purpose, I have
written the book with four objectives in mind. These objec- tives are to help the clinician-writer
■ understand more about the art of medical writing, including motivation, conceptualization, mechanics, and frustrations;
■ discover how to write in the different models found in the medical literature, including review articles, case reports, editorials, letters, book chapters, research papers, and more;
■ learn how to get a manuscript published; and
■ recognize that writing can be fun.
The book’s 10 chapters cover basic concepts in medical writing and how to write various types of articles and book chapters. The content is a blend of personal experience and research on the Web and in printed sources. Throughout all chapters, I have attempted to follow the time-honored prin- ciple of supporting theory with examples, some from actual published materials and some created to help illustrate the ideas presented.
In Chapter 1, I challenge authors to consider three ques- tions before beginning work on an article or book: So what?
Who cares? Where will it be published? As the author, I believe that I should answer the three questions in regard to this book. The “So what?” question asks what is new and differ- ent, and I think that the answer lies in the fact that I address medical writing knowledge and skills from the viewpoint of the clinician, not that of the medical journal editor or profes- sor of English literature. The “Who cares?” issue concerns the potential reader; for this book, that is the clinician who writes for the medical literature. In response to the “Where will it be published?” question, I am pleased that this book is published by Springer-Verlag, the world’s leading publisher of scientific books, with whom I have had an author–publisher relationship since 1976.
As a clinician, you have a tremendous source for writing ideas—the patients you see each day. Think about the mean- ing of a cluster of uncommon problems you have observed recently, the unlikely manifestation of a common disease, or the extraordinary courage displayed by one of your patients.
Perhaps you have found a new way to use an old remedy, or you have your own thoughts about a recently published study. This book is about helping you—the practicing clini- cian—recognize the reportable idea and write it up.
Happy writing!
Portland, Oregon Robert B. Taylor, M.D.
May 2004
Table of Contents
Dedication v
Preface vii
About This Book xiii
1 Getting Started in Medical Writing 1
2 Basic Writing Skills 29
3 From Page One to the End 61
4 Technical Issues in Medical Writing 85 5 What’s Special About Medical Writing? 105
6 How to Write a Review Article 127
7 Case Reports, Editorials, Letters to the Editor,
Book Reviews, and Other Publication Models 143
8 Writing Book Chapters and Books 167
9 How to Write a Report of a Clinical Study 195
10 Getting your Writing Published 213
Appendix 1 Glossary of Terms Used in Medical
Writing 247
Appendix 2 Commonly Used Proofreader’s Marks 253 Appendix 3 Commonly Used Medical Abbreviations 255 Appendix 4 Normal Laboratory Values for
Adult Patients 259
Index 263
About This Book
True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learn’d to dance.
Alexander Pope
After reading this book, you will have a better understanding of the art of writing, both of writing in general and, specifi- cally, of medical writing, with all its idiosyncrasies. This short introduction tells a little about the book’s organization and its own peculiarities, including word use, reference style, and the examples and allusions you will encounter. In the end, our common goal is to find some true ease in writing, through consideration of both theory and examples from the literature, and by looking at what constitutes good and not-so-good writing.
The book progresses from the theoretical to the practical. It begins with basic writing topics and skills. Next comes a con- sideration of the various models for medical writing, from review article to report of a research study. The final chapter discusses how to get your work into print. The appendix has some handy tools that may help you along the way, including a glossary of medical writing terms, proofreader’s marks, and some tables of commonly used abbreviations and laboratory reference values that you may use in your publications (with attribution, please, but you need not request permission from Springer-Verlag or from me).
In the early chapters on basic writing skills, I use the word article, even though we know that later in the book the prin- ciples of authorship described will also apply to editorials, letters to the editor, and research reports. In using words, I will often go to the Greek or Latin roots; doing so helps me use words more precisely.
Within chapters, you will also note some reference cita- tions in parentheses. These are used for articles and books that are the sources of writing examples. Although I believe
it unlikely that any reader would actually want to consult these writings, I have provided abbreviated citations, just in case.
At the end of each chapter are references presented in the style of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submit- ted to Biomedical Journals, a very useful guide that will be discussed in later chapters. Using this reference style for the book models the way you will generally prepare citations for your medical articles.
I have done my best to make this book a pleasure to read.
This includes using short, strong words, and, at times, color- ful images. I have included allusions to medical history, clas- sical writing, mystery novels, popular songs, opera, and movies. We will visit Pogo and Snoopy, zombies and clones, Billy Crystal and Frau Röntgen, Princess Turandot and Yogi Berra. As you read along you will also learn some medical information, such as whether or not flu vaccine can prevent ear infection in children and whether continuity of care can lower health care costs. All the examples in the book help illustrate points about medical writing that I consider impor- tant.
My wife, Anita D. Taylor, M.A. Ed., has read every word in this book at least twice and has provided ideas that are reflected in what you will read. For her contributions, I am truly grateful.
I hope that what follows will help you master the art of writing, to “move easiest” by learning—not really new dance steps—but some helpful tips on how to walk the path from idea to print.
xiv ABOUT THIS BOOK
