From Unseen to Unstoppable: How Medical Writers Grow Beyond CME Task Work to Creative Partnership

Gina Castiblanco: Hot Seat Coaching

[00:00:00] In continuing medical education, so much of what we do as writers happens behind the scenes, we analyze data, craft narratives, and build learning experiences that help clinicians. Build knowledge and change practice. Yet our role, our expertise, and even our struggles often stay invisible. This episode is about changing that.

[00:00:23] It's about what happens when you decide to stop hiding behind the deliverable and start showing up as the strategist, the educator, and the partner You already are. My guest today, Gina Castiblanco, shares her story of moving from the academic lab to the CME workspace and how she's learning to make the invisible visible, the value of her background, her confidence, and her evolving professional identity.

[00:00:50] This is part of our Hot Seat coaching series, and if you stay with me to the end of the episode, I'll share three concrete steps you can take today to start making your own [00:01:00] invisible work visible in ways that strengthen your voice, your visibility, and your value in the CME ecosystem.

[00:01:07] I'm Alex Howson, and this is Write Medicine.

[00:01:16] Gina: I'm Gina Castiblanco. I am a dentist by training, so I have been a clinician and I'm also a scientist. I hold a masters in basic. Biomedical science. So I've been working in the lab at the bench and I also hold a degree PhD degree in life sciences and dental sciences. So I also have experience with population research and managing lots of population level data. That background has given me the strength and a lot of the skills that I'm bringing today as a freelance CME writer [00:02:00] and applying all this knowledge to healthcare education and doing something that I like a lot, which is learn to learn science and to apply that for the betterment of health in human populations.

[00:02:18] Alex: So you have a lot of qualifications and an extensive background. Why don't we start with your first question.

[00:02:24] Gina: for the time I have been. A writer, have noticed how my skills as an academic can bring a lot of value into the CME space. my first question is, what transferable skills from my academic experience in manuscript development and scientific writing, I apply to my current role as a freelance CME writer?

[00:02:54] Alex: that's such a great question because I know that there are many of us who land in [00:03:00] CME at one point or another, come from an academic background or perhaps a research background where we've not only been, doing research, but trying to engage in scientific writing as well so that we can put our research into the public domain and contribute to research and scholarship through manuscripts.

[00:03:18] So I think the first thing is having those really strong research and analytic skills. You know, that's a must for, I would say medical writing in general. Right. But CME in particular, we need to be able to read.

[00:03:32] Thoroughly, extensively and pretty quickly as well, but also synthesize that information and evaluate the evidence that we're looking at. Whether we're working on needs assessments or content or developing manuscripts in CME. And I think we're probably gonna come to a question about that later.

[00:03:53] So that strong research and analytic skillset is. I think the first thing that [00:04:00] can serve you really well if you're coming from an academic background.

[00:04:03] Key Skills for CME Writers

[00:04:03] Alex: the second thing is you, you understand scientific accuracy and rigor, so you already have baked in and emphasis on being precise in the language that you use, the way you reference.

[00:04:18] The evidence and the sources that you use in your work, and you understand the importance of having that precision, not only in continuing education content, but again, you know, if you're working with clients on developing. Manuscripts, you can coach them and help them understand about the importance of formatting references and being precise with references and, and so on.

[00:04:45] So that scientific accuracy and rigor is important. And I think that's even more important now in 2025. Given that the evidence base is being diminished by what the current political [00:05:00] administration is doing to the science base in the US and the National Institutes of Health.

[00:05:07] The CDC PubMed we're still holding as our benchmark, as our main search and synthesize source, but I think we're having to be increasingly careful about how we're managing our own evidence base and having to be more critical about the sources that we're looking at.

[00:05:28] So when you come from an academic background, you have that imperative toward scientific accuracy and rigor really baked into how you operate as a professional. And I think adjacent to that of course, is critical thinking. When we're working in A CME context we're identifying gaps in clinical practice.

[00:05:50] We are searching and synthesizing the literature to pull out insights that will be helpful for education. We're not just presenting [00:06:00] information. And so. The critical thinking skills that you develop in an academic context really come into play here because as an academic you're always identifying gaps.

[00:06:10] Gaps in the literature, gaps in the research base. And I think it's very similar process in looking for gaps in clinical practice. We're using the literature, we're using other types of evidence sources and information. But I think we're still using that, that kind of critical approach to, you know, what are the gaps here?

[00:06:29] What do they tell us about what education needs to look like? So identifying those gaps and then framing them as educational needs. I think that's very parallel to the work we do in academia in terms of identifying gaps in the literature to, hypothesis framing in research, developing our research questions in an academic context.

[00:06:54] So I think that's a third skill that academics really bring into [00:07:00] CME. Audience awareness I think is something that many academics build in academia. A lot of your writing is for peers and reviewers, but if you work in academia. Very often, you're not only a researcher, you're also a teacher, and I know that you taught as well, and so you're having to translate perhaps more complex concepts or abstract ideas or clinical data.

[00:07:29] Into something that's a bit more accessible for your students in an academic context. And of course, that's exactly what we're doing in CME. We're adapting our writing for different readers, for clinicians, sometimes patients. And so we're thinking about register, we're thinking about tone. I think that's something that, that many academics learn in their writing and teaching.

[00:07:54] Process. So I'm gonna stop there just for a moment. I have a couple of other skills that I see as [00:08:00] being something that you can bring from an academic context, but which of these skills so far do you feel most confident in using in CME?

[00:08:10] Gina: I think the critical thinking for sure and the evidence synthesis, I do identify a lot with the part you mentioned about reputable sources of information. I have dealt with, documents that cite sources that are not reliable and we can easilyspot those and also interpret the ones that are hard for many to interpret because we have those critical thinking skills and even to question sometimes the results of some clinical trials that are trying to push a little bit on the results.

[00:08:52] But we have those skills to judge and to take things sometimes with a pinch of, of [00:09:00] salt.

[00:09:00] Alex: that's a great point, Gina, because sometimes that's where the education needs to be as well. There are nuances in the clinical data in the way that one might interpret them, and that's exactly what the education needs to focus on. And so having that ability to spot.

[00:09:16] Those nuances to engage in that interpretation is a premium skill that not everyone has in CME. So that's, a pretty big one that you bring from academia. There's a couple of other kind of obvious things. I think like project management. You know, if you work in an academic context, you are managing timelines, you're coordinating with co-authors.

[00:09:37] And I know that you're a highly published academic author, and so you've worked with many co-authors. You're handling revisions. These are all skills. That we need to use when we are working with faculty and education providers, our clients in, in CMEI would say, and then storytelling with data You know, in an [00:10:00] academic context, whether you're teaching or writing a research protocol or developing manuscripts, you're trying to frame data into a compelling narrative. And I think we're doing, I think we're doing the same thing in CME. And we're also incorporating visual materials, tables, charts, graphs, infographics, all sorts of things.

[00:10:24] And so those are two other skills that you easily bring with you from an academic context.

[00:10:31] Gina: you, you're absolutely right. As you were talking, I was thinking

[00:10:35] Challenges in Communicating Skills to Clients

[00:10:35] Gina: Why is it so difficult for us, especially those who are just transitioning from academia to communicate that to clients in discovery calls, in introductory calls? Sometimes especially I have had a hard time to communicate that.

[00:10:51] That would be my follow up question. How can we, instead of expect that everyone is gonna know what we do, how we do [00:11:00] it, because we have a PhD or a scientific background and clinical background, can we confidently communicate that to clients?

[00:11:09] Alex: Yeah, that's a great question. I think you need to translate those skills for them. I think you need to do what we are doing here. Here's what I've been doing in academia. Here's what it looks like in the CME context so that they can see those parallels. They can see when you talk about you know, a particular a particular skill, like critical thinking.

[00:11:30] We assume we all know what that means. But I think in the context of CME, you can spell it out for your clients, what that looks like in an academic context what that might look like in a continuing education content context. And the way you described it, I think is actually. Really effective because you aligned that with sources and the presentation of clinical data and the interpretive necessity [00:12:00] that we need to have our interpretation hats on when we're looking at clinical data.

[00:12:04] That's a huge asset for potential clients. So I think even focusing on that one thing could be really helpful when you're having those discovery calls with potential clients and really helping them to see how your academic background is gonna be an asset for them.

[00:12:22] Gina: I think it does take a little bit of a change of mindset for us who come from academia. We are used to thinking that everyone knows that you are an expert and the the skills that you bring, but it is a very conscious effort that we have to make to communicate this confidently to clients. So I appreciate this exercise so we can reflect on those and apply this knowledge in future interactions with clients.

[00:12:51] Alex: Well the mindset shift, it can be really challenging.

[00:12:55] Second Question: Becoming Strategic Partners

[00:12:55] Alex: Okay, let's move on to your second question. What do you have for us?

[00:12:59] Gina: [00:13:00] since we bring all this. Skills, all the experience. can we become more strategic partners as opposed to order takers with clients? How can we communicate that we can strategize with them in grants, in education? how can we become those partners in the CME industry?

[00:13:24] Alex: That's such a great, great question. I think when I first started, you know, almost 20 years ago, I, I think I was quite happy, at least in the first couple of years to adopt this mindset of, yeah, tell me what to do and I'll do it. But then I realized that not all clients have a clear process.

[00:13:42] Many clients assume you have a 360 understanding of the CME content development process, and you are going to handle things that they would prefer not to think about or talk about. I think that very quickly, that takes you into collaborative and partnering [00:14:00] territory.

[00:14:00] It's not necessarily the case that all clients see writers as partners or collaborators. So I think as freelance writers have to do the work here in terms of shifting our own mindsets in the first instance and helping them to shift their mindset. So let me ask you a question. How do you currently position yourself when you are talking to prospects or taking on a new client?

[00:14:26] What kinda language do you use or feels comfortable, or where do you feel yourself sticking?

[00:14:32] Positioning as a Strategic Partner

[00:14:32] Gina: Right now I think I'm using transferable skills as a word. Bringing experience as a researcher, evidence synthesizer. I have had grants funded by federal agencies, and that speaks to the quality and. Persuasion of my grant writing. I am a published author that speaks to project management.

[00:14:58] Of course the skill [00:15:00] of writing a complete manuscript and my interest in science more. Than anything. I do what I do because I love learning continuously. And this profession is one way to continue learning and doing what I like to do the most.

[00:15:19] Alex: think those are all great starting points, and I think many listeners and myself included, would use very similar phrases, What strikes me about everything that you just said is it's very much about your skills. which is great. one of the things that we need to do when we are trying to position ourselves as strategic partners is again, help clients see how those skills will help them.

[00:15:47] So it's not about you, it's about them. And that very. Subtle. I think it's a very subtle, not necessarily an easy or straightforward tweak I think is the key to unlocking [00:16:00] that collaborative or strategic piece. So you're starting with that very clear inventory that you just provided of what your skills are and what you can do and what you enjoy, what your values are, the things that

[00:16:13] satisfy your curiosity. Just making that next step towards showing your client how all of those things can benefit them. That brings me to questions. What kinds of questions can I ask clients in order to get more information from them in a discovery call? At the beginning of that relationship building process that will help me signal more clearly my own sort of strategic thinking will help me more clearly show What I can do for them, what you can do for them.

[00:16:48] So here are some things that I think about when I think about positioning ourselves as collaborators, as as partners.

[00:16:57] The first thing is to claim [00:17:00] strategic thinking early on in the process. Now, for me, that means. When I have that startup conversation or a discovery call with clients, I want to ask a lot of questions. So often they have a lot to say and they're gonna tell me about their projects, their audiences they're partners their funders, their supporters, and so on. But I can ask clarifying questions. About their audiences, about their, how they approach gap analysis, about the types of outcomes that they typically focus on versus focusing only on the writing itself.

[00:17:37] And I think as soon as you start to ask those broader questions. You're signaling to the client, to the education provider that you understand the field of CME and continuing education for health professionals. So my first. Recommendation is to step into strategic thinking early, to [00:18:00] claim that position of being a collaborator for yourself so that you can approach those discovery and startup calls with confidence.

[00:18:10] You can use startup question checklists like the ones that we recommend and write CME Pro, or you can create your own depending on. who your clients are and the type of projects that you typically work on. I think the second thing that we can do is practice bringing some kind of insight to every project that you work on.

[00:18:32] And that might look different depending on your clients and the kinds of projects that you work on. But what I mean here is if we see. Things that look a little. Unclear or strange or odd or you've seen something somewhere else that works better, you can make those recommendations on formats or highlight gaps in source material.

[00:18:57] We, you know, we just talked about that earlier. [00:19:00] We can make recommendations to make either the process or the format or the content better. In writing, this often looks like knowing where to reduce or expand content where to include visual versus textual material, where to make suggestions for presenting information, in a chart or a graph or a table or something like that versus, you know, writing something out in full so that when we are.

[00:19:30] You know, we are, we are bringing our full skillset of presenting information in an educational way to the table. And I think that also includes understanding, learning, science, insights, so that when we're creating text, when we're writing, we're doing that in a way that applies. Best practices in adult learning.

[00:19:58] So kind of really basic [00:20:00] things like if the examples that we get from our client at a project startup is kind of a wall of text. We can make recommendations about white space, about bullets, about better headings that are more descriptive than, you know, opaque. Often we see pretty opaque headings and subheadings in, in content.

[00:20:21] You know, we can make recommendations for better headings. So bringing some insight to the process where you feel that tug of, eh, I think we could do this in a better way. Make that recommendation. It doesn't necessarily mean your client is going to listen, but again, you're sowing that seed of, oh, this is somebody who really knows what they're doing.

[00:20:44] We can trust them to be thinking about how we can, you know, make our work better. There are sensitivities to that, of course, we're not gonna get into that today. That's more a communication than interpersonal relationship thing. [00:21:00] But I think that's something that we can definitely do to position ourselves.

[00:21:03] As collaborators or, or partners?

[00:21:06] Gina: As you were talking, I was thinking like I have done all of those things. I just didn't think of them as positioning myself or being a strategist or a partner. So I'm glad that now I can point out of. Point them out and then use them in a more strategic way. In my initial calls, I, I've been using them throughout the process, but I never thought of them as a way to introduce my work. So thank you for those insights.

[00:21:39] Alex: Oh, I love that you're doing that already. And I think sometimes, you know, we talked about mindset a few moments ago. I think sometimes it's a, it's a mindset confident thing. Can I do this? Should I do this? And and also intention, once we switch on that intention switch I think some of these things get.

[00:21:59] A little [00:22:00] easier. Like our, our intentions are good. We, we want to work with good people. We want to create good content. And, excuse me. I think when we come into those kinds of conversations with clarity about what our intentions are, it gets a little easier to, see ourselves as collaborators.

[00:22:25] So I'm glad that you're doing that already.

[00:22:26] As a freelance writer, you, you work across multiple clients and projects. You see a lot of different trends and.

[00:22:35] Best practices and not so good practices. I think that gives you incredible insight. Now of course there are confidentiality issues. We can't share with client A, what client B is doing in a way that identifies them. But I think we can share insights using phrases like.

[00:22:56] One of the things I've seen that works in this situation, so that [00:23:00] you're bringing your outside perspective into your client's work, I think that's valuable. I, I think it's a little unspoken. I think it's one of the things that clients don't necessarily want to. Be upfront about in terms of we hope when we hire you as a freelancer, you're gonna be able to share things that you see other education providers do.

[00:23:25] but , I think that is a hope and I think there's nothing wrong with that. As long as, we as freelancers are. Maintaining all of our clients' confidentiality. Because we work across multiple clients and, and projects, that's what builds up our expertise. Having that very broad perspective about what's going on in the field.

[00:23:47] I do think that's something to think about when we're thinking about positioning and, we can just talk about that in terms of. Breadth of exposure to what's going on in the field. When we get to that [00:24:00] point, when we have a few clients that we're working with and, and we're beginning to see that, yeah, there are different ways of addressing things and some work better than others.

[00:24:10] You can be one of those vehicles in elevating the field by sifting out. The things that you see that don't work and being strong in communicating what you see does work. Another part of that is the language that we use, I don't recommend that we call ourselves consultants necessarily, unless that works for your business but I do think we can adopt consultative language positioning ourselves as, I enjoy partnering with you to achieve your specific outcome here. Not even using that language in a conversation, just using it in your head. So that you go into engage client engagement as a partner or collaborator rather than writer for hire rather than content creator rather [00:25:00] than I'm just the person who delivers the documents.

[00:25:04] So there's a slight shift I think we can make to. mindset and the language that comes from that. That's something that probably happens over time. We are always in education mode, even when we're working with clients.

[00:25:18] And I do think that as freelance writers, we need to educate clients gently about who we are and what we do. I used that word just a few sentences ago, just the writer that creeps into our language more than it should. I recommend editing the words just out of your vocabulary when you are talking about your work and how you're showing up in the world.

[00:25:45] And I'm reminding myself of that as much as as anything else because I think. When we use that, just the writer kind of approach. It tells our clients something, it tells our clients we [00:26:00] are, we're the vendor, we're the contractor, we are the far hire.

[00:26:05] And that language is antithetical to thinking about and presenting yourself as a collaborator or as a partner.

[00:26:13] Alex: So, that kind of constant education of our clients in terms of the language we use, the way we show up and our process. As well, you know, having a clean, clear process, not only for developing the content itself, but also being able to show clients how our approach to work supports compliance.

[00:26:41] You can use comments when you are delivering a draft of a document to call out particular phrasing in ways that ensure a fair and balanced approach in accordance with Criterion two of the Acces 2020 standards for independence and integrity. [00:27:00] So, criterion two is. Making sure that there's no commercial bias in the content.

[00:27:05] So there's all sorts of things that we can do to educate our clients, but I do think that's something that we, we probably need to do on an ongoing basis in order to help them see that we are showing up as collaborators and partners.

[00:27:18] So. Where do you think clients might actually welcome more strategic or collaborative input from you, even if they haven't asked for it? .

[00:27:29] Gina: Notice that. There are clients who have very clear ideas of what they want and how they want it, and some of them have a very vague idea.

[00:27:42] I think I work the best with the second type of clients because I have all this critical thinking. I with a solution with the learning objectives I. Have developed a process of researching gaps, [00:28:00] identifying the root cause of the, of the gap of the education gap. I think that I liked that challenge. So I didn't know about this when I got into CME and it was only after interacting with them that I learned that there are these different styles the way I approach it is. I try to solve it on my own. I didn't know that that was a premium skill because that's what I'm used to doing. So to answer to your question, I just try to do the best I can with the information I'm given, and if I need something, I do ask for it. , And that's how it has been working for me.

[00:28:42] Alex: And I think that's great, Gina, because you are framing yourself as a problem solver. And that's what we need to do when we're showing up for our clients, is to anticipate what their problems are and step in with potential. Solutions. Are they always gonna take us up on it? No, because as you say, they have [00:29:00] their own styles.

[00:29:00] They have their own press preferences, they have their own constraints often. And of course that whole chestnut of, yeah, well this is the way we do it. That doesn't mean that we don't keep educating, we don't keep showing up as problem solvers. So I, I love that you use that approach.

[00:29:17] All right. We have our third and final question.

[00:29:20] Third Question: Value of Manuscripts in CME

[00:29:20] Gina: So I have noticed that manuscripts bring value to CME, partners. And, but I also have noticed that there is a lot that we could do from the outcomes report or even from earlier stages of the education that could make manuscripts better and stronger. Sometimes we have to work with what we get but that doesn't necessarily lead to good outcomes. Probably enough, but we could do better. So I was wondering, Alex, how, what are the most effective [00:30:00] ways to communicate the value of manuscripts to clients and how to encourage them to involve the writer early in the development process of the manuscript?

[00:30:11] Alex: that's a great question. And actually writers are not the only, groups within CME who, who have a little bit of this problem. Sometimes outcomes analysts do as well in smaller education providers who may not have a budget for an on staff outcomes analyst. You know, they'll contract out, they will hire.

[00:30:31] Outcomes, you know, consultant at some point in the process. And I do hear from some outcomes analysts that yeah, often they too get pulled into the process after the assessment questions have been written rather than, you know, right at the very beginning of that whole kind of outcomes evaluation and assessment process.

[00:30:50] So we're not the only ones with, with this kind of, you know, being pulled in late in the game.

[00:30:56] First this is in part. Related to that ongoing [00:31:00] education of clients that, that we need to engage in. Particularly if we, if we do want to have, or we offer manuscript writing as, you know, part of our services.

[00:31:11] So when we have those startup conversations or discover even discovery calls with clients, we want to be asking questions about how do they approach outcomes evaluation in the first place? Do they try to have a publication plan? Who do they share those findings with?

[00:31:26] Is it just for, is it just internal? Is it just for supporters? Are they thinking about sharing their results more widely with the continuing education field? In which case are they thinking of doing that in a white paper, some kind of report or, or a manuscript in a peer reviewed journal?

[00:31:45] So having that conversation, asking those questions kind of early on in your process. Discovery calls, project startup calls seeds. That idea that, oh, manuscript, Hmm. Well we hadn't really thought about that. Once you get [00:32:00] into that conversation about, well, we hadn't thought about a manuscript, what would that look like?

[00:32:06] Then you can start to educate them and encourage them, and I love that you use that word and I'll come back to that in a minute. You can start to educate them on what developing. Since we're talking about outcomes, we'll stick with that. And outcomes focused manuscript might look like what the process involves, how you can help them, what the value of being published in a peer review journal is the value of, sharing that information more widely in the field of contributing to scholarship.

[00:32:39] Which brings me back to that encouragement. Word that you used, because I think often, and this hasn't changed too much over the last, you know, decade, 15 years or so often education providers don't necessarily think about manuscripts because they don't know what's involved in the publishing process.

[00:32:59] [00:33:00] They don't see themselves as researchers. Or they don't think they'll necessarily have anything interesting to say, or they don't know how to say it. These are all things that writers especially like Gina, who have that publishing and publications experience. These are all things that writers can help clients think through, develop a process for, and be sort of intimately involved in developing manuscripts.

[00:33:26] You know themselves. So I think getting in early with with questions about their approach to sharing their outcomes can be a good way to seed that idea. And then encouraging them to think about manuscripts as something that's help them to show up in the field. As, as scholars you don't have to be a researcher as such, but when you're doing that kind of publishing, you are engaging in an effort to elevate.

[00:33:59] The profession [00:34:00] of continuing education. And I think that can be very appealing to, to clients. And you can, you can start to show them how you can strengthen their outcomes reports as well if you're playing that long game of also thinking about a publication. How do you typically. Describe the value of manuscripts to clients or potential clients, or how are you thinking about it even if you've not necessarily been doing that yet?

[00:34:26] Gina: Yeah. I think credibility is one of the words that comes to my

[00:34:30] and positioning your group, your company as credible, as rigorous, and. With integrity in your work because to go through a peer review process, you have to uphold to certain standards. And by going through a submission and publication process, you are signaling that to. To clients, to [00:35:00] supporters. So I would love Alex to build something and support clients bringing that value to the education that they are delivering.

[00:35:11] Alex: And you're so well placed to do that. And I think when you have those early conversations, you can really highlight that is so much more efficient to be thinking about a manuscript at the very beginning of an education process. So if we think about education planning plan, do study act, we're really talking about.

[00:35:30] When education providers are thinking about developing needs assessments, whether they are responding to RFPs, whether they are preparing, unsolicited proposals, thinking about whether the project is potentially, feasible for including a manuscript. You know, that's when they really need to be thinking about whether a manuscript is

[00:35:55] realistic in a particular scenario. So it's more efficient to involve [00:36:00] writers, right from the start. But there are other ways that you can. Help communicate your value. One of the barriers I think for a lot of clients is they don't know what's involved. So you can explain the process, making the invisible visible telling success stories, sharing examples of projects where the writer's involvement in a project led to.

[00:36:20] A strong manuscript based on educational outcomes you can offer to actually map the process for them, show them some kind of visual or a checklist so that they understand not only what's involved, but how the writer can help.

[00:36:35] So we focus on three. Very solid questions.

[00:36:40] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

[00:36:40] Alex: And I'm wondering which part of today's conversation gives you the most confidence moving forward?

[00:36:46] Gina: Well, all of them honestly, because I have been doing all these things and because they come so naturally to what I was doing in my former role, it is difficult for me to distill [00:37:00] them in the way that you just have done it. I have been doing it unconsciously. That's the appropriate word to use here. So, the last part was exciting because I, I really see an opportunity to signal that value to clients, and it's something that I love doing, and if that helps. Them. That's part that I, I really liked about the conversation from, from today.

[00:37:25] If that will help clients to position themselves in the industry, then it's a win-win. And that's certainly something that I would like to explore in the near future.

[00:37:36] Alex: And that's such a great place to wrap up. And I think one of our themes today has been making the invisible visible, because you've been doing so much already of what we've been talking about. Unconsciously it's part of your academic DNA. Now the goal is to make visible those things that feel [00:38:00] invisible so that you can really step forward into your incredible power as an academic CME writer.

[00:38:08] If today's conversation sparked something for you, take a few minutes to notice where your own work might be hiding in plain sight. Making the invisible visible starts with small deliberate actions. So here's three steps you can take right now. Step one, name your value. Write down three ways your academic, clinical, research or journalistic background shapes how you think as a CME writer.. Don't downplay it. Articulate it. This is your professional DNA. Step two, share your perspective. Post a short insight on LinkedIn or within your professional group about something you've learned in a recent project. Visibility begins when you speak from your experience, not perfection.

[00:38:57] And if you're posting on LinkedIn, go ahead and tag [00:39:00] me, Alex Howson, as well as the podcast at Write medicine. Step three, redefine readiness. Choose one opportunity, a client conversation, a pitch, a project where you'll lead with curiosity and confidence instead of waiting to feel ready.

[00:39:18] Every time you take one of these steps, you strengthen your voice, your visibility, and your value in the CME ecosystem. Thanks for listening. I'm Alex Howson and this is Write Medicine.

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