AMWA’s Membership Newsletter June 2012

AMWA's 72nd Annual Conference registration will open in mid-June—look for a special issue of the new AMWA Conference Connector then! To make way, here is an early delivery the AMWA Update, usually published around the 15th of each month.

Susan Aiello, dvm, els, to receive 2012 Swanberg award and give sablack dinner award lecture—not to be missed!

Susan Aiello, DVM, ELS, is the recipient of the 2012 Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award. Named in honor of the founder of the American Medical Writers Association, the award is presented to an AMWA member who has made distinguished contributions to medical communication or rendered unusual and distinguished services to the medical profession.

Dr. Aiello personifies the description of the Swanberg Award through her professional and volunteer activities for the medical communication profession. She has taught at the Writers’ Workshop for the Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education and continues to manage the development, editing, peer review, and production of The Merck Veterinary Manual. Susan is currently the President of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences and has been a certified editor in the life sciences since 1991.

Susan's sense of humor, creativity, and expertise have distinguished her as an AMWA leader. Dr. Aiello has taught approximately 10 different workshops at annual conferences and chapter conferences. In 2005 she became an AMWA Fellow and received the Golden Apple Award for excellence in education. She has served on the Executive Committee as Workshop Coordinator and Awards Administrator and on numerous AMWA committees and task forces. As the Swanberg Award winner, Dr. Aiello will be a featured speaker at the Sablack Awards Dinner on October 5, 2012 in Sacramento, CA. Her presentation is sure to be a highlight of this year’s AMWA Annual Conference.

ERIC W. MARTIN WINNER - ONE AUTHOR, TWO AWARDS

The winner of the 2012 Eric W. Martin Award for both the Professional Audience Article and Public or Health Care Consumer Audience is AMWA student member Joshua Tompkins. Joshua is a veteran science and health journalist, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Popular Science, Men’s Journal, and other publications. Tompkins attended medical school himself to gain an intimate perspective on his subject matter and his articles about this time in his life—Money for Nothing? The Problem of the Board-Exam Coaching Industry, and Confessions of a Middle-Aged Medical Student—were the highest scoring entries in both categories.

The Eric W. Martin Award is named for AMWA past-president Eric Martin, who was also author of the AMWA Code of Ethics. The Eric W. Martin Award honors excellence in medical writing for articles written by AMWA members. Tompkins’ work embodies the spirit of this tribute. Congratulations to Joshua and thank you to all who submitted work for consideration.

DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR STUDENT AWARDS

The entry deadline for the Student Research Award and Annual Conference Student Scholarship has been extended to June 30, 2012. Use this extra time to get your entry materials together and send us your best work. Entrants do not need to be members of AMWA, so please share this information with any promising student you know! All entries should be post-marked by June 30. We look forward to seeing your submissions.

MEDICAL WRITERS AROUND THE WORLD invited TO PARTICIPATE IN JOB ANALYSIS STUDY

AMWA recently launched the first-ever job analysis study of the work of medical writers. As an AMWA member, we are counting on your participation. This is your opportunity to play an integral role in defining the scope of practice for medical writers, which will be a vital resource for AMWA’s development of a medical writer’s certification examination.

The survey is available at http://www.smttest.com/JobAnalysis/amwaja/survey.aspx. The survey should take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete and is available online until July 8, 2012.

The survey is only available to medical writers who are currently working in the field (a medical writer is broadly defined as one who writes, edits, or both in areas such as biomedical research, clinical care, and health sciences). The value of this study is directly related to the number of medical writers who complete the survey. We also encourage you to forward the survey link to other medical writers.

The Australasian Medical Writers Association, Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, Drug Information Association, European Medical Writers Association, International Society for Medical Publications Professionals, and the Society for Technical Communication are all promoting the survey and encouraging their medical writer members to participate. 

CHECK YOUR CURRICULUM RECORD/Certificate EnrollmenT

Working towards an AMWA certificate? Your curriculum record, accessible in the Members Only section (login required) on the AMWA website, tracks the credits you have successfully completed from AMWA workshops and self-study modules. With conference registration around the corner, now is a good time to take a look at your curriculum record and determine which Annual Conference workshops will help you progress toward or complete your certificate requirements.

Please remember that you must be enrolled in the certificate program to which the workshop is applicable in order to receive credit. Please contact Dane Russo at dane@amwa.org if you feel there is an error on your record.

AMWA FREELANCE DIRECTORY's OPEN ACCESS IS A HIT FOR SUBSCRIBERS

The AMWA Freelance Directory was opened in March 2012 to be freely searchable online. With a simple registration process, nonmembers can gain instant access to this valuable resource for employers of medical communication professionals. Since the access change, 316 new subscribers have registered for access to the directory. That is more than double the total number of paid subscribers during the many years AMWA charged for such access.

Freelances, if you have a current listing, be sure it is up-to-date using the “Change/Modify Freelance Listing” link in the Members Only section (login required) on the AMWA website. If you do not have a listing, take advantage of this increased exposure and create a listing today!

wELCOME (BACK) MELANIE!

AMWA is pleased to welcome back Melanie Canahuate to the headquarters staff team in the part-time position of Education & Conference Assistant. Melanie and her family have traveled the world during her husband's work with the US Department of State, with stays in Mexico, Afghanistan, and Cuba. Melanie previously supported AMWA activities in the role of Education Assistant from 2004-2007 and again from 2008-2010. We are delighted that she is back in Rockville, MD and has brought her skills and experience to AMWA again. Melanie is supporting the Education and Conference team and can be reached at melanie@amwa.org.

The American Medical Writers Association—The Resource for Medical Communicators
30 West Gude Drive, Suite 525 • Rockville, MD 20850-1161 • (301) 294-5303 • amwa@amwa.org • www.amwa.org

The mission of the American Medical Writers Association is to promote excellence in
medical communication and to provide educational resources in support of that goal.

Copyright ©2011 American Medical Writers Association. All rights reserved.