Medical writing

1. Medical writing Huma Qureshi Assistant Editor JPMA

2. Types of medical writing • One reads for himself but Writes for others • MEDICAL Writings is categorized into a number of varieties. Each one of these is written with a specific purpose. Over the years, their formats have been standardized. Following are the main varieties of medical write-ups:-

3. Types of medical writing • 1. History Writing. • 2. A Letter to Editor . • 3. A Case Report. • 4. An Original Article. • 5. A Review Article. • 6. A Historical Review. • 7. An Editorial. • 8. A Leading Article.

4. Types of medical writing • 9. A Biographical Note. • 10. A Conference Report. • 11. A Review of a Book. • 12. A Monograph. • 13. Synopsis of a Thesis. • 14. A Dissertation. • 15. A Thesis. • 16. A Book.

5. General points • The writer should have a clear message which is to be passed to the reader and to make it a pivotal point for article. • Arrange the ideas in a logical order for clarity and avoid repetition. • Start new paragraph for each new idea. • Brevity is the hallmark of good presentation, it makes the article crisp and keeps the attention focused.

6. General points • Avoid unnecessary details • Title should be chosen with care. It will be indexed by agencies & libraries and defines the field in which one is going to write. • It should be informative, specific, precise • state exactly what is meant.

7. Medical writing THE contents of a scientific paper reflect the organized flow of writer's thought and the quality of the work presented in it. The traditional format IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion) is the outcome of the questions posed by Bradford Hill. • Introduction Why did you start? • Methods What did you do? • Results What did you find? • Discussion What do the results mean?

8. Introduction "Why did you start?" • Introduction is a brief & clear description of the idea which initiated the work. • It should contain the essence of the message to be conveyed and the form in which it will be communicated to a particular audience. • It is important to select a journal best suited for conveying the concept of the paper.

9. Introduction (contd) • Author should have adequate knowledge of the previous work done on the problem and then decide as to whether the present work will add any new dimension to the under standing of the subject. • At the end a precise description of work to be done should be given.

10. Methods What did you do? • Here the author describes what he did. Heading for this section varies • "Materials and Methods" for laboratory related articles and animal experiments • "Patients and Methods" for diseased cases • "Subjects and Methods" for healthy individuals.

11. Methods (contd) Should have brief description of • Study design, • Way of randomization, • Study sequence, inclusion & exclusion criteria • Details of materials /drugs, their dosage & treatment schedule

12. Methods (contd) • If standard technique is used then give references only. If new, give full details so that readers can assess the validity of results and repeat the experiment. • Type of apparatus and kits used should be adequately described. • Statistical methods appropriate for the study should be clearly mentioned.

13. Results What did you find? • Results communicate the observation made in the study. • Start with the ones easier to interpret (age, gender) and then give relevant data in tables, figures or as text.

14. Results (contd) • Knowing the study design & the method used to answer the question on which the study was based this section will be the easiest to write. • Attention should be paid to the "Instructions to Authors " for the details of preparing tables and figures.

15. Tables • Tables are the best means for providing detailed numerical data on various groups of patients. They should have proper legends and foot notes. Their number should be minimum and their place should be clearly marked in the text.

16. Figures • Figures should be drawn twice the size required in the text. • Line drawing, graphs & histograms should be made by experienced individuals or on a computer. • For marking numbers, percentages and legends on the figures, electric typewriter or computer should be used.

17. Figures • Figures should be used only when data cannot be expressed in any other way • Same data should not be repeated in more than one form. • Avoid using percentage unless the patients/ subjects are over 100.

18. Figures (contd) • Clinical photographs should give appropriate details of what they are meant for and • Photomicrographs should have legends giving types of stains used and magnification.

19. Discussion What do the results mean? • It should give meaning to the whole article. • Main results should be summarized at the beginning. • Only refer to work of previous authors which illuminates or is illuminated by the present results. • The final paragraph should clearly state the message of the article and point out where further gaps in the knowledge could be filled.

20. Discussion • It should end either with the intention of author to explore the gaps further or by giving the guidelines for further research to other workers.

21. Abstract • Abstract should be the précis of the article (about 150 words). It should contain the essence of • Introduction • purpose of study • Methods • specific results and their statistical significance and • conclusions.

22. Structured abstract • It should be of 250 words and contains following sub headings • Objective: state the precise objectives of the study. Others if any, should be mentioned as a corollary of the main objective. If the study is based on a hypothesis, it should be clearly stated. • Design: Give concise methodology according to the type of study chosen

23. Structured abstract (contd) • Setting: For readers to determine the applicability of the report to their own plan, the setting should be clearly defined community, institutional practice, hospital etc. • Patients/ Subjects/ Materials: Number, inclusion/ exclusion criteria, socio demographic features, matching and comparing groups, follow up, type of sample, random or otherwise.

24. Structured abstract (contd) • Results: Main results with relevant data and statistically analyzed findings should be precisely described. • Conclusions that support the findings described in the result should be included along with relevant applications in clinical practice.

25. Structured abstract (contd) • Both negative and positive findings should be given if necessary • Indicate if further studies are necessary before the results of this study can be used in clinical practice.

26. Title • Should be short, descriptive, specific and retrievable. • This is judged by the items of information it contains. • It should, therefore, have all the elements of the paper.

27. Acknowledgements All those who made the study possible should be acknowledged. • Physicians who referred cases. • Technicians who did the test. • Sponsoring organizations who provided finances. • Statisticians who guided in statistical methods • Secretarial help.

28. References • Only those references should be used which the author has read and are retrievable. • They should include name of journal/book • Year of publication • Volume • First and the last pages of the article • Title of the chapter, town of publication • Publishers name.

29. Instruction to authors • Check the 'Instructions to Authors' for style. • In Vancouver System, references are numbered as they appear in the text. • In the Harvard System, references are given alphabetically regardless of chronology. In the text, name of the author and year of publication are given in parenthesis (Khan, 1995} • Unpublished observations and personal communications are not included in the references.