Medical Editing (e-learning)
Medical Editing is an introduction to the specialist area of medical editing. Delegates will ideally have gained basic editing skills and knowledge before enrolling on this course, and possess a qualification or experience in medicine, biology or a related field.
About the course
After working through this course, you should understand what is involved in editing a typical medical journal or book, what may be expected of you as a ‘medcomms’ editor, and what is involved in editing typical materials for patients, those who work in health care, and healthcare organisations. Completing the course will also build your awareness and understanding of particular style issues and what to look out for when editing figures, tables and references. How to handle sensitive information respectfully and appropriately will also be covered, as well as how to address issues relating to health literacy and health inequality.
What the course will teach you
This course aims to introduce you to the specialism of medical editing. It will help you to:
- become familiar with the resources and study guides that medical editors use on a daily basis
- find out about common style issues in medical editing
- edit medical figures, tables and references
- discover how the editor fits into the medical journal and book publishing process
- learn about editing for medical communication (‘medcomms’) agencies.
Note: people without some sort of qualification or experience in medicine, biology or a related field may struggle to find work in this area. If you do not have such a background then you should carefully consider whether this is the right path for you before investing in this training.
Course units
Unit 1: Background, resources and style guides
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Background or previous experience that medical editors will be expected to have
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What medical editing involves and who are your clients or employers
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Resources and style guides
Unit 2: Common style issues in medical editing
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Conventions for editing any medical text
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Spellings
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Specialised style issues
Unit 3: Figures and tables
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What to look for when editing figures
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What to check when editing tables
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Callouts and cross-checking
Unit 4: Journals: working life
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How the editor fits in the journal publishing process
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What is expected of the editor
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Particular issues associated with editing articles by writers using English as a second or other language
Unit 5: Journals: standard research articles
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The standard components of research articles
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Study designs and guidelines
Unit 6: Books
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The challenges of editing medical books
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Multi-author works
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Keeping a style sheet
Unit 7: Medcomms
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How to work with medcomms companies
Unit 8: Diversity and self-care
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Awareness of language used and its implications
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Looking after your mental health
What skills and tools do you need?
To take this course you will need the general base of editing skills that our Proofreading 1: Introduction and Copyediting 1: Introduction courses provide.
This course follows British English spelling, grammar and punctuation conventions in the main. You’ll also need:
- fluency in English
- a knowledge of English grammar
- experience in medicine, biology or a related field.
Prices, timescales and upgrade points
- Member: £185 + VAT
- Non-member: £310 + VAT
- Access to course: 6 months
- Approximate study time to complete: 25–30 hours
- CIEP upgrade points: 5
Key course features
Structured training
Structured units cover a range of topics relevant to your chosen course.
Self-paced learning
With our e-learning courses, learn when you want at a pace that’s convenient for you.
Training portal
Access your course via our user-friendly online training portal. All e-learning courses are accessible through the portal for six months from the date of enrolment.
Extra help
Additional tutor support is available on our self-assessed courses for a small fee.
Self-assessed exercises
Hone your skills with self-assessed exercises and quizzes, and mark your own work against model answers.
Certificate
It was a very enjoyable challenge to solve the puzzles presented to me during the course. It highlighted potential areas where things may go wrong, and revealed areas that I had never considered previously. Overall a challenging and relatively time-consuming course, but valuable and with many practical takeaways.
Please note: By booking onto an event or training course via the CIEP website, you are entering into a formal contract with the CIEP and accepting the following terms and conditions. Please make careful note of them, particularly regarding refunds and cancellations. If you have any questions please get in touch with us via email here.
