Who's Who
|
Kellie
Roberts -- Spoken |
Mickey
S. Schafer -- Written |
About this Class
Medical professionals have a special obligation to communicate without ambiguity, either in the written or spoken word; they depend on their communication skills to interact productively with other medical experts, their colleagues, clients and their families, and the public at large. This team-taught course will provide students with the opportunity to participate in a range of activities focusing on researching, processing, and sharing medical information with others. Given our current evidence-based medical culture, students will learn to do research using medical databases and other research tools, as well as discovering how best to organize and present their findings to other medical professionals. The healthcare professional must often act as intermediary between the specialized world of scientific research and the more pragmatic world of the general public; consequently, we will also investigate how best to present technical medical information to the layperson. (Need further convincing? Check out the following article on the Clinical Skills Examination)
This course is predicated on the idea that the ability to write and speak clearly are learned skills, not innate talents, which means that better communication can be learned by practice. Students will experiment with a range of communication strategies in class: lectures will be followed by focused written and oral activities that allow students to put theory and strategies into practice. We will read and dissect examples of both good in order to learn from them, in addition to examining several types of medical writing. Students will also participate in a variety of speaking assignments in class, ranging from impromptu to prepared presentations. We will discuss techniques for improving public speaking, interviewing and listening skills, and patient-doctor communication.
ENC 3254 "Writing for PremedCSS" fulfills the University's General Education requirement composition (C) and 6,000 words of writing (W).
Speaking Assignments
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The Informative Presentation
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One
of the most common
communicative tasks of a medical professional is giving information.
Sometimes this information is being given to patients; just
as often, you are informing colleagues about research or a
patient's condition. Being able to deliver a well-organized,
concise presentation of medical facts is a critical skill that
this assignment gives you the opportunity to
practice!
|
|
Medical School Interview
|
One
of
the (potentially) scariest
hoops to jump on the way to becoming a doctor, the med school interview
is also critically important to your success. In preparation
for this hurdle, you will receive training and get the opportunity to
practice by participating in a mock panel interview both as
the interviewee and one of the interviewers. |
|
Team CME Presentation
|
All accredited
professionals
participate in continuing education to remain licensed. These
education units are called CMEs (continuing medical
education), CEs (continuing education), and sometimes CMUs (continuing
medical units). CMEs cover a wide range of topics from
disease to clinical practice. However, CMEs are planned to
be topically important -- this means dealing with a medical
issue that is current and relevant (as opposed to a issue that is
rare). For your final project, you will work in teams to plan and
deliver a CME unit to your peers.
|
Writing Assignments
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Medical Communication Project
|
This is a two part assignment in which you get to explore the process of evaluating different kinds of medical information. First, you will dive into the web and analyze the kinds of health information found in cyber space. Second, you will produce a complementary pair of documents: a brief review paper targeted at medical professionals and a patient literature handout appropriate for educating the public. |
|
Medical School Application
|
Before you can be chosen
to
interview, you must apply to medical school. To this end, you
will get the opportunity to write (and rewrite!) the "personal
statement," the essay which likely gets your foot in the door
(along with your obviously stellar GPA and MCAT scores!).
Also, you will plan a chronological-functional resume
designed for a particular intership which will also aid you in
filling out the 15 "job and/or experience" spaces available for this
information on the AMCAS application. |
|
Team CME Paper
|
This is the written complement to the CME project. Your team will prepare a proposal, a "take away" handout, the CE itself and an evaluation report. |
