Session Description: This abstract is submitted on behalf of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), a member organization of the CEHp Partners’ Council.
Medical writers develop a wide range of educational materials to assist accredited continuing medical education/continuing professional development (CME/CPD) providers in planning and delivering effective programs. For example, medical writers frequently develop needs assessments that are included in educational grant proposals. After commercial support has been obtained, medical writers may also collaborate with faculty to create educational content called for by funded proposals. Crafting fair-balanced, clinically valid, and engaging educational content requires a variety of advanced writing skills, yet there is no competency roadmap for medical writers specializing in CME/CPD to hone their expertise. It is not surprising, then, that participants of a recent survey, published simultaneously in the AMWA Journal and the Alliance Almanac, reported observing many errors in needs assessments developed by other writers. To promote excellence in medical writing for accredited continuing education in the health professions, we propose using the Delphi method to develop a specialized competency model to define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to succeed in this professional focus area.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the role of medical writers in accredited CME/CPD.
List common writing errors found in needs assessments for CME/CPD grant proposals.
Recognize the need for a specialized competency model to define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to excel in medical writing for accredited CME/CPD.
Innovation: To our knowledge, we are the first to propose using the Delphi method to develop a specialized competency model to define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed by medical writers who wish to excel in the accredited CME/CPD profession. This model will help guide both novice and experienced medical writers who wish to hone their expertise. It may also guide professional associations and continuing educators who are interested in creating training programs for these writers.
.jpg "Donald M. Harting, MA, MS, ELS, CHCP photo")