Meeting the Needs of Tomorrow’s Medical Writers: AMWA’s Expanded Professional Education Program

by Victoria White

A shorthand way of describing members of AMWA is to say that we are either writers learning to become scientists or scientists learning to become writers. That is a great description, as far as it goes, but if you are involved in designing a professional education program to meet AMWA members needs, it doesn’t take long for things to become much more complicated.

Where are you in your career? Who is your audience? What is your therapeutic area (to use that two-word combo that seems so common at these meetings)? What skills are you lacking? Are you familiar with current ethical standards? And stats, what about stats?

AMWA’s workshop-based education program debuted in 1979. In the past year, AMWA has unveiled an updated program that is designed to offer a wide range of workshop options in key areas of interest to medical communicators. For existing members, there is a new lingo to learn. For new members, well, they also have a lingo to learn.

In Open Session 3, moderated by Douglas Haneline, panelists Lawrence Liberti, Susan Aiello, and Dane Russo explained the new system.

In a nutshell: Members who have been working on core, science fundamentals, and advanced certificates under the old system can generally continue to do so. New members should look to the updated curriculum.

In the new system, the Essential Skills curriculum will be the place to start. Essential Skills courses will provide a basic grounding in editing, writing, communication, and bibliographic skills. An ethics workshop, which is being taught for the first time at this year’s conference and will be available toward the end of 2011 in the distance-learning format, is required for earning a certificate.


After completing Essential Skills (or the previous Core Curriculum), members can also earn certificates in specialty areas of Business, Composition and Publication, Concepts in Science and Medicine, and Regulatory and Research. The ethics classes for those specialty areas are expected to be available at next year’s annual conference. Enrollment in advanced certificates in the specialty areas is planned for 2012. All certificates require successful completion of 8 workshops (7 subject area and 1 ethics workshop).

In the short run, the panelists noted, you will see workshops listed with designations indicating their places in both the old and new systems, but over time, the multiple designations will fade away.

More Information

PowerPoint presentation describing changes to the certificate program
FAQ
AMWA Journal article (members-only sign-in required)