physician-journalists

[FowlersGap]

Any future physician journalists out there?
My plan is to become a doctor first then write on the side while I practice medicine; maybe go to J-school for a couple years
What are some other gameplans out there?

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[MacGyver]

ummm...thats a waste of an MD degree

 

[Squat n Squeeze]

Originally posted by MacGyver
ummm...thats a waste of an MD degree

Yeah. Just get an easy BA and pretend to know about stuff you write about.

 

[MacGyver]

Originally posted by Squat n Squeeze
Yeah. Just get an easy BA and pretend to know about stuff you write about.

you dont need to go to medical school to write about medical issues

 

[pathdr2b]

Imagine a Michael Crichton book ( Jurassic Park and A case of Need) without his Harvard MD and internal medicine residency training.

FowlersGap, proceed to do your 'thang!

 

[Desdemona]

The OP said s/he would PRACTICE medicine and write ON THE SIDE. How is that wasting an MD degree????????

OP, I say you should go for it! I can totally understand the desire to do that--I feel like the scientific part of me is thriving and will continue to thrive during med school and my career as a doctor. But there is this creative, artistic part of me that is beginning to feel like it's suffocating--it's already creating internal stress. So I have full intention of continuing my music and writing interests. Maybe some people can't understand that, and say it's a waste of an MD, but as far as I'm concerned, if I am a practicing physician AND writer, my MD is NOT wasted! Ignore people like that who try to deflate your interests and accomplishments. Sure it will be hard, but if it's important to you, you'll find a way to do both.

 

[Fizz]

Hi -

I have almost the exact same plan as you! Have you thought of which journalism schools you want to look into? Are you interested in writing fiction or writing a medical question column? I totally want to balance out these two sides of me when I am older, because that would make me the happiest!

 

[LukeWhite]

Fowler, I think a lot of people do the same. It's certainly manageable. The number of doctors who also write professionally is, I think, much higher than doctors who do much of anything else. I was an English major and certainly hope to spend a lot of time writing after school.

As journalism specifically goes, I wouldn't worry too much about j-school. The common perception among journalists and newspaper editors, from what I've heard, is that j-school is really not necessary if you can get the experience somewhere else. There are an amazing number of online health sites looking for writers right now; if you could churn out a few bylines for them while in school you'd have an excellent resume after graduation.

As for the waste of a degree comment, did you see that CNN reporter-who-is-also-a-doctor during the Iraq war? I remember one day he reported on a major troop movement, took the afternoon off for a surgery to save an injured Iraqi conscript his coverage team had come across, and then went back to the reporting. That MD comes in handy!

 

[Fizz]

Hi lukealfredwhite -

I was wondering if you could post a few of the online sites that are looking for writers! Any info would be so greatly appreciated!

 

[Kovox]

Originally posted by lukealfredwhite
As journalism specifically goes, I wouldn't worry too much about j-school. The common perception among journalists and newspaper editors, from what I've heard, is that j-school is really not necessary if you can get the experience somewhere else. There are an amazing number of online health sites looking for writers right now; if you could churn out a few bylines for them while in school you'd have an excellent resume after graduation.

You don't necessarily need a journalism degree. I was approached and offered a number of medical writing jobs (I am not a journalism major).

Just start writing for those online sites, various magazines, and your name will float around. If you have a background in science, companies will hire you to write.

 

[Fizz]

Hi - How do you find out which on-line sites and magazines need an article written? Thanks!

 

[Chronotropic]

Originally posted by pathdr2b
Imagine a Michael Crichton book ( Jurassic Park and A case of Need) without his Harvard MD and internal medicine residency training.

FowlersGap, proceed to do your 'thang!

Anyone read his new book "Prey" yet? I got it for my bday but haven't had the chance to read it until now.

 

[bond007md]

To the OP, I say go for it- our field definitely needs as much diversity as possible. Also there are very few doctors in print who can well represent our profession.

A great example of a do-it-all doc is Sanjay Gupta from CNN. This guy is a neurosurgeon- graduated from Michigan med and residency- and now works as chief medical reporter for the network. He also writes for TIME, has his own TV show on sat. about health issues, teaches at Emory sometimes, covered the war in iraq from a bio weapons standpoint, and practices on the side -- I kind of wanted to follow his diverse path but then changed my mind because it sounded way too demanding But it just goes to show that you can do many things with your degree.

Also I have a journalist friend who said that with an MD and a writing background you can a job at any newspaper-- there is dire need supposedly...good luck to you and i love it when ppl want to do different things with an MD...good stuff!

 

[wolferman]

Originally posted by danwsu
Anyone read his new book "Prey" yet? I got it for my bday but haven't had the chance to read it until now.

A good book. But like many of Crichton's novels, the ending is never as good as the story that it follows.

Still, I'm looking forward to the movie based on his novel Timeline.

 

[wolferman]

I just thought I'd add that Dr. Dean Odell shows what a successful physician journalist can do. He barely completed his residency in opthalmology before starting his talk show. What a life too! Read journals in the morning, talk on the radio in the afternoon.

 

[MacGyver]

Originally posted by pathdr2b
Imagine a Michael Crichton book ( Jurassic Park and A case of Need) without his Harvard MD and internal medicine residency training.

Bad example....

Crichton in fact never pursued a residency... all he did was graduate from med school

 

[mass51]

Definitely go for it - I doubled in journalism and biology as an undergraduate. You'd be amazed at how similar the practice of medicine and journalism are. Medical/health reporting is dependant on the writers ability to take complex scientific information and translate it into something that a non-scientist reader can understand - just what doctors have to do when explaining a diagnosis, treatment plan, etc.

As science and technology continue to get more and more advanced, the demand for medically trained journalists will only grow. Even as an undergrad with limited clinical experience, I had no problems finding freelance jobs covering scientific conferences, meetings, etc. Good luck.

 

[LoneCoyote]

The latest editor of the Science Times section in the NY Times is an MD, from Harvard I believe. They did a little profile of her a few weeks back and pretty much she did her residency, practiced for a bit, and then started writing for the Times, and worked her way up... I think she is now a full time editor and doesn't practice but I could be mistaken. So there are many ways to incorporate the two. I definitely plan to write throughout my medical career, whether as a journalist or health policy maker.

 

[Street Philosopher]

going through 4 years of medical school to make fiction novels or news articles easier to write or more interesting seems pretty asinine to me.

 

[MacGyver]

Originally posted by azpremed
The latest editor of the Science Times section in the NY Times is an MD, from Harvard I believe. They did a little profile of her a few weeks back and pretty much she did her residency, practiced for a bit, and then started writing for the Times, and worked her way up... I think she is now a full time editor and doesn't practice but I could be mistaken. So there are many ways to incorporate the two. I definitely plan to write throughout my medical career, whether as a journalist or health policy maker.

therefore, she wasted her MD degree....

you DO NOT need an MD degree to write articles about medicine...

 

[pathdr2b]

Originally posted by MacGyver
Bad example....

Crichton in fact never pursued a residency... all he did was graduate from med school

His bio says he did but who are you to disagree? OOPs, I forgot you think you're GOD

 

[MacGyver]

Originally posted by pathdr2b
His bio says he did but who are you to disagree? OOPs, I forgot you think you're GOD

he who laughs last, laughs best

Michael Crichton bio facts
Born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1942
Graduated Harvard Medical School 1965 with a major of anthropology
Graduated with MD, Harvard Medical School 1969
Post Doc 1969-70 at Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Science in La Jolla, Ca.
Winner of Mystery Writer's of America Edgar Award
Creator and producer of the television show ER for which he has won the George Foster Peabody Award
Books published in 24 languages
Lives in California, USA

http://www.nanoindustries.com/feature/prey.html

 

[pathdr2b]

Originally posted by Street Philosopher
hmmm i didn't know harvard medical school had majors, let alone in anthropology

Don't you dare question the words of "god" !!

 

[MacGyver]

are you unwise fools still doubting me?

this is his official website:

http://www.crichton-official.com/aboutmc/biography.html


excerpt:

CRICHTON, (John) Michael. American. Born in Chicago, Illinois, October 23, 1942. Educated at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, A.B. (summa cum laude) 1964 (Phi Beta Kappa). Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University, England, 1965. Henry Russell Shaw Travelling Fellow, 1964-65. Entered Harvard Medical School, M.D. 1969; spent one year as a post-doctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences, La Jolla, California 1969-1970. Visiting Writer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988.

 

[pathdr2b]

Originally posted by MacGyver
are you unwise fools still doubting me?

In the back of one of his books it does state that he did an internship in IM.

Now that I have your attention, 'god', do you mind sending me the winning numbers for Wednesdays powerball ? I could really use the 23mil to help defray the cost of applying to medical school this summer !!

 

[phatsebz]

hmmmm lettts see William Carlos Williams, John Keats, John Donne, and many other great figures in literature had MD's or extensive medical training.........
I say go for it....they say that medicine helps you understand the human condition and the frailties of human life on a deeper level....things i assume would be essential in writing great literature.....all the best!

 

[ramonmcguire]

Here's a twist: I know somebody who has been a journalist at fairly large newspapers for 23 years and will start medical school in August.

 

[ramonmcguire]

Here's one of the top physician-journalists in the nation:

Lawrence K. Altman, M.D.

Lawrence K. Altman is one of the few full-fledged medical doctors working as a full-time daily newspaper reporter. He has been a member of The New York Times science news staff since 1969. In addition to reporting, he writes the "Doctor's World" column in Science Times.

Born on June 19, 1937, in Quincy, Mass., Dr. Altman went from Milton Academy to Harvard, from which he graduated in 1958 with a bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in government. He received his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1962.

In college and medical school, Dr. Altman covered sports, did Feature writing and helped out on the city desk at The Quincy (Mass.) Patriot Ledger. At Harvard, he was advertising manager and treasurer of The Lampoon.

Dr. Altman's medical internship was at Mt. Zion Hospital, San Francisco, in 1962 and 1963. He then served for three years with the U.S. Public Health Service's Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta as editor of its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal dealing with reported cases of communicable diseases in the world. He then helped set up a measles immunization program for eight West African countries, which later was merged with the World Health Organization's program that eradicated smallpox from the world. Dr. Altman then became chief of the U.S. Public Health Service's Division of Epidemiology and Immunization in Washington.

From 1966 to 1968, Dr. Altman was a resident in internal medicine at the University of Washington Affiliated Hospitals in Seattle, and later became a senior fellow there in medical genetics.

Dr. Altman has written articles for various scholarly publications on such subjects as viral encephalitis, canine cadaver blood and self experimentation. In 1974, he won the Claude Bernard Science Journalism Award for a story in The Times entitled: "Baboon Experiment Shows Alcohol Damages Liver, Even With Good Diet." He also won the award in 1971 for an article on how dogs that had been taught to smoke developed cancer.

In 1982, 1983 and 1995, Dr. Altman won the Howard W. Blakeslee Award of the American Heart Association. He is the only science writer to win the award in two successive years. In 1986, Dr. Altman won a George Polk award for his series on AIDS in Africa. His book, "Who Goes First? The Story of Self-Experimentation in Medicine," is published by the University of California at Berkeley Press.

Dr. Altman, who holds medical licenses in the states of Washington, California and New York, is a clinical associate professor at the New York University Medical School. He is a Master of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Epidemiology and the New York Academy of Medicine, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by Street Philosopher
I wonder if doctors go back to school for a few years and major in journalism so that they can write their research papers better.

no...but some of them certainly ought to

 

[Pinki]

I was a television anchor and reporter for 8 years at both Fox News and ABC affiliates. I start medical school late this summer. There is a degree of overlap in the skills sets for both professions, based upon my observation. However I anticipate the level of intelligence, compassion and satisfaction is higher for physicians - many (not all!) TV journalists are rather narrow-minded and angry individuals who are compelled to use their image and words as a way to make up for past inadequacies.

Here's the deal: you don't need a j-school degree, and I concur with earlier posts that it's considered more of a "technical" degree than a knowledge-based degree. You'd be better off using that time in internships and networking.

You do need experience and tons of it. Journalists (and therefore the boss-types you'll be seeking work from who rise up the ranks in management) are notoriously cynical and quick to dismiss those who can't prove their mettle as a waste of their time.

Good luck!

 

[Fizz]

That is so cool Pinki -

What made you decide to switch to medicine? Do you think you will combine the two later on?

 

[l.a.liznyc]

Originally posted by Pinki

Here's the deal: you don't need a j-school degree, and I concur with earlier posts that it's considered more of a "technical" degree than a knowledge-based degree. You'd be better off using that time in internships and networking.

I met Laurie Garrett (a Pulitzer Prize winning author who wrote Coming Plague, Betrayal of Trust: collapse of global public health, and a science/medicine reporter) at a Coulmbia J-School panel. She said that going to J-school is not necessary, especially if you already have a strong knowledge base in a specialized area. Rather, she empasized the importance of experience, putting in your time and working your way up the ranks.

 

[tBw]

Originally posted by Pinki
TV journalists are rather narrow-minded and angry individuals who are compelled to use their image and words as a way to make up for past inadequacies.

ummm... I thought you said it was *different* to medicine

To the OP there is clearly the whole range of levels of involvement in writing as a doctor from journalism being your main occupation to it being just a past time. I have written freelance articles on things I actually cared about for several national periodicals, as well as writing fiction for my own edification which I usually send to small literary presses. Although the former expect some qualification of 'expertise' in the field you are writing on they don't necessarily require a journalism degree (as long as you can actually write...). So I'm unsure you need to go back and do journalism school - what would probably be better is to just start trying to write, as you will learn from that experience in and of itself. good luck

 

[Fizz]

I just feel the need to say tBw is sooooooo awesome and helpful! Great SDNer : ) If you ask a question, he will try to give you a thorough and very funny answer! Thank You!

Go Boy wonder!!!!

 

[Pinki]

Originally posted by Fizz
That is so cool Pinki -

What made you decide to switch to medicine? Do you think you will combine the two later on?

It was a great career full of amazing opportunities - I had access and privy to amazing stories, traveled, interviewed world leaders (Both Bushes, Clinton, Gorbachev, Thatcher) even received racks of free clothes and makeup (OK, so that's not really a noteworthy on my resume, but a perk no less!). However, at the end of the day, I felt like I was just yapping. An entire day's work would have to be 90 seconds or less, sandwiched in between the fire of the week and a water-skiing squirrel. And I realized I needed to have a more hands-on, socially relevant career in order to be peronally satisfied. I also didn't like the overwhelming emphasis on image - I'd spend weeks doing a special report and then a consultant or a jerk-off viewer would email in that my lipstick color was wrong for me that day. How frustrating! Medicine was always my first choice before I got "lured" into journalism ECs in college...so I did some research, some volunteer activities and fell back in love with it.

I might do some journalism on the side, but I think my primary focus from here on out is medicine. These days, I'm a lip gloss gal!

 

[FowlersGap]

bump

 

[DrWuStar]

i plan to write as part of my career. the most satisfying project i ever worked on was helping a great friend and mentor of mine write and edit her first book, When Smoke Ran Like Water. for a while, i thought maybe i wound't go to med school and would pursue a career in science writing, but then i realized i wanted more personal contact and to use my knowledge to help people on an individual basis. and it's also important to me to make sure i have a good, steady income, which writing doesn't necessarily provide. i am sure many of you will say that's stupid, but the idea of practicing medicine and helping people in that way, while also practicing the craft of writing and educating the public about health on a broader scale sounds just perfect to me. writing is just delicious.

 

[FowlersGap]

bump

 

[mosoriire]

going through 4 years of medical school to make fiction novels or news articles easier to write or more interesting seems pretty asinine to me

That's exactly the kind of attitude that has left medicine in the cold and complainign about HMOS, insurance companies,a nd all that jazz. You know, dont diversify..leave the administrative stuff to someone else...Why bother trying to represent medicine or science in the print media? Someone else can do it...Well, someone else has been doing it for a while, and MDs have nbeded up looking and feeling like jackasses in the end.

No body ever asks why lawyers can run congress and senate, be business people, write prolifically, and do so much more. I am all for MDs with a left and a right brain working...

To the OP, do whatever you want, and dont let any one pressure you to conform to some old-world standard of what it means to be any kind of professional...

 

[34140]

MacGyver
I love your litte (or big) end quote thingy.

 

[pjm]

What kind of writing outlets do med students have to try some journalism while in med school? campus newspaper?

(yes, I realize med school is pretty busy, but they all talk about "outside activities"...)

 

[Mangocat]

Good thread Fowler! Doing an MD and pursuing journalism later can maybe make you the next Dr. Sanjay Gupta on CNN?

As for writing while you're in med school-maybe you could submit work to the med student journals or magazines?

 

[FowlersGap]

thanks for the support mango; how's the dexterity practice going?

i'll need some too for next year because we'll be working a lot with our hands as well

yeah i'm sure your school will have some sort of newsletter run by students so we can get involved in that if you're interested in writing while in school

it will be busy but i'm sure we'll have time to do other things; we need to keep everything balanced cause we have to apply for residency