Are you a writer with a liberal arts degree and a thirst for scientific
information? A seasoned medical writer or editor looking for a new
challenge?
AMWA’s new certificate in science fundamentals provides medical communicators
with an opportunity to deepen and expand their understanding of basic concepts
in science and medicine. This certificate program is not intended to provide a
comprehensive education in the sciences, nor does it attempt to replace a
university science degree. Rather, it focuses on the needs of writers and
editors, with workshops designed to orient participants to a scientific area and
give them a foundation for further study.
What Does the Science
Fundamentals Certificate Program Look Like?
Current Workshops in the Science Fundamentals
Certificate Program
Benefits of the Science Fundamentals Certificate
Program
Earning the Certificate in Science
Fundamentals
The Relationship Between Core and Science
Fundamentals Certificate Programs
Do You Want to Develop a New
Workshop?
FAQs About the Science Fundamentals
Curriculum
What Does the Science Fundamentals Certificate Program Look
Like?
Modeled on the AMWA core certificate program, the curriculum in science
fundamentals comprises general and specialty workshops. Their purpose is to
provide tools for writing about the sciences, including terminology, basic
concepts and systems, commonly used methods, and key references and resources.
The people who will attend these workshops don’t need to do science; rather,
they need to be able to write about it and understand others’ writing about it.
The science fundamentals curriculum currently includes 15 workshops, many of
which will be offered at the 2007 Annual Conference; more workshops are in the
development pipeline.
Current Workshops in the Science Fundamentals Certificate
Program
General Workshops
Basics of Genetics
Basics of Molecular Biology
Basics of Cell Biology
Basics of Human
Anatomy & Physiology
Biomedical Research Design
Basics of Epidemiology
for Medical Communicators
Statistics for Medical Writers and Editors (will
also remain in the core certificate program)
Reporting Correlation &
Regression Analyses (will also remain in the core certificate
program)
Elements of Medical Terminology (will also remain in the core
certificate program)
Specialty Workshops
Drug
Interactions
Pharmacokinetics
Understanding and Reporting the Results of
Routine Clinical Laboratory Tests
Basic Immunology for Medical Writers and
Editors
Introduction to the Nervous System
Benefits of the Science Fundamentals Certificate Program
The workshops in this new program offer a unique perspective, focused on the
needs of writers and editors. Like the core and advanced workshops, the science
fundamentals workshops will:
- enhance your knowledge and skills
- help you achieve your professional and personal goals
- reflect positively on you, your employer, and AMWA.
For
managers of medical writing and editing departments, the program offers a path
for focusing or facilitating the career development of staff members. For
long-time AMWA members*, the program offers an opportunity to earn a new
certificate, enhancing their participation in AMWA and giving them new reasons
to attend the annual conference and chapter conferences.
Earning the Certificate in Science Fundamentals
You can earn a certificate in science fundamentals by:
- enrolling in the science fundamentals certificate program
- paying the enrollment fee
- successfully completing 4 general workshops and any 4 specialty workshops
in the science fundamentals certificate program.
After enrolling, you have 6 years to complete the certificate; the period may
be extended for another 4 years by paying a renewal fee. Workshops may be taken
in any order during the 6-year period.
Workshops may be taken without enrollment in a certificate program. However,
enrollment is required to earn credit toward a certificate. As with the core and
advanced certificate programs, participants can receive credit for workshops
already successfully completed by enrolling in the certificate program within
the 90-day grace period after the date of the workshop. As is true for the other
AMWA certificate programs, previous work experience, education, degrees, or
credentials may not be applied to certificate requirements.
The Relationship Between Core and Science Fundamentals Certificate
Programs
Many of the workshops in the science fundamentals curriculum were originally
developed as part of the core curriculum. For a transition period of 5 years,
these workshops will be included in both the core and science fundamentals
programs. After 5 years, most of the science-related workshops will only be
applicable to the science fundamentals program.
Because their content applies to both AMWA curricula, a few workshops,
including Statistics for Medical Writers and Editors, Reporting Correlation and
Regression Analyses, and Elements of Medical Terminology, will remain part of
both the core and science fundamentals certificate programs.
Workshops may be applied to only 1 certificate. For example, if you take
Basics of Cell Biology for credit toward a core certificate, you may not apply
the same workshop toward a science fundamentals certificate. If you have already
taken a science workshop under the core program but have not yet earned a core
certificate, you may decide to apply credit for that workshop to the science
fundamentals certificate program. After credit for a workshop is applied to the
science fundamentals program, it can no longer be applied to a core certificate.
You may be enrolled in the core, advanced, and science fundamentals certificate
programs simultaneously.
If you are currently enrolled in the core certificate
program but would prefer to earn a science fundamentals certificate, you can
transfer the remaining term of your enrollment to the science fundamentals
certificate program. If you take a nonscience workshop for core certificate
credit and later transfer your enrollment from the core certificate to the
science certificate, you retain the credit you have earned and may apply it to a
core certificate by re-enrolling in the core certificate program. See the FAQs for answers to specific questions.
Do You Want to Develop a New Workshop?
If you have spent your career peering at red blood cells, prodding the
amygdalas of rodents, or pondering pacemakers, the science certificate program
needs you.
The science fundamentals curriculum will include workshops in key general
science topics (eg, genetics, molecular biology), plus specialty workshops in
normal body systems anatomy and physiology (eg, cardiovascular system or nervous
system). The curriculum will also include workshops on diseases, diagnostic
methods (eg, laboratory methods, imaging systems), and treatments (eg, drugs,
medical devices). Some topics are in development as either credit or noncredit
workshops, but many more are needed. Some of these workshops may be developed by
current leaders, but new leaders with expertise in the sciences and a desire to
teach are also encouraged to consider developing and leading workshops.
The process of developing new workshops for the science
fundamentals curriculum is the same as the process for core and advanced workshops;
most begin as noncredit workshops and progress to credit status. If you
are interested in developing a workshop, contact Dane Russo at AMWA
headquarters (dane@amwa.org). For more information
about this process, visit the Information for
Workshop Leaders’ area
on the AMWA Web site. The
information listed there includes standard frameworks for developing basic
science and body systems workshops; a framework for disease state workshops is
also being developed. These frameworks were developed to ensure the consistency
and quality of new workshops.
FAQs About the Science Fundamentals Curriculum
Is AMWA suggesting that a 3-hour workshop prepares a person
adequately to write about a scientific topic?
No. Just as a
3-hour workshop about writing does not make a writer, a 3-hour workshop about a
scientific topic does not make a scientist. The emphasis is on providing some
background in a scientific area and giving writers a foundation for further
study.
Will the science fundamentals credit workshops have precourse
assignments (homework)?
Yes. As with other AMWA credit
workshops, the precourse assignments help the participants prepare to learn the
content of the workshop and give the workshop leader important information about
the skills and needs of the participants. Successful completion of the precourse
assignment is required to earn credit for the workshop.
I just enrolled in the core certificate program, but I would
rather earn this new certificate first. May I switch my enrollment from the core
certificate program to the science fundamentals certificate
program?
Yes, you may switch your enrollment; any remaining
time will be transferred to the science fundamentals certificate program.
Can I be enrolled in multiple certificate programs (core,
advanced, and science fundamentals) at the same time?
Yes. The
only restriction is that each workshop counts for credit only once, in only 1
certificate program.
Can I earn 2 or more science fundamentals
certificates?
Not at present. After this program is in place
for several years and more workshops have been developed, AMWA may decide to
separate workshops into specialty areas. At that time, a path would be specified
for people to earn more than 1 certificate in science fundamentals.
Are there any self-study workshops in the science fundamentals
certificate program?
Not at present. An important criterion for
selecting a self-study workshop for development is that the content should be
stable and unlikely to change, so the workshop will have lasting value for those
who use it. This principle will be considered when self-study workshops are
selected for development.
*This page often refers to “members,” but it should be
understood that AMWA’s educational programs are available to nonmembers as well
as members. | 
