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WINTER  
2023

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FROM THE GUEST EDITOR
Preserving Ethics in a Not So Ethical World › Julie Ravo

THEME ARTICLES
Embracing Cultural Differences to Ensure Ethical Publication  
Practices › Jonathan Lee and Blair Hesp

Can Industry-Funded CE/CME Be Unbiased? Current Insights  
on an Old Question › Eve J. Wilson

SCIENCE SERIES
Destigmatizing Eating Disorders with Medical Writing  
› Melinda D. Karth

CREATIVE WRITING
Resonant Melodies of Healing: A Juneteenth Symphony in  
Medicine › George Ongoro

FREELANCE FOCUS
› Brian Bass, Cathryn D. Evans, and Alex Howson   

Q1:  How do continuing medical education/continuing education 
(CME/CE) medical writers balance the need for accurate scientific 
representation with the pressure to create content that aligns with 
pharmaceutical industry interests?
Q2:  When working on manuscripts involving multiple authors, how 
can medical writers help manage authorship disputes and ensure fair 
credit allocation following ethical guidelines?

Q3:  How can medical communicators navigate cultural and linguistic 
differences in a global health care context, ensuring their work is accu-
rate and culturally sensitive?

TOPICAL FEATURES
The Business of Medical Writing: Communication, Leadership, and  
Corporate Responsibility - Part 2 › Joan Affleck, Dominic De Bellis,  
Brian Bass, and Jeanette M. Towles

The Key to Better Regulatory Writing: Tell Your Device’s Story 
› Scott Dill

42

AMWAJournal.org     35Results of the 2022 AMWA DEI Survey

company. Six percent of respondents work for a health care 
organization or provider, and 6% of respondents work for a 
nonprofit organization or professional society. Five percent 
of respondents work for a medical device company, and the 
remaining 3% work for a publisher or journal office (2%) 
or a government agency or contractor (1%). The remain-
ing 11% of respondents (n = 42) work for a different type of 
organization or client.
 AMWA respondents’ primary work interests or focus 
areas were primarily regulatory writing and editing (32%; n 
= 127) and scientific publications (26%; n = 102). However, 
10% of respondents (n = 39) listed their primary work inter-
est/area of focus as health communication/public health/
journalism/patient education. Fewer than 10% of respon-
dents selected continuing education, publications for 
professional audiences, promotional writing/marketing/
advertising/public relations, medical affairs, grant propos-
als, and sales training as their primary work interest or focus 
area, and 6% of respondents selected that their primary 
work interest or focus area is another type of medical writ-
ing or editing.
 Survey respondents varied in experience, but 46% (n = 
193) of respondents have worked in the field from 11 to 30 
years, with 23% (n = 91) working in the field from 11 to 20 
years and 23% (n = 92) working in the field from 21 to 30 
years. However, the percentages that do not fall into this 
group are still sizable, with 17% (n = 68) who have worked 
in the field for 0 to 2 years, 14% (n = 54) for 3 to 5 years, 
and 13% (n = 52) for 6 to 10 years. Finally, 10% (n = 40) of 
respondents have worked in the field for more than 31 years. 

RESIDENCY
By far the largest group (91%; n = 360) of respondents 
who answered this question lived within the United 
States. The state with the highest number of respon-
dents was Pennsylvania (9%; n = 33), with California and 
North Carolina also at 9% with 30 respondents each. 

Massachusetts and Texas each had 7% of respondents, or 24 
respondents each. New Jersey, Illinois, and Maryland each 
had 5% (with 18, 17, and 16 of respondents respectively), 
and 4% of respondents lived in each of Colorado (n = 15), 
New York (n = 15), and Florida (n = 13). For respondents 
who lived outside the United States, the most common 
country of residence was Canada, with 50% (n = 17) of 
respondents. Remaining numbers of respondents are too 
low to disclose without potentially identifying members.

DISABILITY
Of 397 survey respondents, 17% indicated that they had a 
disability; the most common disabilities were chronic ill-
ness (43%), mental health condition (24%), and other (12%; 
details were provided on the survey but are not included to 
preserve the privacy and identities of the respondents).

 Among 42 respondents who declared a disability and  
did not experience barriers to participation in AMWA, meth-
ods of accessing AMWA services included online (64.3%) 
(“internet,” “computer,” and “virtually”), other (14.3%), 
online or other electronic medium with in-person atten-
dance (ie, hybrid) (11.9%), with help of accommodation or 
regulation within their own limits (7.1%), with help of assis-
tive device (4.8%), and via mailing list (2.4%). Of note, given 
that some respondents who answered no to having a dis-
ability responded to this question (n = 11), there appear to 
be AMWA members interested in both online and hybrid 
formats in general and who would benefit from accessibility 
accommodations even though they may not consider them-
selves disabled. Several respondents mentioned in their 
response restrictions/barriers to access, including expense 
(n = 2) or other barrier (n = 1). Several (n = 5) respondents 
also indicated that although they attend virtually when they 
can, they wish that there were more virtual options for par-
ticipation, celebrated the greater number of virtual options 
available in recent years, or noted limited options for virtual 
participation. Twenty-three participants who answered that 

Figure 1.  Question 14: Years of experience as a medical writer and/or editor. 
Total respondents = 397.

0 to 2

3 to 5

6 to 10

11 to 20

21 to 30

31 or more

0 10 20 30
Percent Responses

Ye
ar

s 
of

 E
xp

er
ie

nc
e

17

14

13

23

23

10

Figure 2. Question 7: Do you have a disability? Total respondents = 395.

Yes
17%

No
83%

34

20



  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF  Michael G. Baker, PhD 
 GUEST EDITOR Julie Ravo, MA   
 MANAGING EDITOR Rachel Mosher, MA  
 SECTION EDITORS
 Progress in Publications Qing Zhou, PhD, ELS
 Regulatory Insights Jennifer Bridgers, MS, MWC
 Science Series Naomi Bishop, MD
 Statistically Speaking  Thomas M. Schindler, PhD
 Everyday Ethics  Julie Ravo, MA
 Freelance Focus Ruwaida Vakil, MSc
 CE Craft Corner Haifa Kassis, MD
 Practical Matters Elizabeth Kukielka, PharmD, MA, MS, MWC 
 Around the Career Block Cecilia Petrus, MSc
 Technology Talk  Kyla Ross, MS 

 REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS
 Freelance Focus Brian Bass, MWC
  Melissa L. Bogen, ELS
  Sherri Bowen, MA, ELS
  Lori De Milto, MJ
  Cathryn D. Evans
  Gail V. Flores, PhD
  Alex Howson, PhD
  Phyllis Minick
 In the Service of Good Writing Laurie Endicott Thomas, MA, ELS
 Conscious Writing  Crystal R. Herron, PhD, ELS

  EDITORS IN MEMORIAM Lori L. Alexander, MTPW, ELS, MWC 
  Ronald J. Sanchez 
 2023–2024 PRESIDENT R. Michelle Sauer, PhD, ELS 
 2023–2024 BOARD LIAISON Qing Zhou, PhD, ELS 
 2023–2024 STAFF LIAISON Shari Rager, MS, CAE
 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Susan Krug, MS, CAE
 GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amy Boches, biographics

EDITORIAL OFFICE: ManagingEditor@amwa.org. Instructions for authors 
available at: www.amwajournal.org.

ADVERTISING: Contact marketing@amwa.org or (240) 239-0940. All advertising 
is subject to acceptance by AMWA and should be for products and services relevant 
to professional medical communicators. AMWA is not responsible for the content of 
advertising and does not endorse any advertiser or its products or services.

SUBSCRIPTION: The AMWA Journal is published quarterly. Subscription is included 
with AMWA membership. Nonmember subscriptions cost is $75 per year.

CONTACT: American Medical Writers Association, 9841 Washingtonian Blvd, 
Suite 500-26, Gaithersburg, MD 20878. Phone: (240) 238-0940; Fax: (301) 294-
9006; Email: amwa@amwa.org.

The AMWA Journal is in the MLA International Bibliography and selectively 
indexed in the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature 
(CINAHL) print index and the CINAHL database.

The opinions expressed by authors contributing to the Journal do not 
necessarily reflect the opinions of AMWA or the institutions with which the 
authors are affiliated. The association accepts no responsibility for the opinions 
expressed by contributors to the Journal.

©2023 American Medical Writers Association. All rights reserved.  
ISSN 2163-5315

AMWA JOURNAL MISSION STATEMENT 
In support of the mission of the American Medical 
Writers Association (AMWA) and to advance the 
broader profession, the AMWA Journal publishes 
content that reflects the interests, concerns, and 
expertise of medical communicators. Its purpose is to 
inform, inspire, and motivate medical communicators.

M
O

RE        V38 N4 / 2023 

  TOPICAL FEATURES
 31 Value of Medical Writing—Using the Regulator’s  
  Perspective (2021 Survey Results) to Educate and  
  Empower Medical Writers › Lisa Chamberlain James, 
  Julia Forjanic Klapproth, Rona Claire Grunspan,  
  Wayne Beazley, Brian Bass, Joan Affleck, Julia Cooper,  
  Caroline Lilley, and Amy Wollish

 34 Results of the 2022 AMWA DEI Survey › Karla Haack,  
  Toni Willis, and Jeanette Towles

 38 CONSCIOUS WRITING
  Best Practices to Guide Decisions of Authorship  
  and Author Order in a Research Manuscript  
  › Crystal R. Herron

 42 ORIGINAL RESEARCH
  Data Mining FDA Docket 2019-N-1482: Content,  
  Sentiment, and Metadata › Michael J. Madson and  
  Andrew Madson  

  AMWA NEWS
 48 From the President › R. Michelle Sauer

 50 Introducing the 2023–2024 Board of Directors  
  › R. Michelle Sauer
  
 51 CALENDAR OF MEETINGS 
  

Contents

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