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