Poster Presentations

Poster presentation session Friday morning. Sandra Ripley Distelhorst describes her poster, "Developing Consensus Manuscripts: From Planning to Publishing."

Time Travel at the AMWA Conference

by Deb Whippen

AMWA attendees like their history; that’s my takeaway from watching them linger in front of the poster about the association’s 70-year history at this year’s annual conference. Each attendee who stands, absorbing the AMWA’s historical timeline and seminal moments, is an advertisement about the association’s accomplishments. And they make the poster look appealing. During a quiet moment, I walk over from my exhibit booth and browse. There’s the first meeting I attended, in 1989, in my then-hometown of Boston. That first year for me I was lucky enough to choose to attend Edie Schwager’s English Usage and Abusage workshop. I remember being impressed by her, a small, chirpy woman who showed us funny grammar errors made indelible in plastic-covered newspaper pages. She impressed upon us that we were word warriors who could do better! And that AMWA would teach us how.

AMWA was already almost 50 years old when I joined. By joining, I became part of an organization that had an established mission of providing education for medical communicators. That’s the same reality for those who join AMWA today. My career in medical publications has taken me many places and this year I find myself at the meeting as a first-time exhibitor, promoting my own publishing company and a newly published book for medical writers. I have learned a lot from the many conversations I’ve had with attendees while they stand on the other side of my exhibitor table, talking over the books and materials published since starting my business five years ago.

But maybe my biggest takeaway from this year’s conference is that AMWA is malleable in meeting its members needs. Its resources are indeed its members and the actualization of the association’s commitment to education. AMWA is also a successful trade organization in that it represents the professional collective voice about the reality and interests of medical writers.

My ability to participate this year as an exhibitor, a chapter president, a breakfast roundtable leader, and an attendee who reads posters reaffirms to me that no matter where I am in my work life, AMWA is a resource for me and my career.

Bravo, AMWA!

Related post:
AMWA: Celebrating 70 Years of Medical Communication Excellence

AMWA: Celebrating 70 Years of Medical Communication Excellence

At the poster session in Milwaukee, Scott C. Thompson discusses "Seminal Moments in AMWA History: 70 Years of Medical Communication Excellence." Scott developed the poster with Melanie Fridl Ross.


AMWA history poster

Related post:
Time Travel at the AMWA Conference

A certificate is not certification

Turns out that an AMWA Task Force has been looking into developing an AMWA certification program. It's still just a POSSIBILITY, and it would require years of careful study and preparation, but still, how exciting! Certification is different from earning a certificate; it's a more rigorous process, and the credential is thus (presumably) more meaningful to employers, clients, and other colleagues.

By definition, I have learned, certification involves a qualifying examination, and people can't take the exam unless they meet certain criteria. For example, ISMPP requires a bachelor's degree and ~2 years of relevant work experience, or a high school diploma and ~5 years of work experience. BELS has similar requirements and also requires letters of recommendation. The American College of Healthcare Executives has extensive requirements, including years of membership in that organization and years of service to the profession and the candidate's community. 

At Open Session 6, "Professional Certification for Communicators," Kim Pepitone, the member of ISMPP who championed her organization's certification program, explained that the first step in the process was to define the core competencies of medical publication planners. What are the core competencies of medical communicators? I wondered. Then lo, I walked into the exhibit area and spotted "Medical Writing Competency Model," a poster by David Clemow, PhD. It summarizes how the Drug Information Association has addressed this very question, and David also provided copies of a 22-page handout that explains the competencies in detail. David has invited interested parties to request a copy of the poster from him at davidclemow@lilly.com.

--Faith Reidenbach

Poster session

Jennifer Yee (left) and Katherine Karakasis (right) discuss their poster with Janet Miller (center).

The poster is titled "Effective Planning Strategies for Grant and Project Development." Karakasis and Yee work in Research Communications at the University Health Network in Toronto. The corresponding author on the poster is Shelley Brown.