My Medical Writing Journey

Undergrad

My undergrad start was with Rutgers College of Pharmacy. The years later at Brooklyn College were spent studying the humanities, mainly journalism and graphic design. I moved to NYC, where I studied commercial photography and worked as a photographer’s assistant.

My desire to pursue a more compelling career led me to take the required science prerequisites and prepare for the MCATs for my application to medical school at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY.

Medical School & Clinical Decision Support AI

In medical school I began evaluating computer expert systems for clinical decision support. This is when I started my membership with the American Medical Informatics Assoc., attending their annual meetings in Washington, D.C.

I was able to talk with the seminal researchers in this field including Homer Warner who developed the Iliad program which used Bayesian statistics for diagnostic support. I also interviewed Edward Shortliffe, whose pioneering MYCIN software was meant to help with analyzing blood culture results.

Post-Grad

Upon graduation, I received further training in Clinical Pathology, Anatomic Pathology, and General Surgery.

During my Clinical Pathology training, I worked with Dr. Martin Salwen and his rule-based program for determining the causes of erythrocytosis.

My mentor Dr. Matthew Pincus, is known for his work in designing a group of anti-cancer peptides from the ras-p21 and p53 proteins using protein-folding computing. I worked with Dr. Pincus as co-author for his chapter on tumor markers in one edition of the standard clinical pathology text Henry's Clinical Diagnosis and Management by Laboratory Methods.

As a general surgery resident, I co-produced a Webinar for Palm that explored the clinical uses of their Treo smartphone.

My continuing interest in writing on oncology topics led me to participate in the New York State Cancer Consortium.

Medical Writing

I was able to leverage my medical education and training in a career change to medical writing. Initially, I became involved in helping clinician researchers publish their work, even helping non-native English speakers draft their papers as well as responses written for medical journals. I joined AMWA and began working with Med Comms, Med Eds, and Pharmaceutical ad agencies in NYC.

Current Focus

My current focus is developing digital media for emerging medical technologies and pharmaceuticals.

I’m also returning to my medical school interest. I’m now involved in researching and writing about the clinical use of artificial intelligence. While its earliest use in clinical medicine was with rule-based expert systems, they have since fallen out of favor, replaced by the advanced capabilities of machine learning and neural networks in the form of LLMs.

I also find the topics of AgeTech, longevity, and lifestyle optimization growing in importance. I’m inspired by the work of Dr. Dr. Joseph Coughlin, the Founder and Director of MIT AgeLab.

Substack Online Newsletters

CogSciAI (Cognitive Science - AI) is where I write about news and emerging trends about artificial intelligence with a focus on health care.

3rd Act Journey allows me to explore how the various clinical disciplines: Orthopedics, Cardiology, Oncology, et al., as they apply to Geriatrics.