The Harvard Physicians Writers Course Is Time Well Spent

The 2012 Harvard Writers Course Starts Today.

Guest post by Diane Radford MD

Today marks the beginning of the 2012 Harvard Writers’ Course (www.harvardwriters.com) organized and led by Julie Silver MD (www.JulieSilverMD.com). 

Entitled Improving Healthcare Leadership, Communication and Outcomes Through Writing & Publishing, the course spans three days and enriches the attendee through lectures and workshops. Designed for physicians and allied healthcare professionals who write or aspire to write, the topics covered are wide in scope: understanding the publishing industry, how to write a book proposal, how to hone a “pitch” for your book, the art of storytelling, and how to make English move, and platform-building, being a few.

I have attended the course twice before and always learn something new. Ample opportunity is given to network with other writers, agents and editors. A highlight of the course is the oral book pitches, when authors each have 70 seconds to present their book idea to the audience, and receive immediate feedback form a panel of agents, editors and book coaches on its strengths and weaknesses. Alumni of the course, who have now seen their books in print — such as Jill Grimes MD (Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STDs), Jeff Szymanski PhD (The Perfectionist’s Handbook), and Julia Schlam Edelman MD (Menopause Matters: Your Guide to Living a Long and Healthy Life) — give personal insights into their respective publishing journeys.

Three- hour advanced workshops are given on social media (RustyShelton, www.sheltoninteractive.com), writing a book proposal (Julie Silver MD), maximizing creativity (Shelley Carson PhD), Memoir Writing (Leah Hagan Cohen), writing for your reader (Lisa Tener www.lisatener.com and Martha Murphy), and the craft of writing (Susan Aiello DVM,ELS).

I can highly recommend this course for any physician or health-care professional who wants to write or who writes but is unclear of the next step in the publishing process. Lessons I learned from attending last year I was able to put into practice leading to the development of my website and a presence on social media — platform, platform, platform.

About: Dr. Diane Radford is a Surgical Oncologist and Breast Surgeon at Mercy Clinic St. Louis Cancer & Breast Institute. Learn more about Dr. Radford at http://www.dianeradfordmd.com

Submit a guest post and be heard.

Comments

[Alana Davis MD]

Is there screening exams for this writing course? Or can I just sign up and attend the classes?

Thanks a lot for posting this info:)

[Diane Radford MD]

Alana,

There are no screening exams to attend the course. You can sign up for the 2.5 day course, plus optional evening writing workshops and advanced 3 hour workshops. The faculty are extremely helpful. The course usually occurs in late March or early April. This year I attended evening workshops on both evenings and found both to be very valuable. The workshop on social media was excellent, a lot of information covered in a relatively short time. If you email Mary Alice Hanford mhanford@partners.org, she can add you to the mailing list for next year's course.

[Alana Davis MD]

Thanks a lot Dr. Radford! Would you have an idea how much is the fee for this course?

This is a great information! Thanks a lot for posting!

[Diane Radford MD]

These are the costs for the 2012 course:

All attendees: $995
Oral Book Pitches: $100 (cannot be taken as separate offering)
Writers’ Workshop: $125/night (cannot be taken as separate offering)
Advanced Workshop (can be taken as separate offering by past course attendees) $250
Returning Attendees: $250 off total fee

There were 2 writers' workshops (one on Thursday evening and one on Friday). Total cost to attend everything would be $1595. I would certainly recommend attending everything. The cost depends on how many additional options one would want to take. As Samual A. Forman MD said, "It's the most fun way to obtain CMEs one will ever find."

[Apple L.]

Hello Alana,

I think these are the information that you need regarding the writer's workshop:

Course Fees

All attendees: $995
Oral Book Pitches: $100 (cannot be taken as separate offering)
Writers’ Workshop: $125/night (cannot be taken as separate offering)
Advanced Workshop (can be taken as separate offering by past course attendees) $250
Returning Attendees: $250 off total fee

There were 2 writers' workshops (one each for Thursday and Friday). Total cost to attend everything would be $1595. It all depends how many additional options one would want to take. As one speaker said, "It's the most fun way to obtain CMEs one will ever find."

Hope these helps!

[Dale Coy]

Diane,
I have found fiction writing very rewarding. My first novel, Morton's Fork is out next week. I had no background in writing, I attended a course like yours, and I wrote an excellent book about a doctor who couldn't take it anymore. Good luck with your course. Mortonsforkbook.com