So, you want to be a medical editor? It's true that many p hysicians and other healthcare professionals eventually gravitate to this line of work, despite its absence in their original career plans.
Medical publishing is changing, and fast.
Worldwide, 30,000 publications (give or take) could be called "medical journals." The advent of computer automation of the publishing process, artificial intelligence (AI) writers and chat bots, and predatory publishing with fake authors, fake editors, fake reviewers, fake articles, and even fake journals makes the direct involvement of real, live, flesh-and-blood, verifiable human beings more important than ever.
Healthcare professionals may find themselves cast into one of many positions in medical journalism: author, peer reviewer, content editor, copyeditor, editorial board member, even editor in chief, without any formal (or even informal) education in journalism. But their clinical knowledge can take them only so far. They are expected to learn their new roles "on the job" — and that's a problem.
Here's a solution: a first-rate, free-of-charge, international online course on how to become a medical editor. It is a deeply serious curriculum, complete with learning objectives, pre- and post-testing, and earned certificates.
Margaret Winker, MD
The experts who developed this gem of a course are from multiple countries, rich with real-life experience. Their names read like a who's who in the field of medical editing.
The eLearning program was developed under the aegis of the nonprofit World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and was led by Margaret Winker, MD, a University of Chicago–trained internist, current WAME trustee, long-time JAMA deputy editor, and former research editor of PLOS Medicine.
Full course details can be found here: WAME eLearning Program. Give it a try; you will like it.
Author's disclosure: Having been an editor in chief, author, decision-making editor, editorial board member, and peer reviewer for about 50 years, I know and care a lot about people occupying these roles doing a good job. Also, I was one of an international group of about 20 medical editors who invented WAME at Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy, in March 1995 to do exactly this kind of thing. I'm proud of WAME.
COMMENTARY
Could 'Medical Editor' Be Your Next Career Move?
George Lundberg, MD
DISCLOSURES
| June 03, 2024So, you want to be a medical editor? It's true that many p hysicians and other healthcare professionals eventually gravitate to this line of work, despite its absence in their original career plans.
Medical publishing is changing, and fast.
Worldwide, 30,000 publications (give or take) could be called "medical journals." The advent of computer automation of the publishing process, artificial intelligence (AI) writers and chat bots, and predatory publishing with fake authors, fake editors, fake reviewers, fake articles, and even fake journals makes the direct involvement of real, live, flesh-and-blood, verifiable human beings more important than ever.
Healthcare professionals may find themselves cast into one of many positions in medical journalism: author, peer reviewer, content editor, copyeditor, editorial board member, even editor in chief, without any formal (or even informal) education in journalism. But their clinical knowledge can take them only so far. They are expected to learn their new roles "on the job" — and that's a problem.
Here's a solution: a first-rate, free-of-charge, international online course on how to become a medical editor. It is a deeply serious curriculum, complete with learning objectives, pre- and post-testing, and earned certificates.
The experts who developed this gem of a course are from multiple countries, rich with real-life experience. Their names read like a who's who in the field of medical editing.
The eLearning program was developed under the aegis of the nonprofit World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and was led by Margaret Winker, MD, a University of Chicago–trained internist, current WAME trustee, long-time JAMA deputy editor, and former research editor of PLOS Medicine.
Full course details can be found here: WAME eLearning Program. Give it a try; you will like it.
Author's disclosure: Having been an editor in chief, author, decision-making editor, editorial board member, and peer reviewer for about 50 years, I know and care a lot about people occupying these roles doing a good job. Also, I was one of an international group of about 20 medical editors who invented WAME at Bellagio, Lake Como, Italy, in March 1995 to do exactly this kind of thing. I'm proud of WAME.
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
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