Tag Archives: #Training&Development

Publication Writing: What Gets Accepted and What Gets Rejected?

Medical Writing, ,

What is a Publication?

Publications are a healthcare solution which bridges communication of research conducted to the researchers around the world. To publish is to make content available to general public making use of text, images, or other audio-visual content. Publications include books, journals, magazines, newspapers, catalogues etc. A scientific publication is a written and published report describing original research results. Scientific communications aim to communicate new scientific findings in a clear and concise manner.

Barriers in Publishing!

  • Adherence to ethical and scientific standards
  • Format and Documentation Issues
  • Lack of expertise in research methods, incentive, and support for publishing findings
  • Quality problem: interventions are too well studied and do not represent “new knowledge”
  • Intervention does not have good face validity
  • Intervention was tested in a non-generalizable population/setting; sample too small
  • Study design is not robust; study is underpowered to detect significant effects
  • Outcome measures are too few, irrelevant, or inaccurate
  • Manuscript writing is unclear; intervention is not well described

Common Reasons Leading to Manuscript Rejection

A questionnaire based study reported the following to be the most commonly observed flaws leading to manuscript rejection:

 

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Publication Solutions at Turacoz

Turacoz Healthcare solutions based at New Delhi is a budding medical communications organization specializes in various communications including clinical research and regulatory writing; medical marketing solutions; and publication writing. Turacoz focusses on the client’s requirement and delivers projects as per the client’s specifications. At Turacoz, we believe in delivering projects which brings the client back to us.

Training And Development

Medical Writing, , ,

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” – Henry Ford

The most important aspect of our lives and our work is “continuous learning”. Nobody in the world can stop a person who has willingness to learn more and more. Be it school, college, office, or our personal life, everything is based on learning new things every day. However, learning becomes an easy task if there is someone to guide you and to train you.

And there comes the importance of TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT!

Training is defined as a learning process in which a person acquires knowledge and appropriate skills to excel in a particular role. This process helps in the development of an individual and thus, plays an important role in improving the status of an organization, society, as well as a country. However, it is a short-term process and is specific to a particular job/role/skill. On the other hand, development is a long-term process that helps to improve the overall dimensions of an individual, and makes him better equipped to handle any sort of situations.

The important thing is not only training, but the timing and type of training. Imagine a twelve class student being trained on the basic concepts of physics which he had already learnt in class nine, or a training imparted on waste management to the student of economics. Such kind of trainings would just be a waste of time, resources, as well as money. Thus, the most significant aspect of training is the correct type of training to the right people at the most appropriate time.

Usually when we talk about training and development, what comes to our mind is the “human resource development”, i.e. training and development programs that are conducted in an organization for enhancement of the skills of its employees.

So let’s see why do we need training and development in an organization?

  • To enrich the employees with latest technology and knowledge.
  • To match employee specifications with the job requirements.
  • To improve or enhance the skill-set of employees.
  • For personal development of the employees.
  • To improve the quality of work and minimize the wastage of resources.

There are different types of trainings that are conducted based on the requirements of the employees as well as the organization. So let’s look at the various types of training?

  • Induction training: To make the new employees familiar with the procedures, code of conduct, policies, and work profile of an organization.
  • Job training: To improve the knowledge and skills of an employee for his designated job.
  • Refresher training: To incorporate the latest developments, and upgrade the skills of the employee.
  • Safety training: To minimize the accidents and ensure safe working in an organization.
  • Promotional training: For training of the existing employee before his promotion.
  • Remedial training: To overcome the shortcomings of the employees.
  • Internship training: To provide practical knowledge to the students via combined efforts of the educational institutes and industries.

Usually, any training can be imparted via two methods:

  • On-job training methods: Includes job rotation, coaching, job instructions, assignments, and internships.
  • Off-job training methods: Includes lectures, conferences, seminars, case studies etc.

However, any training should not just be the dump of information. It should suit the requirements of the employees and serve their needs. We can say that training and development is effective only if it imparts new and necessary skills, is practical-oriented, and aligns the training needs with the goals of the organization

Some of the advantages of training and development are:

  • Improved knowledge and skills at the level of organization
  • Improved corporate image
  • Organizational development
  • Increased profits of the organization
  • Increased morale of the employees

Nevertheless, there are certain challenges associated with the training and development process like:

  • Difficulty in identifying the needs of the employees
  • Individuals might be resistant to learn
  • Expensive process
  • Needs time and resources
  • Equips staff to resign for better jobs

In a nutshell, we can say that training and development are very important in an organization for its continuous progress. Although it is a challenging and expensive process, training and development in the right direction can help the individuals/employees as well as organization in their growth, and thus, can prove to be a worthwhile investment.

As it is well said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions as a socially responsible company spreads the word and awareness and looks forward to collaboration or associations with other agencies/companies with similar goals and aspirations. We have a skilled and competent team of medical writers, clinicians, researchers and biostatisticians. Our clients include major pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and healthcare professionals. Our experience has been in supporting publications, creating regulatory documents, conducting observational studies, designing and creating for print and digital marketing as well as customizing sessions on medical writing. 

Training&Development

Medical Writing, ,

‘Medical writing’ is a perfect amalgamation of science and art. As a medical writer, one has to maintain a good balance between the technicality of science and art of communicating with the readers via words. Other than the basic requisite of knowledge of therapeutic areas, and command over the language; medical writing requires an understanding of the medical concepts and terminology, knowledge of relevant guidelines as regards the structure and contents of specific documents, and good writing skills.

The good news is that adeptness of effective medical writing can be easily learned by regular training and development!

Though there is no formal degree / diploma or certification course in medical writing, but there are few resources which can be utilized for gaining expertise in this discipline. These resources include; in-house medical training courses for employees provided by the various organization, short courses / workshops by professional bodies, on-the-job ‘mentor-guided’ training, and motivated “self-study”. Among all these resources, the motivated self –study is the mainstay and pertinent way of learning medical writing. Curiosity to learn and self-motivation can transform any mediocre into a seasoned medical writer. If one has a desire to take medical writing as a full-time career option then these five hacks can surely add value to the work;

#1 Read carefully, read regularly

New knowledge and information are constantly being added to the field of medicine. Every year a large number of papers are published related to various research studies, clinical experience, and new ideas and thoughts related to the healthcare industry. The best way to learn is to read through as many papers as possible. This teaches how to present data and what mistakes to avoid.

All the documents prepared under medical writing strictly abide by one or more technical guidelines issued by the regulating bodies. Therefore, a medical writer should be well-acquainted with the latest technical guidelines followed in different parts of the world. For instance, EU, USA, and Japan have evolved a set of common guidelines (International Conference on Harmonisation [ICH] guidelines) related to drug development and registration. For publication, Good Publication Practices, guidelines for reporting clinical trials (e.g. CONSORT), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ (ICMJE) guidelines for manuscripts are mostly used. A medical writer should keep him/her updated with the latest versions of these guidelines.

Therefore reading carefully and reading regularly is a most important part of medical writing.

#2 Understand your audience well

The documents prepared by the medical writer have a different set of target audience, which may include; healthcare professionals, regulatory bodies, patients, and consumers. A medical writer should always try and take a reader’s perspective to understand how to approach a subject. The information in any document should be targeted in terms of the subject and the audience.
Therefore, it is very important that a medical writer identifies the target audience before writing.

#3 Pre-writing is a must

Pre-writing or drafting is an important part of medical writing. Before writing the first draft, develop a road map. Gain knowledge of the therapeutic area that is to be addressed, this enhance the relevance of articles being searched. Reading about the therapeutic area is very important prior starting the literature search. The literature search should be followed by, arranging key facts and citations from the literature into a crude roadmap/outline. Follow the outline meticulously, for writing a well-organized document.

#4 Write Lucid, clear and crisp

While writing, be clear and specific, and strictly avoid beating around the bush. The main idea/ objective of the document should be clear from first few paragraph of the document. Remember, while reading, a reader follows an “F” pattern i.e. the first few paragraphs are read carefully and the remaining document is scanned in an F pattern. Hence, it is very important to keep all the key information in the first few paragraphs, to keep a reader hooked to the article.Adding sub-heading also helps to catch readers attention.

The information should be well- organized. In the margins of your paper, tag each paragraph with a phrase or sentence that sums up the main point. Then move paragraphs around to improve logical flow and bring similar ideas together.

#5 Revise well before submitting

Before submitting your work, proofread and edit it well. Remember, a sentence written incorrectly will not convey any meaning or add value to your document. Read each sentence more than once to identify grammatical errors. While revising your work; read out loud, do a verb check, cut clutter, do an organizational review, and get feedback from others.

As quoted by William Zinsser- “If writing seems hard, it’s because it is hard. It’s one of the hardest things people do”. Though, practising regularly and keeping one well-versed with the latest happenings of the domain can ease down the task.

Turacoz Healthcare Solutions as a socially responsible company spreads the word and awareness and looks forward to collaboration or associations with other agencies/companies with similar goals and aspirations. We have a skilled and competent team of medical writers, clinicians, researchers and biostatisticians. Our clients include major pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and healthcare professionals. Our experience has been in supporting publications, creating regulatory documents, conducting observational studies, designing and creating for print and digital marketing as well as customizing sessions on medical writing.