Last week I attended our fall AMWA-NE Chapter dinner meeting, which turned out to be another fun evening.

We met at Mick Morgan’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Newton, MA. It was a fun venue, although our private room turned out to be not-so-private! It was a side room that was continuous with the main part of the bar, and had no door. So we could still hear the music and antics in the bar, as well as the “Open Mic” event that started up shortly after ours did! But regardless, it was fun, and we all coped admirably with the side noise!

Our speaker for the evening was our very own AMWA fellow and former New England Chapter president, Jill Shuman. A certified Editor in the Life Sciences (ELS) and a Certified CME professional (CCMEP), Jill discussed various routes for a medical communicator to take in order to bridge gaps in expertise. A selection of those that she reviewed, included:

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Certification/credentialling programs

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Certificate programs

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University degrees

Although some colleges offer programs that require classroom presence, some now offer programs for medical writers that are completely online. These include:

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Although AMWA currently offers a variety of certificates for members to undertake, it will soon also offer a certification program – the first examination is set to be held in 2015, and the program will be open to all medical writers, not just AMWA members. And just in case you need a refresher, this link explains the difference between certification and a certificate.

If you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to join AMWA and check out your local chapter meetings.

And if you’re local to the New England region, please come and join us.