Designing a medical writing course in a professional writing program: introducing undergraduates to the field

As a result of the increasing number of engineered medical devices, from joint replacements to pacemakers to oxygen concentrators and CPAPs (continuous positive airway pressure devices), coming onto the market, there is a need for writers to write pre- and post- surgical procedures for patients, materials to train physicians in using the equipment, and documents for regulatory agencies. A career in medical writing appears to be an increasingly attractive goal for undergraduate professional writing majors. The English Department at Purdue University Calumet has introduced a medical communication course into its undergraduate professional writing program. While a course in medical writing involves the same principles and heuristics as other technical writing courses, it also offers special challenges that transcend those normally found in a professional writing course, including knowledge of the scientific and regulatory processes, medical language, an understanding of statistical analyses and an ability to locate appropriate bibliographic sources. The course is composed of two parts: (1) Medical writing as a specialty of professional writing and (2) the major areas of medical writing. The latter is composed of four segments: (1) patient education materials, (2) pharmaceutical documentation, (3) medical journalism, (4) author editing.