Most Recent Episodes

As we know, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many in-person events to go virtual. While platforms like Zoom made the transition possible, “Zoom fatigue” quickly set in. Audiences have tuned out of long presentations and passive learning formats that are also typical of in-person conferences. To combat Zoom fatigue, virtual event organizers need to completely rethink their approach. So to get some ideas on how to do this, I spoke with Chris Elmitt, an expert facilitator and CEO of the virtual event ...

In today’s episode, I speak with nurse educator Martha Johnson MSN, RN, CEN, otherwise known as Breakout RN, about using active learning strategies to engage nursing students for whom it is also often challenging to connect theory to bedside practice, especially in the context of unique patient scenarios. As a new educator, Martha's first theory course was PowerPoint-heavy with a scripted lecture. She started BreakoutRN to develop a learner-centered model and saw firsthand the improvements in st...

In this episode, I spoke with Sean Sodha, founder of medical content platform Grafi AI, about the promise and pitfalls of generative AI for healthcare content creators. Sean shared his unique perspective on navigating this emerging technology. We take a comprehensive look at the role of generative AI in medical content creation and explore its promise for augmenting human skills and improving productivity in the medical writing space. Key Takeaways Generative AI can greatly accelerate drafting...

In today's episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Rizzo, a trained journalist who turned her curiosity and life-long interest in medicine into a thriving career as a CME writer. Michelle currently works as an associate medical director and senior writer at a boutique CME content company, where she often finds herself writing and researching about rare diseases. She was kind enough to give us a glimpse into her writing process and share some actionable tips for getting into the fie...

If you are at all interested in the status of women in medicine and the role of education in addressing gender inequities in the health professions, then you’re going to love today’s episode. I’m speaking with Rebecca Ortega about improving gender equity in cardiology. Rebecca is the Founding and executive director of Women as One, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting talent in medicine by offering professional opportunities to women cardiologists through several different programs. ...

I’m really excited to have today’s conversation with Dr. Barbie Honeycutt, a faculty development consultant and host of the podcast Lecture Breakers. Barbi is an expert in the field of active learning and is known for her work on creating engaging and effective learning experiences for students. She is the founder of FLIP It® and Interactive Lectures, two popular strategies for incorporating active learning in the classroom. Here’s what you’ll learn in today’s episode. 1. Start with the learne...

Instructional design for online courses is a crucial aspect of modern CME/CE. And as online learning has grown over the last 15 years or so, especially so since 2020, instructional designers play a vital role in creating effective and engaging CME/CE content for learners. In today’s podcast episode, I’m speaking with Mark Hagerty, an expert in effective instructional design in the context of CME/CE with a passion for behavioral and life sciences. 🩺💡 Mark shares insights from his three-decade-l...

Even those of us who’ve had surgery probably haven’t given much thought to the person who put us under and carefully monitored us while the surgeon did their work. I’m here today with anesthesiologist, author, and test pilot Dr. David Alfery to discuss his book, Saving Grace: What Patients Teach Their Doctors About Life, Death, and the Balance in Between, which was published by Wipf and Stock earlier in 2023. David was a cardiac anesthesiologist for over 30 years, taking patients to the brink of...

If you are an education provider tasked with designing virtual education, or you work with providers involved in online group learning and experiences, today's episode is a must-listen. Gwyn Wansbrough is a facilitator who designs and leads interactive online sessions. Gwyn shares how to run effective and engaging live online sessions and guide a group to achieve a specific outcome. The more we talked, the more I realized that the preparation process for facilitation is akin to conducting a ne...

Sarah Nelson PhD is a medical writer and founder of Green Pen Solutions Ltd. She is a leading mentor and trainer for medical writers all over the world. Her mission is to encourage more medical writers into Medcomms and help them create a sustainable career path that builds on their personal strengths. Sarah's wide-ranging knowledge comes from over 17 years as a medical writer, her experience leading large editorial teams, and from mentoring writers in over 20 agencies across the medcomms indus...

Welcome back to the Write Medicine podcast! Before we get into today’s topic on the power of experience in learning, I wanted to share with you a message from Mallory Kane. Mallory is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Connecticut who is creating an anthology of essays based on testimonies from people whose lives have been impacted by cancer. Whether you are a patient or survivor, a family member or caretaker, she wants to hear from you. She is using this anthology to highlight t...

Welcome to the season finale of the Write Medicine podcast! Today's episode was supposed to be live on LinkedIn, but we encountered some tech hiccups linking Riverside.fm to LinkedIn Live. Fret not! We recorded the episode for you, and it's available right here and on your favorite podcast platforms. We're looking forward to our first live episode, which we've rescheduled for the opening of Season 6 on August 30. Launched 2 1/2 years ago, Write Medicine has evolved into the go-to podcast for p...

If you’re a pharmacist you are probably going to have thoughts about today’s episode. I’m joined by pharmacist and Director of Pharmacy at Minnesota Oncology, Kirollos Hanna Pharm.D. I first met Kirollos at the end of 2020 in the context of an end-of-year report on oncology trends for the Association of Community Cancer Centers, that included a series of focus groups with ACCC members. I was deeply impressed by Kirollos’s humanity, clarity, and pragmatism, and if you don’t know Kirollos, I think...

As an accidental educator, Andrew Crim MEd, CHCP is a seasoned expert in designing educational programs for healthcare professionals. He’s the Director of Education and Professional Development at the American College of Osteopathic Obstetricians and Gynecologists and is deeply passionate about the effect that high-quality education can have on patient outcomes. As an early adopter of Chat GPT, Andrew recognizes the potential of this technology to transform the way healthcare professionals acces...

"There's great potential and power in acknowledging this. It's self to self, self to others single, self to others plural, and self to others at the macro level. You begin to appreciate how beautiful it can be all around you, how much we all need help, and how very related we are in our own ways." In episode 62, Dr. Leigh Boehmer emphasizes the crucial role of self-awareness in understanding and practicing intersectionality, which goes beyond recognizing one's own complexities and involves ackn...

In today's episode, I have a conversation with Sapana Panday, a medical education specialist with over two decades of experience. Sapana shares how her background in public health and evaluation research led her to work in medical education, particularly in areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). About Sapana Sapana earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Mount Holyoke College and a Master’s in Public Health, Socio-Medical Sciences, from Columbia University. She brings a unique...

Simulated case-based educational formats allow radiologists to develop their skills in a safe environment, learning from experts without the risks involved in clinical care. This is exactly what Medality specializes in offering its learners. On today’s episode, Dr. Deanna Heier, Ph.D., Head of Educational Strategy and Operations at Medality, shares how the company replicates side-by-side training through asynchronous and synchronous learning options and uses performance outcomes to enhance this...

✨ Focus Your Writing with Ben Riggs ✨ Join Ben Riggs for a WriteCME Pro Expert Perspective session on how to focus your writing and create focused content for busy health professionals. When: June 21, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PDT Where: Live online How: Buy a ticket for the event + 1 month of WriteCME Pro __________________________ If content is King, learning culture must be Queen, as the latter goes a long way to determining learner outcomes. Frustrated with many years of check-box top-down broad...

Whether you are an education provider working with a distributed team or a freelance writer working with multiple clients, connecting with your colleagues, peers, and clients is key. Today I’m taking a deeper dive into connection to explore why it’s important in CME and to offer some different ways to foster connection with clients, colleagues, and content. To apply empathy to content creation, you can create content in multiple formats and provide access to that content in multiple ways. For ...

Recently I read Tornado of Life: A Doctor’s Journey Through Constraints and Creativity in the ER by Jay Baruch, MD. It's a collection of linked essays, so you can dip into the book in small, snatched moments without losing momentum. If you need an introduction to the always challenging, sometimes messy, but ultimately humanizing work that clinicians do at the acute end of care, this is a great start. Jay is a physician and writer who explores how creativity in medicine supports empathy, the cor...

Transforming our own habits is notoriously challenging and changing clinical practice habits even more so. But my guest today shares strategies that CME practitioners can apply to education design and implementation based on understanding clinician readiness to change. Sara Johnson PhD is a leading expert in behavior change science. Along with Dr. Kerry Evers, she is co-President and CEO of Pro-Change Behavior Solutions, a behavior-change consulting firm and solution provider that empowers peop...

Ready for a tour of the European Continuing Medical Education environment? Eugene Pozniak is Managing Director and CEO of Siyemi Learning, an independent medical education provider established in 2006. In fact, Siyemi Learning is the first non-US organization to be accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and is uniquely also accredited on the other side of the Atlantic by the European Board for Accreditation of Continuing Education for Health Professiona...

Instructional designers are the architects of learning experiences. In this episode, Parker Grant PhD, the co-founder of IDLance, an instructional design freelance agency, discusses the learning process, how to use learners’ experiences to optimize education, and where instructional designers go for their story inspiration. Parker advises, “In adult learning, what's really important to know, is that all learning is experiential. What makes learning better is having a multifaceted approach, mea...

What qualities do medical writers need? This is a question I'm frequently asked. In this episode, expect to hear some robust answers—whatever your niche, specialty, or area of focus. Holly Hagan MSc, Success Coach for Medical Writers, believes that all medical writers require diplomacy, intellectualism, inquisitiveness, and resourcefulness as fundamental qualities to thrive. Authentically embodying moral and civic character lies central to her approach to medical writing. In addition, Holly m...