Our Letter to the Brandywine Health Foundation

 

Here's a photo of our letter to the Brandywine Health Foundation. 

It went out in this afternoon's mail.

Here's the actual text, between the line of asterisks:

*********************************  

Ms. Frances M. Sheehan

President and CEO

Brandywine Health Foundation

50 S. First Ave.

Coatesville, PA 19320

December 30, 2013

Dear Ms. Sheehan:

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Don Harting and I live in Downingtown. I represent Brandywine Medical Writers (BMW), a small, informal organization now forming with the express purpose of helping the Brandywine Health Foundation (BHF) achieve its admirable goal of improving the health and well-being of people who live and work in the greater Coatesville area.  BMW would like to offer professional medical writing services to BHF on a pro bono basis during 2014.

BMW members belong to the Delaware Valley chapter of the American Medical Writers Association and live or work in Chester County. We are familiar with the special problems facing many residents of Coatesville, and we have a strong desire to help the underserved. We are also trained and experienced mid-career professionals with knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests in the following areas:

·       Biochemistry

·       Microbiology

·       Public health

·       Medical coding and transcription

·       Laboratory science

·       Nutrition

·       Oncology education

·       Cancer survivorship

·       Continuing education

·       Helping children of divorced parents

·       Newsletter article writing and editing

·       Blogging, tweeting, and social media

·       Content strategy and development

·       Publication planning

·       Copyediting and proofreading

·       Grant writing and editing

We think the projects BHF undertakes to foster community partnerships, build capacity, and make grants to promote health equity and healthy youth are worthy of support. The Festive 5K Run to benefit the Coatesville Youth Initiative is just one example. Please let us know if there is any way we can support you. We are available to discuss this offer by telephone, in person, via email, or whichever manner best meets your needs.

Sincerely yours,

Donald Harting, MA, ELS, CCMEP

Group Representative

(610) 363-5258

donharting@verizon.net

*********************************

Now we just need to wait and be patient until someone responds.

Happy New Year!

Draft Text of Our Letter to BHF

Brandywine Medical Writers

c/o Harting Communications

301 Brookwood Drive 

Downingtown PA 19335

 

 

 

Ms. Frances M. Sheehan

President and CEO

Brandywine Health Foundation

50 S. First Ave.

Coatesville, PA 19320

December 30, 2013

Dear Ms. Sheehan:

Brandywine Medical Writers (BMW) is a small, informal organization now forming with the express purpose of helping the Brandywine Health Foundation (BHF) achieve its admirable goal of improving the health and well-being of people who live and work in the greater Coatesville area.  BMW would like to offer professional medical writing services to BHF on a volunteer project basis during 2014.

All BMW members live or work in Chester County, are familiar with the special problems facing many residents of Coatesville, and have a strong desire to help the underserved. We are also trained and experienced mid-career professionals with knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests in the following areas: 

·       Biochemistry

·       Microbiology

·       Public health

·       Medical coding and transcription

·       Laboratory science

·       Nutrition

·       Oncology education

·       Cancer survivorship 

·       Continuing education

·       Helping children of divorced parents

·       Newsletter article writing and editing

·       Blogging, tweeting, and social media

·       Content strategy and development

·       Publication planning

·       Copyediting and proofreading

·       Grant writing and editing

We think the projects BHF undertakes to foster community partnerships, build capacity, and make grants to promote health equity and healthy youth are worthy of support. The Festive 5k to benefit the Coatesville Youth Initiative is just one example. Please let us know if there is any way we can support you. We are available to discuss this offer by telephone, in person, via email, or whichever manner best meets your needs.

Sincerely yours,

Donald Harting, MA, ELS, CCMEP

Group Representative

(610) 363-5258

donharting@verizon.net

Our Letter to the Brandywine Health Foundation

Hi Everyone:

I'd like to compose this letter during the week between Christmas and the New Year. Thank you to those who have given me their skills/interests information. If you have not, please try to comment by Monday, December 23.

Also, if you can sign up to receive a notification when this blog is updated, that would be helpful. Email notification is perhaps easiest, but you can also use RSS (Atom), if you use a blog reader.

Thank you!

P.S. If you want to contact me directly, you may use email at donharting (at) verizon (dot) net.

Update on Helping the Poor in Coatesville

Hi Everyone:

(That means Maria, Theresa, Michelle, Martha, Yi, Bonnie, and anyone else who visits this blog.)

Maria Ligos and I met last night at the Pen and Pencil Club in Philadelphia to talk about a possible service project in Coatesville. It was a pleasure to finally meet Maria in person. We were joined by Yi _____, whose last name escapes me, a scientist and medical writer doing preclinical research in mice. We were also joined briefly by Joanne Rosenberg, our dedicated chapter president.

As I mentioned in my Dec. 17 post to the AMWA-DVC subgroup on LinkedIn, Joanne told us that the chapter won't be able to support us in any formal fashion, since an outreach project like this doesn't fall within the chapter mission. But she said it sounds like a good idea, and encouraged us to go ahead.

As a first step, I'd like to suggest that we send a letter to Ms. Frances Sheehan, president and CEO of the Brandywine Health Foundation (BHF).

The BHF (net assets of $27 million) sponsored the festive (and fun!) 5K run earlier this month.Here's a photo taken in 2012:

The BHF's primary mission is improving health in the Coatesville area by funding safety net agencies that many residents depend on to stay healthy. Most of its annual revenue comes from earnings on investments, but a substantial sum (approx. $500,000) comes from grants. 


The BHF uses this money to support a wide variety of local health-related agencies operating in Coatesville. For example, in 2013 BHF granted $340,000 to ChesPenn Health Services, $245,000 to Chester County Community Dental Center, $50,000 to Child Guidance Resource Centers, plus many other grants too numerous to mention. (These figures come from the 2013 annual report.)

Essentially, we would send a letter to Ms. Sheehan saying this:

"We are a group of local medical writers with professional skills in a number of areas, including public health, laboratory science, nutrition, and _________ (you would help me fill in the blank). We think what you are doing at BHF is a wonderful thing and we would like to volunteer to help you. One particular area where we may be able to help is in writing and editing grant applications. Please let us know if someone at the BHF would be willing to discuss this idea further, either in person or over the telephone."

Then we would wait to see what happens.

Hopefully, if we keep things simple, we'll be able to get this letter in the mail (or email) before the end of the year.

What I need from you is:

* A sense of whether you are on board with this
* If you are, some information about your skills, abilities, and interests that I can mention in the letter.
* If we need to give ourselves a name (since we are not affiliated with AMWA-DVC) is it OK if we call ourselves the Brandywine Medical Writing Group?

For example, Maria has a particular interest in nutrition and providing fresh produce. I have skills/interests in the area of providing services to cancer survivors, and to bereaved children (death or divorce in the family).

Please weigh in on these topics using the comments feature on this blog. I have tried to make commenting as easy as possible, but if you get annoying messages, please tell me and I will try to remove them.

You can also sign up to receive notifications when this blog is updated, either via RSS (atom) or via email.

Thanks for your interest in helping improve public health in Coatesville, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Don


  P.S. Terry was having trouble commenting, so I removed the moderation feature. Now all comments will be posted directly to the blog, you won't have to wait for me to approve them. (If we get too much spam I will change this.)

Discussion Questions for First BELS Tweet Chat

This chat begins at 11 AM ET today.

 

Q1 BELS tweeted once daily during July on resources related to a list of key competencies provided by AMWA. Which was your favorite? #cmwesm

 

Q2 Which of the July tweets was your least favorite, most boring, etc? #cmwesm

 

Q3 Were there any tweets (based on AMWA list of competencies) that surprised you? #cmwesm

 

Q4 Any competencies you think got overlooked? #cmwesm

 

Q5 How can editors help assure competence in medical writing? #cmwesm

 

Q6 Why do you think ‘maintain confidentiality’ ranked so high in the AMWA job analysis survey? #cmwesm

 

Q7 How could we make this chat even more fun if we do it again? #cmwesm

BELS TWEET CHAT FAQs

The Board of Editors in the Life Sciences,  a nonprofit organization formed in 1991, will hold its first tweet chat from 11 AM to noon EDT on Wednesday, August 7. The topic will be competence in medical writing, editing, and social media. The chat will be hosted by Don Harting, ELS, managing editor of The BELS Letter.

Q: What's a tweet chat?
A: Anyone with a Twitter account can log on from their home or office computer -- or smartphone -- and join in a conversation with other people around the world on a predetermined topic. Here's a basic guide if you're new to tweet chats.

Q: More basic than that: What's a Twitter account?
A: If you're still coming up to speed on Twitter, here's a lengthy but great guide to the basics, published by the London School of Economics.

Q: What is BELS?
A: It's an organization founded to evaluate the proficiency of manuscript editors in the life sciences and to award credentials similar to those obtainable in other professions. BELS administers a unique exam assessing a candidate's competency (knowledge and skill) in both language arts and life science.

Q: What's the hashtag for this chat?
A: #cmwesm, a special search code which stands for "competence in medical writing, editing, and social media."

Q: What's the host's Twitter handle?
A: @BELS_Editors

Q: I'm a veteran medical writer who achieved professional competence years ago. My customers love my work. Why should I attend this chat?
A: Social media are transforming how life-changing medical discoveries and treatment advances are published and disseminated. Leading physicians are developing flocks on Twitter. A workshop session on social media has been scheduled for the upcoming Seventh International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication in Chicago. Medical writers and editors without basic competency in social media could start to feel a bit clueless in the future.

Q: I'm a veteran medical editor who achieved professional competence years ago. My supervisors love my work. Why should I attend this chat?
A: Twitter didn't exist years ago. See answer to previous question.

Q: I'm not a BELS member. In fact I've never heard of BELS before this. Can I attend this chat?
A: Yes, the chat is open to all. Please remember, however, that the chat will be held in English.

Q: I'm thinking about a career in medical writing, but haven't made a final decision. Why should I attend this chat?
A: This chat -- and the series of tweets it is built upon -- will help you come up to speed quickly on the medical writing profession. You will learn rapidly about some of the key players and organizations.

Q: What 'series of tweets' are you talking about?
A: During the month of July, @BELS_Editors sent out one tweet per day (31 total) on the topic of competence in medical writing. Each tweet took you to a different educational resource on the Internet. Each resource was related in some way to one of the 68 competencies required of a professional medical writer. These competencies (also known as KSAs) were identified in 2012 in a survey conducted by the American Medical Writers Association. If you download the PDF and look at page 71, you may view the entire list of 68 at http://goo.gl/dUpkg.

Q: Do I have to go back and read all 31 tweets at #cmwesm to participate in the tweet chat?
A: No! You can find them all right here, below this blog post, in reverse chronological order. Before you join the chat it will help if you've read some of the tweets and formed an opinion on whether you like them or not. This will help you engage more fully in the chat.

Q: What if I can't participate in the live chat due to a schedule conflict?
A: There will be an archive of the chat posted at the Healthcare Hashtag Project Web site. You'll be able to see who participated and what they tweeted.

Q: Is this the first in a series of official BELS tweet chats on a regular schedule or some random event that may never happen again?
A: Good question!


  

Final Tweet on Competence

Bill Murray of the Public Relations Society of America helps us tailor prose to the audience  #cmwesm #medwriters

Thirtieth Tweet on Competence

A guide to preparing charts from the man the New York Times calls the 'Leonardo da Vinci of data"  #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Ninth Tweet on Competence

Back to basics: Wikipedia helps us focus on the creative process of prewriting  #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Eighth Tweet on Competence

1-minute YouTube video helps us identify the context and readers for documents we write and edit  #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Seventh Tweet on Competence

Jonathan Koffel from Univ of Minnesota helps us understand basic study designs  #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Sixth Tweet on Competence

We go back to Clinical Chemistry's Tom Annesley for options to solve problems during peer review   #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Fifth Tweet on Competence

The American Medical Writers Association helps us to identify relevant ethical guidelines  #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Fourth Tweet on Competence

Here's a Facebook page dedicated to getting the facts straight #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Third Tweet on Competence

A guide from the Univ of California at Berkeley on presenting logical scientific arguments #cmwesm #medwriters

Twenty-Second Tweet on Competence

Intro to key message development by the Public Relations Society of America

Twenty-First Tweet on Competence

Guidance from Cuesta College in California on synthesizing information  #cmwesm #medwriters

Twentieth Tweet on Competence

YouTube video clip from Academic Medicine on substantive editing  #cmwesm #medwriters

Nineteenth Tweet on Competence

The Singapore Medical Journal tells us how to deal with rejection  #cmwesm #medwriters

Eighteenth Tweet on Competence

Tom Annesley, an award-winning clinical chemist from U Mich, tells us how to respond to reviewers  #cmwesm #medwriters

Seventeenth Tweet on Competence

Tips from the University of South Florida's Writing Commons on determining your document's purpose  #cmwesm #medwriters

Sixteenth Tweet on Competence

A guide from About.com on crafting smooth transitions between paragraphs  #cmwesm #medwriters

July 31 Deadline to Submit Questions for Chat

The Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) is planning its first-ever tweet chat for early August. The tweet chat will last one hour and the topic will be competence in medical writing, editing, and social media.

I will serve as the moderator for our first chat, and will seek volunteers to host any future chats.

If you are interested in this topic, now is the time to suggest questions for discussion during our chat. One question has already been put forward by an active BELS member from Long Island, New York:

1) HOW CAN EDITORS HELP ASSURE COMPETENCE IN MEDICAL WRITING?

Another question occurred to me in the course of preparing the tweet series:

2) WHY IS 'MAINTAIN CONFIDENTIALITY' RANKED SO HIGH (3RD OUT OF 68) AMONG THE ESSENTIAL COMPETENCIES OF A MEDICAL WRITER?

We need at least 3 more questions for a good tweet chat. Here is your opportunity to have your concerns addressed. Deadline for submission is Wednesday, July 31. If we receive more than 5 suggestions total, they may need to be edited, or condensed, for the sake of time.

Or we might need to schedule another tweet chat.

Please use the comments feature of my Delaware Valley Medical Writer blog to make suggestions.

THANK YOU!

Fifteenth Tweet on Competence

Let's go back to Harvard College for help with evaluating  information we have collected.   #cmwesm #medwriters

Fourteenth Tweet on Competence

Here's a tutorial on medical terminology from the U.S. National Library of Medicine  #cmwesm #medwriters

Thirteenth Tweet on Competence

Intro to standard formats and guidelines from the International Conference on Harmonization  #cmwesm #medwriters

Twelfth Tweet on Competence

Identify inconsistencies in data  #cmwesm #medwriters

Eleventh Tweet on Competence

Guidance on grammar, spelling and punctuation from AMA style manual  #cmwesm #medwriters

Tenth Tweet on Competence

Tom Lang, AMWA Swanberg award winner, tells how to communicate statistical content appropriately #cmwesm #medwriters

Ninth Tweet on Competence

A guide from the University of Richmond on constructing effective paragraphs  #cmwesm #medwriters

In Case You Just Joined Us...

Why a Series of Tweets on Competence in Medical Writing?

Certification of medical writers is a timely topic these days, as the American Medical Writers Association spends money from its reserves to move forward with its credentialing initiative. Not all medical writers think this is a good idea, and AMWA's initiative has come in for criticism from some members. An earlier attempt to develop a certification program fell flat in 1996.

I happen to think certification is a good idea, because it will help strengthen our professional identity.

That's why I proposed a 30-day series of tweets on competence in medical writing, editing, and social media to the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS). BELS has always worked closely with AMWA, and this seems like a way we can continue to support each other. It's also a way to push the envelope a bit to help us all grow in our ability to use some of the new social media software applications that are transforming medical communication.

Our 30-day tweet series on competence in medical writing and editing  began July 1 and will continue throughout the month at the leisurely pace of a tweet per day.

Each tweet relates in some way to one of the key competencies of a medical writer identified in a 2012 survey by AMWA. A total of 1,177 individuals completed the survey, which identified 68 competencies (also known as KSAs), but we will just tweet about the top 30. You may view the entire list at http://goo.gl/dUpkg.

Tweets originate from the account of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, @BELS_Editors. Tweets also originate from my personal Twitter account, @Grantsmeister, as updates from my LinkedIn page, and as blog posts from Delaware Valley Medical Writer and from Brandywine Valley Medical Writer.

From time to time I post background information here. 

Tweets are being aggregated under the symbol #cmwesm. The letters stand for “competence in medical writing, editing, and social media.” This means you can catch up on what you’ve missed by visiting your Twitter account and searching on #cmwesm. This hashtag has been registered with the Healthcare Hashtags Project.

If you're still coming up to speed on Twitter, here's a great guide to the basics, published by the London School of Economics.

After the series ends, in early August, we'll meet for a one-hour tweet chat. Time and date of the chat will be announced later. (Coordinating time zones may require some discussion.)

Before the chat, I will send around a list of discussion questions. This list is still forming, but is sure to include the following:

1) How can editors help ensure competence in medical and science writing?

2) Why do you think "maintain confidentiality of information" ranked so high (3rd out of 68) on AMWA's list of basic medical writing competencies?

Hope to see you soon, in the Twitterverse!

Eighth Tweet on Competence

My favorite so far: a terrific guide from the Ontario Public Health Libraries Association on assessing quality of writing #cmwesm #medwriters

Seventh Tweet on Competence

A Harvard College guide to retaining the intended meaning of Internet source materials  #cmwesm #medwriters

Sixth Tweet on Competence

A guide from Purdue University on how to develop clear, concise prose  #cmwesm #medwriters

Fifth Tweet on Competence

A University of Iowa professor tells how to construct effective sentences  #cmwesm #medwriters

Fourth Tweet on Competence

A nice list of Greek and Latin roots, suffixes and prefixes   #cmwesm

Third Tweet on Competence in Medical Writing, Editing, and Social Media

A guide from Cal State on maintaining confidentiality  #cmwesm

Second Tweet on Competence in Medical Writing, Editing, and Social Media

A guide from the World Health Organization for presenting your message logically and coherently. Tweets will be aggregated at #cmwesm

First Tweet on Competence in Medical Writing, Editing, and Social Media

Here's a resource from AAAS to help medical writers to communicate scientific content appropriately.  These tweets will be aggregated on Twitter under the following hashtag: #cmwesm

Competence Tweet Series Begins Monday, July 1

Our 30-day tweet series on competence in medical writing and editing will begin July 1 and continue throughout the month at the leisurely pace of a tweet per day.

Each tweet will relate in some way to one of the key competencies of a medical writer identified in a 2012 survey by the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). A total of 1,177 individuals completed the survey, which produced 68 competencies, but we will just tweet about the top 30. AMWA members may view the list by visiting http://goo.gl/dUpkg.

Tweets will originate from the account of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, @BELS_Editors. Tweets will also originate from my personal Twitter account, @Grantsmeister, and as updates from my LinkedIn page, http://goo.gl/ZIdDS.

If needed, background information on the series may also be posted here on my blog, Delaware Valley Medical Writer. 

Tweets will be aggregated under the symbol #cmwesm. The letters stand for “competence in medical writing, editing, and social media.” This means you can catch up on what you’ve missed by visiting your Twitter account and searching on #cmwesm. This hashtag has been registered with the Healthcare Hashtags Project.

If you're still coming up to speed on Twitter, here's a great guide to the basics, published by the London School of Economics. http://goo.gl/Sg6ST

At the end of the series, we'll meet for a one-hour tweet chat. Time and date of the chat will be announced later. (Coordinating time zones may require some discussion.)

Before the chat, I will send around a list of discussion questions. This list is still forming, but is sure to include the following:

1) How can editors help ensure competence in medical and science writing?

2) Why do you think "maintain confidentiality of information" ranks 3rd in importance on the list of 68 basic medical writing competencies?

Hope to meet you soon, in the Twitterverse!

Don