New Certificate in Science Fundamentals

Summary of a meeting held Oct. 11 during the annual conference of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA)

AMWA President Sue Hudson (pictured above) started the meeting by asking for a show of hands to indicate how many people in the room had earned science degrees. Sue then asked how many had earned English or humanities degrees. She discovered the proportion ran about two-thirds humanities and one-third science, out of 40–50 people in the room.

Sue then explained how the new certificate is primarily for people with English and humanities degrees. Sue explained her degree is in journalism. She started her career as a technical writer for a company that made photographic equipment. In 1995 she began editing medical manuscripts with her husband. She described the certificate as being designed for people like her: writers with a non-science background who want to improve their knowledge of science without pursuing an advanced degree.

Sue said the certificate is also for people who have an advanced degree in one area of science who would like to get an orientation to another area. As an example, Sue mentioned a biochemist who wants to learn a bit more about a clinical specialty, or a clinician who wants an orientation to molecular biology. Finally, Sue added, the certificate is for those individuals who simply enjoy the rigor of working toward an educational goal.

The idea for the new certificate came out of a 2005 membership survey, in which members said they would like to see AMWA offer more science instruction. Each workshop is designed to give no more than an introduction to a topic. Sue assured her listeners that AMWA leaders have no illusions that completing one three-hour workshop will make anyone a scientist. Instead, each science workshop is supposed to give attendees an overview of the topic, an introduction to key concepts and methods, and suggest good resources to learn more.

Sue said staff members have made a conscious effort to make the science fundamentals certificate similar in many respects to the core certificate. So, for example, the two certificates both require completion of eight workshops, four from a general list and four from a specialty list. Enrollment costs the same for the two certificates: $125 for members and $235 for nonmembers. Workshops can be taken in any order, but all eight must be completed within 6 years.

Apparently many AMWA members have taken credit-bearing workshops in excess of the number required for the core certificate. Dane Russo, AMWA education manager, explained that these workshops may be applied toward the science fundamentals certificate, under three conditions: 1) the person’s certificate enrollment was paid-up at the time he or she took the workshop, 2) the topic of the workshop is on the list of topics for the science fundamentals certificate, and 3) the workshop has not yet been applied toward another certificate. Dane encouraged AMWA members who are uncertain of their educational history to check their personal records using the members-only section of the association’s Web site.

Michele Vivirito, annual conference administrator, explained the standard workshop template that instructors will use as they prepare instruction. Again, Michele emphasized the goal is not to train future scientists, but rather to train writers and editors to read and understand scientific material, thereby enhancing their credibility with doctors and scientists.

According to Michele, the basic workshop template encourages instructors to provide an introduction, a glossary, an overview of basic concepts, a description of common techniques, a review of the homework, and a list of resources for further study. The homework template suggests that instructors ask their students to learn about key resources in the specialty area, read a current scientific article about the topic, and use one or more resources to prepare a passage of text for discussion at the workshop.

Susan Aiello, workshop coordinator for the certificate, encouraged scientists in attendance to consider offering workshops within their medical specialty areas, such as eyes, bone, skin, heart, etc. Prospective leaders should submit a CV, and indicate whether they want to lead the workshop alone or with a co-leader. Susan said new workshops are usually offered on a non-credit basis at first. Then they are modified, based on student input, before being offered for credit.

In response to a question from the floor, Dominic De Bellis, past president of the Empire State-Metro NY chapter and past president of AMWA, tried to explain the level of instruction to be delivered. De Bellis stated it will be possible to have an English major with no formal science training enroll in a workshop alongside someone who has earned a doctorate in cell biology. This is a common instructional challenge in AMWA workshops, De Bellis said. Instructors must be able to simultaneously answer questions from someone who is totally lost, while also answering high-end questions from someone with extensive background in a related topic. This is one reason why precourse assignments are so useful, De Bellis said. Homework helps instructors get a feel for the level of instruction that will be most helpful for the largest number of students, as they try to find a middle ground.

Barbara Snyder, outgoing education administrator for AMWA, said she has asked workshop leaders to tone down the level of their instruction in the past, because some of them get carried away with technical and scientific details.

“I’m extremely happy that a program like this exists,” said Alisa Gayle Mayor, a member of AMWA’s Delaware Valley Chapter. Mayor has begun work toward earning the certificate because she came to the medical writing field with a humanities background. Mayor encouraged AMWA leaders to publicize the new certificate program widely, so more people can take advantage of it.

For a list of science fundamental workshops, see column in the upper right corner.