The Physician as Medical Reporter – Behind the Scenes

Maria Simbra, MD has written a summary of a typical day at work in her job as a medical reporter.

Here are some highlights I found enlightening:

• Her assignments are given to her, but she’s scanning the Internet for story ideas and a sense of the “medical buzz” of the day
• How the story is presented is determined somewhat by the goals of the media outlet
• She’s frustrated by limitations in the interviewee’s schedule
• Part of her job is to summarize the research paper (or medical-ese) in plain language for the viewers
• The study was done using metric measurements, which is not digestible for the viewers

Questions she’s asking about potential stories:

• How many people does the issue affect?
• Does it appeal to the station/paper’s target demographic?
• Is there a local connection to the story?

In an upcoming Quick Tip email, I’ll share some specific things you can do in your practice to get free publicity. Stay tuned!

You can read the original article here – A Day in the Life of a Medical Reporter.