Uncensored: Fearless CME Writer Questions, Breakthrough Solutions

Uncensored: Fearless CME Writer Questions, Breakthrough Solutions

[00:00:00] Hey friend. Do you ever find yourself staring at an email from a potential CME client? Hesitating to hit reply because you're not sure if you should take the project. Or maybe you're looking at your calendar, packed with needs assessments, wondering how you ever branch out into other types of work. You're great at what you do, but sometimes being good at one thing can feel like a trap. You want to grow your CME writing business strategically? But you're afraid of making the wrong move. Should you specialize. Diversify. And how do you handle all those practical challenges that come up along the way?

Like getting access to research papers, or finding authentic patient voices for your content?

Today, I'm taking you inside an actual coaching session with WriteCME Pro writers, just like you you'll hear their real worlds questions, struggles, and the solutions we worked through together. Whether you're just starting your [00:01:00] CME writing journey or ready to level up your established business.

This episode will show you what it looks like when writers come together to solve real problems. In real time. I'm Alex. And this is right medicine.

This episode of right. Medicine is brought to you by WriteCME Roadmap, high to thrive and continuing medical education with no experience, no network and no clue. Are you ready to break into CME writing, but feel overwhelmed by where to start. I wrote this book specifically for writers like you, who are ready to tap into this lucrative specialty. Inside you'll discover everything.

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Welcome to right medicine, the podcast that helps you master the art and science of continuing medical education, content development. Today, we're doing something a little bit different. I'm taking you inside one of our right CME pro group. Group coaching sessions to show you what it's like when CME writers [00:03:00] come together to solve real challenges in their work. In these sessions, we tackle everything from business basics to complex content development questions.

You'll hear authentic conversations about the concerns that keep medical writers up at night. And more importantly, how we work through them together.

So let's jump into some of the key questions that came up in our most recent session. One of our members brought up an interesting situation about managing client expectations when taking on new projects. She'd been offered some slide deck work, which is great news, but realize after accepting that she didn't have all the details she needed.

That happens to all of us. Here's what I advised.

It's never too late to ask questions about a project. When you receive that writing assignment or agreement, use it as an opportunity to clarify everything you need to know about the project and about the client. Ask about project scope and [00:04:00] expectations. Get sample or background materials like the grant or the needs assessment, maybe previous outcomes, data interview with subject matter interviews with subject matter experts. Ask about credit hours for the activity. The timeline and the milestones. And the rules and responsibilities of all parties you might be working with, like faculty, the scientific director, a project manager. If you're working with a client you trust, they'll appreciate your thoroughness.

It shows you're committed to delivering high quality work. And if you're working with a new client, you'll be able to establish clear boundaries early in the process and reduce your risk of exposure to potential miscommunication.

Another vital topic we discussed was accessing research papers and references. This is a common challenge for CME writers, especially when articles are behind paywalls. Here's my thinking. Always start by asking your client for access [00:05:00] to their resource library. Now don't laugh because of course, lots of clients don't have resource. Libraries, but this question does two things. It does help to identify the resources they might already have. Second.

It raises awareness that accessing these materials is part of the project cost. If they don't have a library, which is increasingly common. Be direct about how you'll handle paywalls content. Well, the client reimburse you. Should you build it into your fee upfront? The key is to address this question right at the beginning, make it a them problem, not a you problem.

There are all sorts of other worker rinds to getting access, to paywalled research papers.

One work around is to use your public library. This can be a great place to get access to materials through databases like ProQuest. The other is if you have alumni access [00:06:00] as a former student at a university. This can also provide a, you know, a decent way to get access to some payrolled articles.

I recently wrote a blog on how to write a literature review with which actually has information about, um, a lot of different places where you can get access to manuscripts and research papers.

So I'll make sure to put a link to that in the show notes.

Hey, write medicine listener.

Do you like parties? I have an invitation for you. Join me for an interactive online launch party. This event is a chance for us to connect, celebrate the publication of WriteCME Roadmap and dive into some exciting activities. Whether you're a seasoned medical writer or just starting out this party is packed with value, prizes, and practical tips to take your writing to the next level. Why should you attend?

You'll be able to connect with other medical writers and meet and [00:07:00] interact with professionals in your field. You'll get expert insights and walk away with actionable tips you can apply today. You'll be part of celebrating the launch of Wright's CME roadmap and discover how this book can help advance your career.

And there's the chance to win prizes, like copies of my One-to-one coaching packages and an exclusive membership to an exciting new program that is launching. Soon, mark your calendar. Uh, November the 13th at 8:00 AM Pacific time. That's 11:00 AM. Eastern time. You can register now via the link in the show notes, or by going to Alex dot com and clicking on the WriteCME Roadmap, launch party.

Tap on the menu bar at the top of the page.

Speaking of evolving your business. One of our writers shared an interesting challenge. She's been so successful with needs assessments that they've become the majority of her work while that's great for consistent income. She's concerned about becoming pigeonholed her [00:08:00] clients, keep coming back for needs assessments, making it difficult to branch out into other types of projects. So this brings up an important point about business growth.

Sometimes our success in one area can actually limit our opportunities to expand. So here's what I think. First recognize this as a positive problem, having repeat clients who trust your work is super valuable. But if you want to diversify consider using your network to support your client, current clients.

So in this case, referring needs, assessment work to some of your peers. And in this work, you could explore a subcontracting arrangements with your peers and colleagues. You could also gradually introduce your other services to your existing clients. Often clients don't ask you to work on other types of projects, because they don't know that this is part of the service that you offer.

You have to remind them, you have to tell them. And.

[00:09:00] Invite them to work with you in on other projects. And you can also start being really selective about new projects to make space for different types of work. There are many ways to structure this transition into a more diverse. Project portfolio. You could also partner with other writers in your community or your network. You could create collaborative arrangements that benefit both you and your clients.

Or you could start gradually shifting your project mix. In this case, still doing some needs assessments and maintaining those key client relationships, but also beginning to expand out into other areas with new clients. The key is to make these changes thoughtfully ensuring you're not burning bridges while building new opportunities.

One of the most thought provoking discussions in our most recent session came from a question about using social media to gather patient [00:10:00] perspectives for needs assessments. Well, social media might seem like an easy source. There are important ethical considerations to keep in mind.

Patients who post on social media. Often post includes groups. And while you might gain access to those groups, that doesn't necessarily mean that you can use the comments that patients make.

As illustrative quotes in your needs assessment because they haven't given permission for that. So instead of mining social media, I recommend.

The following. First look for qualitative research studies with patient quotes, there are many journals. No that publish. Qualitative research on patient and lived experience of particular disease states and conditions, depending on the specialty that you're working on.

And again, I think I mentioned this in a recent blog that I wrote on high to access information, to support

and illustrate the lived experience of patients [00:11:00] in needs, assessments and other types of content. You can also check patient advocacy, organization websites, which often.

Publish patient stories on their homepage or some other part of the website.

There are other ways to find publicly available patient testimonials. YouTube is one of these. And you can also review published case studies in medical journals. This approach ensures you're using ethically sourced, permissioned content while maintaining the authenticity of patient voices.

And finally we tackled a question that many medical writers struggle with whether to niche, dine, or stay broad in their service offerings.

I recently wrote about this for the American medical writers journal. And I'll put a link in the show notes to that article as well. One writer asked how to respond when potential clients ask about therapeutic area preferences. Here's something to [00:12:00] consider your niche or your specialty within continuing medical education, doesn't have to be defined by therapeutic area alone. You might specialize in specific content types. Like needs assessments or outcomes reports.

You might specialize in educational approaches.

For instance, you might really like to work on quality improvement initiatives. And you might specialize in learning formats like interactive case studies. The key is finding what genuinely interests you while maintaining enough flexibility to sustain your business. And remember you can always experiment with different niches to find what works best for you.

Before we wrap up, I want to share something that really stood out to me from the coaching session. The power of having a community of CME writers in your corner. All those questions we tackled in this episode. They're the same ones that have kept [00:13:00] many successful writers up at night.

And they're the same ones we work through together in WriteCME Pro group coaching sessions. These sessions, provide space to share challenges and solutions. Learn from each other's experiences. Get feedback on our personal business decisions. And ultimately feel less isolated in our professional journeys as CME writers.

That's all for this episode of right medicine. stay tuned because I'm cooking up something special for you in November

and subscribe to the podcast on apple, Spotify, or whichever platform you listen on. if you find these insights helpful, consider joining us in WriteCME Pro, where we have these kinds of discussions regularly. You can learn more at https://www.alexhowson.com/write-cme-pro. 

Until next time. Keep writing, keep learning and keep making a difference in CME. [00:14:00]