Writing for a Lay Audience for PhDs
Simulation author – Linet Mera, PhD
Simulation vetted by professionals in the Bay Area
Simulation Objective:
Write an Abstract for the General Public
Associated Simulation Library:
Background
Medical writers synthesize complex information in a clear and logical way that is appropriate for a target audience, from individual patients to physician groups to pharmaceutical companies. With a lay audience in mind, prepare a summary that utilizes the techniques of good writing: grammar, punctuation, tone, and voice.
Resources
Secrets of Good Science Writing (The Guardian)
Clinical trials website (NIH)
How clinical trials work (Roche)
How to read clinical trial data (guide by Roche)
The Exercise
For this exercise, you are a medical writer in a company that provides summaries of developments in clinical trials research and medicine. Your group has been hired to provide content for the American Lung Association’s (ALA) website.
Task - Prepare a Summary
Prepare a summary of this research paper for a patient-oriented clinical trials summary.
A summary provides an understanding of the study and a brief description of the study’s outcomes. Identify what is important to readers of the ALA website. How will this summary fit with other summaries of clinical data on the webpage? Does yours provide enough information? Is the information easy to understand for someone without a medical background? Are the study’s outcomes framed to answer potential questions that readers might have about the study or about joining similar studies?
Deliverables
The 150-200 word summary should be brief and clear. It should allow a lay reader browsing the website to understand:
Details of the study
Patient outcomes
Publishing and funding information
Additional Tasks
A professional in the medical writing field may also perform these activities:
Generating content such as slides, articles, manuscripts
Editing
Communicating with clients, superiors, and other departments (e.g., graphics)
Skills Used to Perform this Task
Explaining complex ideas simply
Analytical thinking
Writing about unfamiliar topics
Skills Used in the Field
Synthesizing new information quickly
Writing about unfamiliar topics
Oral and written communication with diverse stakeholders
Time management
Managing your clients and superiors
Project management
To view detailed lists of skills in job descriptions for business careers, please see workforce data generated by Boston University’s BEST program.