What I've Learned as a Medical Journalist
 |
| Jeff Byers, Senior Writer |
As a Virginia native, the allure of New England held promise when I shipped up to Rhode Island’s shores that same year I began as staff writer of CMIO. In time, I learned the region’s quirks, some of which contradicted my casual Southern nature to adapt. In Rhode Island, it’s normal practice to eat strips of cold marinara sauce and dough and, with a straight face, call that “pizza strips.” However, that chapter of my life will be closing for a bit as I am heading back to the Old Dominion and say goodbye for the time being to CMIO.
As a measure to entertain and educate, I’ve provided the collected wisdom of almost three years in the medical journalism trenches:
- Invest in comfy shoes – Your feet will thank you when you find yourself walking end-to-end at the Georgia World Congress Convention Center during HIMSS.10 multiple times an hour.
- Explaining the intricacies of healthcare reform at parties is not recommended – Early on into my career, I was asked to describe how I would explain to someone at a cocktail party the challenges of health information exchange. This was a great exercise to explain an article angle clearly, but poor in its actual practice because explaining the challenges of HIE usually induces the glazing over of the eyes.
- Despite what Associated Press says, Nashville, Tenn., in my humble opinion, should be a dateline city.
- At conferences, everyone eats tapas and sushi – For professional posturing on the best sushi deals in town, Yelp is your closest ally.
- If the internet goes down, it’s time to start talking to your colleagues about Mad Men or HBO shows.
- You probably don’t need a sixth cup of coffee at 4:30pm – You write about sudden cardiac arrest. You know what you’re doing.
- Most over-used phrase at conferences on healthcare reform: “We can’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”
- Most under-used phrase at conferences on healthcare reform: “Falling in love wasn’t part of the plan.”
Related to the health IT community, I’ve learned that the U.S. healthcare system is way more complex than I ever imagined and it’s making great strides to improve upon itself. I’ve been fortunate to meet and interview a wide variety of thought leaders regarding health IT, as well as convene with the media relations departments/personal assistants that assist in bringing together the critical information relevant to our readers. To all of you, I thank you for an enjoyable work experience. I look forward to working with you in the future.
Jeff Byers