Writing for Health Professionals
Writing 109HP

Writing Help

The links below can help you with your Writing 109HP class assignments. They are organized by assignment number/letter. Please share! If you find other on-line resources that are useful to you, forward them to me so that I can list them here for your classmates.

Assignments

Assignment 1: Autobiographical Summary

Assignment 2: Personal Statement (optional), and Resume or CV (required)

Assignment 3: Analytic Assignment

Assignment 4: Public health service announcement

Assignment 5: Reflective essay [*This will be explained in our class.]

Assignment 6: Health History

Research Paper

Editorial Guidelines for Writing 109HP Final Paper

Help for writing your Writing 109HP research paper.

Assignment 2— Writing a resume

Two books have been placed on two-hour reserve at the UCSB Davidson Library:

Best Resumes for College Students and New Grads [HF5383. K867. 2012. #1757]

Resume 101: A Student and Recent-Grad Guide [HF5383. S3275. 2012. #1740]

See also: Doug's PowerPoint, Help for Students Writing Resumes .

Personal Statement (optional)

This optional assignment tasks you with writing a personal statement for a professional or graduate school. If you are writing the personal statement, be certain to see the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) website first. This will get you started. There are also numerous websites devoted to helping you write your personal statement. Here are a few to help you:

Assignment 3

This assignment will challenge you with locating and reviewing a scientific research article. By "scientific research article" is meant a written piece published in a reputable, refereed (committee reviewed) publication. Here are a few examples:

Assignment 4— Public service announcement (PSA)

NOTE: Design your PSA for an actual media venue (radio station, newspaper, etc.). Be sure to see the venue's submission requirements.

KCSB website
NOTE: KCSB has always been willing to broadcast student-produced health PSA's that are well-written and of broadcast quality. This means using a crafted script, basic recording technology, and post-production editing for the best results. The 'ideal' health PSA sends an important message that is delivered quickly and effectively; shorter PSAs (15–30 seconds) are preferred.

Audacity shareware downloads
NOTE: Audacity is free and proven shareware for crafting audio files. It is intuitive to use and has a short learning curve.

NOTE: At least two local, hardcopy newspapers run PSAs: UCSB's Daily Nexus and the SB Independent. You can query either or both newspapers for opportunities there:

Daily Nexus website

Santa Barbara Independent website

Assignment 6— Patient health history

"Example of a Complete History and Physical Write-Up," Columbia University
NOTE: For our physical health history assignment, you do not need to fill out the "Physical Exam," "Labs," "Formulation," "impression," or "Plan" sections given in the Columbia example. Be certain to obtain your subject's permission in advance, and anonymize all identifying information by using a pseudonym, made-up address, etc. None of the personal information in your health history should be real, identifiable and/or traceable to any living person. Do not post your assignment publicly.

Sample health history
NOTE: This is a much older, legacy example but may prove useful.

Jump to any of the links below

Research links for Writing 109HP
UCSB Counseling and Career Services
Additional links of interest

Editorial Guidelines for Writing 109HP Final Paper

*NOTE: The editorial guidelines below are from a previous quarter as a rough example and template. We will develop our own research paper guidelines in class during our fourth week; therefore, do not use these guidelines to write your own paper. See our course schedule after our class develops its own for the latest version of guidelines.

Ethical Requirements

Cite all sources of original content. Peer-reviewed sources are required for statements of material fact. Speculative and/or conjectural statements should be qualified as such [(e.g., "In a non-peer reviewed website article Author X speculates that "blah blah.." (source)."].
All human research utilized in your paper must adhere to "Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research" (aka Belmont Report), published 1979 April 18 by The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research
You may not cite research from predadtory open access publishing sources, as listed in Beall's List of Predatory Journals.

Manuscript Guidelines

Prepare your first-submission drafts in double-spaced format on numbered pages. You may submit your final, revised manuscript in a single-spaced format; however, this is up to you. In each case, be certain to include a title at the top of the first page, along with your name and "Writing 109HP."
A single-column format is preferred

You utilize any one of the following citation formats:

CSE (any format by the Council of Science Editors)
APA or CMS
Online guidelines for Science magazine, "Instructions for preparing an initial manuscript."

Data and Graphics

Figures and tables are numbered separately (e.g., "Figure 1," Table 3," etc.). Include a brief descriptive caption with each figure or table and a (source in parentheses). For example: Figure 1. Zika distribution 2014–16, Columbia. (WHO 2016)
In captions DO NOT write "A picture of...," or "A table of...," etc. Simply describe what is in the figure or table data.
Colors: Make sure colors correspond to the figures and data points; include a legend at the bottom.
Placement of graphs: Figure #, title and description (the order of the captions). Make sure captions are at least one font point smaller or italicized as to not confuse them with the body of the paper.
Don't make text too small (10 – 14 point size preferredt)
Steer clear of double-column formats.
Locate figures close to text where they are referenced.
Include legends
Make sure pictures can stand alone
Use arrows to highlight microscopic images with scale bars
Include units in all measurements.

Research links for Writing 109HP

NOTE: What follows is a list of helpful research resources for your final paper and presentation. By no means is this list exhaustive. For additional help, see a research librarian at the UCSB Library.

SAGE Medical Library, Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Barbara's Cottage Hospital hosts the largest medical library between Los Angeles and San Francisco: the SAGE (formerly David L. Reeves) Library. The library is open Monday–Friday, 8:00 am–5:00 pm and is open to the public; however, materials may not be checked out by non-employees. You may, however, visit the library, examine materials, and make copies.
NOTE: While Cottage Hospital is still under construction, the library has been downsized and moved from its former location. To access the library, you must enter the hospital at the main Pueblo Street entrance and ask for an identity badge at the front desk.

Ohio State University Council of Science Editors (CSE) Documentation Style

A good place to start learning the Council for Science Editors (CSE) documentation style.This will usually be the method of documentation applied to your medical report paper.

Clinical Trials.gov

Website description: "ClinicalTrials.gov is a database of privately and publicly funded clinical stgudies conducted around the world."

US Food and Drug Administration

FDA Mission Statement: "The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs,
biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health."

California Board of Pharmacy
CBP website description: "The Board of Pharmacy protects and promotes the health and safety of Californians by pursuing the highest quality of pharmacist’s care and the appropriate use of pharmaceuticals through education, communication, licensing, legislation, regulation, and enforcement."

Medscape (formerly "eMedicine")

Website description: "Medscape is the leading online global destination for physicians and healthcare professionals worldwide, offering the latest medical news and expert perspectives; essential point-of-care drug and disease information; and relevant professional education and CME."

MEDLINE (Medical Literature, Analysis, and Retrieval System Online) of the U.S. National Library of Medicine

From website: "MEDLINE® (Medical Literature, Analysis, and Retrieval System Online) is the U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) premier bibliographic database that contains over 12 million references to journal articles in life sciences with a concentration on biomedicine. It can be searched via PubMed® or the NLM Gateway. (Time coverage: 1966 to the present.)"

PubMed

NOTE: PubMed is everyone's go-to search engine for medical research and news. The website may also be accessed via the UCSB library website, which is required to freely download published articles licensed to our University.