In today's podcast, our guest describes her personal success in writing and self-publishing a novel.

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The latest book is the sequel to “Undue Influences.” The story takes place about 10 years in the future.  And it's remarkable that Debra was able to write and self-publish the book in only 9 months.

Self-publishing Journey

Traditional publishing, hybrid publishing, and self-publishing are the three ways to publish a book. In Episode 231, she spoke with us about these possibilities.

Dr. Blaine employed hybrid publishing for her first two novels. She wanted more control of the process and to publish it more quickly, so she chose to self-publish her most recent book. And, she describes how she did that during our interview.

Debra used an Apple Mac-compatible book authoring application called Vellum. And she set up accounts with Apple Publishing, Ingram, Amazon Publishing, and Kobo to distribute the book.

Achieving Personal Success by Writing

To Dr. Blaine it's not just about writing… it is also about making a difference. She hopes that when readers interact with the book's characters, it will have a more profound, emotional impact. She refers to it as “truth in fiction.”

The truth hurts, but fiction guides gently. – Debra Blaine, MD

With the release of each new book, Debra feels a sense of accomplishment and success by writing and self-publishing, especially.

Advice from Dr. Debra Blaine

I think reframing the meaning of our lives changes the experience of our lives… not defining ourselves strictly as clinicians… defining ourselves as more of a whole person…

Explore who you are. A lot of times when you find something you're interested in… if you're passionate about something and you start following it to its logical conclusions… your life will just be better.

Summary

Debra can be reached at debrablaine.com where you can also find her books and information about her coaching business. You can also find her novels at veryindiepress.com. If you are interested in authoring a novel, follow Debra's lead and hire her as a coach to achieve success in writing and self-publishing your book.

NOTE: Look below for a transcript of today's episode. [Also: the book links above are Amazon Affiliate links, so we receive a small commission when you buy using these links.]

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Links for Today's Episode:

• Dr. Debra Blaine's Website
• Beyond the Pillars of Salt
• Episode 116: How to Influence the World by Writing a Medical Thriller
• Episode 231: How to Become a Marvelous Medical Mystery Author
• Code Blue: The Other End of the Stethoscope
• Undue Influences
• Vellum
• Apple Publishing
• Ingram
• Amazon Publishing
• Kobo
• NewScr!pt

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Today's PNC Podcast Transcript

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Transcription PNC Podcast Episode 268

Achieving Personal Success by Writing and Self-Publishing a Novel

- Interview with Dr. Debra Blaine

John: Well, as you all know out there, I like to talk to physicians that are doing new things. And I don't know, for some reason I'm really into medical writing and writing that isn't medical. Today's guest has been on the show twice before, and she's released a new book called "Beyond the Pillars of Salt." I got to get that in right at the beginning so I don't forget. And so, with that, I want to welcome Dr. Debra Blaine. Hello.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Hi, John. Thanks for having me.

John: It's always fun. I don't know what it is. I think people that actually take writing beyond just a hobby or something and actually write something that gets published are awesome. That includes people that publish, I guess, scientific articles, but I like to read novels. I like mystery, thrillers, things like that. What you've been writing has been right at my alley. So, it's going to be fun to talk about your new book today.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Thank you.

John: Here we go. I'm going to really dig into that. We're going to learn as much as we can, not just about you, but because this third book has been published differently. That's one of the reasons I wanted to get you on today. But let me just say that I'm halfway through the book and I don't know if we're going to be using video, but if we are, there's the cover of it and I really am enjoying it. It does keep me moving forward. It's interesting. I've noticed when I read mystery or a thriller or even a cop type of book that the further I get in the book, the faster it goes. It's weird. It's kind of like as you get older you move faster through time and that means it's keeping my interest. Explain where this book came from after you tell us a little bit about yourself and your history being a writer and a physician.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Okay. I've been practicing medicine for 33 years. I am looking for a permanent exit. Right now, I'm only working part-time. I published my first book in 2019, which was a medical thriller. And my second book actually came out less than a year ago and it was a political thriller. And that one was called "Undue Influences." And so, this is the sequel to "Undue Influences." And this one took me nine months about to write, edit and publish and release. So, I'm really excited about that and that process going forward.

But the political thriller kind of focuses on what's happening to our society and how our minds are being manipulated in so many different ways and how that's leading us towards extremism and towards not being able to really get along with each other, but perhaps it's serving some other interests, the political powers that be.

What "Beyond the Pillars of Salt" does is it takes that scenario to one of the possible frightening conclusions. And so, in "Beyond the Pillars of Salt", we now have a society in the United States, which is where I live, where the government is not elected anymore because no one believes the elections. So, it's become despots who are ruling our country and it's autocratic and cruelty is sort of the norm which I think we've seen some of that. It's just a lot of violence.

And on the other hand, there's also the planet, which has been neglected. The needs of Earth have been so neglected that between the storms and the shifting tectonic plates and the flooding in coastal areas, the Earth is kind of redefining itself, reclaiming itself. And it's not going to be so habitable for human life in the very near future.

Now, all this takes place in the year 2032, not so distant future. I really hope I'm totally wrong about all of us, but the group of people, the group of humans that we get to know fairly intimately in "Undue Influences" make their way to the mountains and they find this little hiding place where they grow into a whole compound of people.

And the story is about how they manage to survive. And if you haven't read it yet, I'll say if they manage to survive. But what they do and how, not just how they manage to survive physically, but how they manage to survive as human beings. So, how to not repeat the mistakes of the past and where to go to find a place to thrive. So, I don't know how far you are in the book. I don't want to completely give away the book, but this becomes this search for we cannot sustain ourselves, the planet Earth will not sustain us anymore so we need to find another way to go.

And so, all of my books, I try to make them plausible. No matter how outrageous it is, I try to make it something that you could actually go step by step and see how you could get there, given what we know today. So, I did a lot of research. I don't know if you're up to all that part yet, but I did a lot of research about what's out there in space and what we could possibly aim for, and how we could propose to get there without some magical, "Oh yeah. It's Star Trek. We just push the button and we're in warp speed."

John: Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Debra Blaine: But there is definitely woven through that, a sense of a person who is reminding us that this is the last chance. We have to get it right this time. And so, the whole question for me became not only what does it mean to be better, more worthy, more noble human beings, but how do we get there? How do we find that? And these are really major questions that I'm trying to just explore in a science fiction, dystopian fiction kind of world, and hope that my readers will play along with that idea too and think about it.

John: A couple of things I have to comment on there. First going back to the start of what you were saying. Nine months is unreal, particularly when you consider that you were publishing in a completely different way, which we're going to talk about. Because you had published the others in a different way that we've actually talked about before in the podcast and I'll put links to our previous episodes. The self-publishing, which you took this time, that's a whole learning curve and you're going to tell us about that. So that's one thing.

Yes, I could tell in the reading of the book and I do like this, there are thing's my wife and I talk about movies and so forth, and the things I like are science fiction. I like sometimes if they're using time travel, which I don't think is in this book at all. But the scientific background I'm like, you must have done research. You have a scientific background, of course, as a physician, which I think helps and I like that because it's hard to fool another physician when you're talking in scientific terms because the lay public might not notice something. But I got to give you kudos for that. And so, why don't you just tell us before we go too much further where your website is because I know that's one place they can get the book. So, in case they don't listen to the end.

Dr. Debra Blaine: My website is debrablaine.com and you can also get there if you put in veryindiepress.com because that's part of my new avenue for publishing. But debrablaine.com will get you to my books on the first page, my coaching practice which is primarily for physicians, but for anyone that has a coaching practice for writers, which is very exciting. And I have a blog, my bio, a mission statement, stuff like that.

John: Yes. It's laid out really well and it's easy to get everything right there. All right, you've told us about the book. You didn't want to tell us too much. Like I said, I've gone about halfway through it and yeah, you didn't spill any of the beans that I haven't read through yet. So that's good to know. But I have really enjoyed it to this point and it will be done very quickly. We did schedule this interview rather suddenly so that's my excuse for not being the really good host that has finished the book. But tell us about why and how you decided to publish the book the way you did.

Dr. Debra Blaine: In the past, as I mentioned before just really briefly, there are three common ways to publish a book. You can go the traditional route but you have to first get an agent because unless you have an agent you can't even approach a traditional publisher that can take you anywhere from one to two years unless you already have an agent. Then the agent has to find a publisher who's willing to publish your book. And then the publisher takes however long they want to take. It can be a year, can be two years. They can release it when they want to release it and they can tell you what to do with the book, which chapters they don't like or what new chapters to write in. It doesn't cost you anything. And they do usually give you an advanced fairly small if you're not a well-known writer like Dan Brown or something. That's number one.

Number two is the hybrid. I kind of fell into the hybrid. I didn't even have a chance to think about whether I was going to start doing query letters. I was working full time at the time and the hybrids, they charge you to do all the developmental editing, the copy editing, the proofreading. They do a cover design. They do everything you need to do get your ISBN numbers. They do everything that needs to be done plus they format and they platform the book.

They tend to platform the book through IngramSpark which is the main company in this country that does that and prints. And then IngramSpark farms it out to everywhere else, Amazon, apple, Barnes & Noble, whatever. So, your books can be available anywhere. I didn't want to wait that long because my first book "Code Blue", it took eight months to get it out when they promised it to me in six. My second book "Undue Influences", they promised in six, it took 11 months. And I just wasn't willing to do that because I want to turn out the books faster. And because I try to make my books timely for what's going on in today, this year.

So, I decided to self-publish it. That meant I hired a couple of editors, two different ones. I went to Kirkus first, which is really known for their reviews. It's a very high-quality organization but they also have a separate arm that just does editing, cover designs, formatting, things like that. So, you can go to Kirkus and say, "Hey, I want to self-publish my book" and they'll do everything for you that I actually ended up doing myself. So, I got one editor from there, loved her, absolutely loved her. They promised me it would be finished within 15 business days. It was done in two weeks, including the weekends.

And then I went to Fiverr, which is an online platform where you can get people who are interested in offering all kinds of different services. And I got another company that did a second edit because I wanted to kind of double check it and they did a proofread. And so now I had my edited manuscript. I think he's an amazing cover designer, Joe Montgomery, I got to plug him. He just worked with me. He earned every penny. And at one point, I sent him an email and I said, "I know I'm probably your biggest PIA client, but I've really enjoyed working with you. And he wrote back to me and he said, "Oh no, this project's been a blast." And so, I'm going to use him in the future.

I had a cover designer, but then there are all these other things. You need to get the little identifier numbers that are on your books ISBN. So, it's really not that hard. You look everything up online. Bowker does it. They're very friendly. You can get a human on the phone very easily. I bought ISBNs. I bought a barcode. A friend of mine recommended this program called Vellum. And it's software. It only works with Mac but there's a closed Facebook group for doctors, for women physician writers. It's a great group. I put up a thing because I said "Has anybody had experience with Vellum versus Atticus?" Which is another one, Atticus, you don't have to have a Mac. I do have a Mac. And everybody chimed in "Vellum, Vellum, Vellum." Vellum is a little bit more expensive, but for $249. And plus, Vellum gives you the software. Play around with it. If you like it and you want to use it, pay us.

John: Nice.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Yeah. It's not until you generate a file that you have to pay them. So, once you pay them the $249, you now have a license to format unlimited paper and eBooks forever.

John: Wow.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Yeah. I think it was money very well spent. I took my manuscript and I'm like, I'm not a very tech savvy person. I'm working on changing that. So, I'm looking at it, it says upload file. I'm like, okay, I clicked it and it was amazing. In about 20 seconds, my manuscript appeared in book form. And it labeled each chapter, it gives you a table of contents if you have one. And it gives you just numbers, just for the eBook, but not necessarily for the hard cover or the paperback, which you can do either one.

It separated my copyright page. It separated my epilogue. It separated my title page. It knew all these things. And then you could add elements. So, I could add my acknowledgment page, my dedication page, about the author page. It even asks if there's other books by this author. It really lays everything out for you so nicely. I did that and then I've learned a lot of things along the way, when I decided to upload.

A friend of mine who recommended Vellum said, you can just send it to Ingram or you can just send it to Amazon. If you send it there, they have the exclusive rights for distribution. So, you can't necessarily send it to both if you just do one. But she said it's a pain in the butt, but she does it separately on every platform. And so, I did. I opened accounts with Apple, with Ingram, with Amazon, with Kobo. And so, all sales get deposited, the royalties get deposited directly into my account. It doesn't go through another publisher. And so, then I just uploaded, I discovered something really interesting. When you upload to Amazon, the Kindle version, you don't have to publish yet, you can preview, and it will go through and do another proofread for you.

John: Wow.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Yeah, it's so cool. And it came up with, and it said five potential errors and four of those was a word that I made up. So, obviously, yeah, it's going to say that. And so, I just ignored those. And then there was one, I knew that it was the word "trivial" and the second I was missing and I remember fixing that, but somehow, I guess I didn't save it after. Anyway, I went back and I fixed it. You can preview it on Amazon for your paper back as well. I think you can preview on Ingram as well. And then you fill in your metadata and your price. It really was so much easier. Calling Apple, iTunes Connect. I had some issues, they didn't like my tax ID number or something. They get on the phone with you. In two or three rings, you've got a human being. Even the US copyright office, I had to call them. This was the day after Labor Day. And I think he partied too much on Labor Day. He was a little bit cranky, but he helped me in within five minutes of my picking up the phone to call the problem was solved and he was off the phone.

I've just found the people in the publishing world are so friendly. They're just really easy to work with and that's why I could do it so fast. Because I had my own cover going and I got it edited and I had the software. And so, this is something that I'm offering now as a coach. If you have a book, I'm not an editor, I'm not going to edit your manuscript. I'm not a cover designer. I can't do your cover design. But I can sort of help guide you to where you can get that done. And then we can talk about that and then we can get on a Zoom meeting again, and I can upload your manuscript in front of you, share screen. You can choose your font. You can choose your spacing. You can choose the size of your letters, the size of your book. Once you do that, it will tell you how many pages it is. And then you can have your cover designer create, it's called a mechanical that has the back and the spine and all that because that has to be a perfect fit.

So, all these things that you don't really think about, but if you have a good coverage designer, an experienced cover designer, they will know what you need and you'll be able to work with them. You don't want somebody to just make a picture unless you're only interested in eBook distribution. eBook distribution, all you need is a picture.

John: Got it. So now when you're in Vellum and you're converting everything, do you add that cover, back and front cover at that point, or does that come later in that whole publishing process?

Dr. Debra Blaine: Vellum asks you for the cover but they're only looking for the front cover, because it's for eBooks. Now for a print book, there are only certain places that are going to do a print book. Apple only does eBooks. Amazon does both. When you go to Amazon and you want to upload your book for print, it will ask for your manuscript and then it will ask for your mechanical for the cover. So, you have to upload that. There'll be a separate file that your cover designer will give you. The same thing with Ingram. It's the manuscript and the mechanical. They're just separate files, but when Vellum produces files, it labels them. This is for this company, this company, this company.

John: Oh, nice. So, it has been broken down by company. Nice. I happen to have a Mac, so I'm kind of in both worlds, PC and Mac, but I would definitely keep that in mind if I ever decide to write a book, particularly this type. But boy, you've got this down to a science. This is very interesting. If this last one was nine months, you're going to crank out one a year minimum, I think.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Well, we have a colleague who's been putting out two books a year now for a while. Actually, she did four books last year, but she's so far ahead of me. She's a little bit like a guru.

John: Yeah. Well, we have a couple of minutes here. I want to ask you, in your coaching, what if somebody said, "Yeah, I want to self-publish my book, but I also need a little bit of help and figure it out what's the most efficient way for me to write my book? I just sit down and sometimes I get a few pages done and then I get distracted or I try to squeeze it in between different parts of the day." What is sort of the short version of your advice if I were to ask you as my coach?

Dr. Debra Blaine: Yeah. I've picked up a couple of clients who want to write and so we meet and I give them a package if they don't want to pay by the session. And the package because it's writing, it's not like regular coaching. I mean, it is coaching, but I give them like 10 weeks or eight weeks to use the package, even though they're paying for four sessions. So, if you want to take them some extra time because you're on a roll writing and you don't want to get back to me yet. But we talk about structure of books, methods to keep people interested, how to keep the reader hanging on what you should start with.

One of my clients had this great, great idea. She said, this is how I want to start the book. And I said, that is an awesome, amazing chapter, but make it a chapter two because that's not going to pull the reader in. And we talk about structure and the things that are necessary and some of the elements of dialogue. And my job is to keep them accountable. And when people pay for coaching, when they're paying for something, they tend to be more accountable. And then at the end, I tell people, I can't promise you that your manuscript will be accepted by a traditional agent or a traditional publisher or a hybrid, but I can promise you that when you're done, if you choose to do self-publishing, I will do it with you. And then again, all I charge is for my time. And then they get the files and they set up their own accounts. I don't have anything to do with their earnings.

And the other thing. Going through my former publisher, they only go through Ingram. So, let's say a book is being sold by Amazon. Ingram takes their cut first. Amazon takes 40%. Then you have to subtract the cost of printing, which by the way, Amazon charges a full dollar less for the same book than Ingram does to print. And then my publisher gets a fee, I'm sure. And then whatever is left over is called the royalties. And we split that 50/50. I think I get about 75 cents to $1.25 a book. But when I self-publish it, if it sells on Amazon, I get $5.86 a book.

John: Oh, five times the amount more or less. Four or five times the amount. That's much more efficient in terms of generating some income, which I'm assuming you would love to do over time, generate more income with writing and less income from medical, which I can relate to that quite a bit as many of our listeners can. Probably not the quickest way to becoming a millionaire is to start writing. But if it's something you love and you're good at it, then why not pursue that and get paid for it? Just like everything else we talk about here. It's something you love, you're passionate about. You'd know how to do well and you get paid for.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Yeah. And you know me, John. For me, it's not even just about the writing. I want to say something and I feel like when people read an article or they hear the news or somebody gives them a self-help book or something, it goes in, it stays with them for a day, a week, a month maybe, and it's gone. But when you think about your favorite books, you remember them from time to time. And my hope is that people will, when they engage with a character, that it will affect them in a deeper, more emotional way that will leave an over lasting impression because our planet is in trouble. The people on our planet are in trouble. And this is kind of my way of doing medicine for the spirit. I call it truth in fiction. That's my new thing. The truth hurts, but fiction guides gently.

John: Yeah. And in fact, most physicians that find something to do outside of seeing patients one on one end up helping patients indirectly or directly anyway, whatever they're doing. And this is another good example. I have one more question for you before I let you go. But before I do that question, I'm going to remind everybody the first place to stop is debrablaine.com.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Yes.

John: And they can find everything there. If they want to go to Amazon directly, so be it, look for your name there and they'll find the books. And really if you're a writer or a fledgling writer or want to learn how to publish, self-publish and seek you out for coaching for that. Okay. Here's my last question. Do you have any advice for clinicians who are basically stressed out and unhappy? Just general advice, because you're a coach, you're a trained coach. So, what do you tell people when they reach out to you and say, "Man, I'm ready to kill myself with this medical thing?"

Dr. Debra Blaine: Really good question. I think reframing the meaning of our lives changes the experience of our lives. So I think not defining ourselves strictly as clinicians, defining ourselves as more of a whole person, the things that we're doing in life, the goals that we have for ourselves, for our families, for people around us, for our patients. But thinking about what legacy we want to leave, I think is really important. And when we explore ourselves outside of medicine, we become more satisfied. And I find that when I started to look at myself differently, when I started my self-image changed, the world around me reacted to me differently. All of a sudden, they're not treating me like some cog in a machine. Like, oh yeah, she's not going to listen to us. Instead of trying to push me into that round hole, when I'm a square peg, they are just like, "Okay, whatever."

It's just living life on my own terms a little more and not listening to the message that "This is the only thing you can do with your life. And this is who you are and you have to stay here and just run around the hamster ring. That's what you're good for." So don't listen to that. Explore who you are. A lot of times when you find something you're interested in, it becomes a money maker. If you're passionate about something and you start following it to its logical conclusions, you will make money at it and your life will just be better.

John: I appreciate that a lot. And while you were talking about that, you had mentioned earlier about how the people you're working with are so nice, the editors and the different people. It's because they understand and they appreciate the fact that there are people like you out there that are actually trying to write and it's not easy and it takes time and it takes a lot of effort. And so, they don't take you for granted unlike some industries I guess is what I bring up into. Okay. I want to remind people too, by the way, from what I heard, one of the best things will help you out long term with something like this is after they read the book, you're all going to pick up the book, of course, every listener that's listening today. And they should leave a review after they finish reading it.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Yes, please, please. Because there's a couple things that work really well on Amazon. The more reviews you have, the more when people click on the book, "Beyond the Pillars of Salt" is just out. So, there's not very many reviews. Sometimes people will click on it and say, "Oh, not that many people have looked at it." So, they look away. The reviews are really important for that. But also, the more reviews you have and the more sales you have, when you get to a certain point, Amazon starts to promote the book itself and you don't have to worry so much.

John: It's a giant search engine after all.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Right, right. When it says, "Oh, these people are liking this book or all these people are buying this book, maybe more people will like it." Because Amazon wants to make money and it's doing well. They want it to do better because that's better for Amazon.

John: Excellent. We'll keep that in mind. And I guess I want to just thank you for coming on and telling all of this. It was like a whirlwind, a lot of information, but that's why we're here. We're here to support people and teach them. And they can learn more by contacting you, of course. So, thanks for coming on the show today, Debra. I really appreciate it.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Thank you so much, John. I always love talking to you.

John: We'll get you back on for your next book.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Okay. It's coming soon.

John: Okay. Bye-bye.

Dr. Debra Blaine: Bye.

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The post Achieving Personal Success by Writing and Self-Publishing a Novel – 268 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

In today's podcast, Dr. Claire Unis describes how creative writing restores vitality.

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We're proud to have the University of Tennessee Physician Executive MBA Program, offered by the Haslam College of Business, as the sponsor of this podcast.

The UT PEMBA is the longest-running, and most highly respected physician-only MBA in the country. It has over 700 graduates. And, the program only takes one year to complete. 

By joining the UT Physician Executive MBA, you will develop the business and management skills you need to find a career that you love. To find out more, contact Dr. Kate Atchley’s office at (865) 974-6526 or go to nonclinicalphysicians.com/physicianmba.

Balance, Pedal, Breath: A Journey Through Medical School

The urge to hold on to that motivation for being a doctor and that earlier self (a fairly innocent and naive person who applied to medical school and wrote lovely, glowing entrance essays about how this was the most important profession in the world) led Dr. Unis to write the book.

Writing about her experiences during medical training helped her make sense of those experiences. It also helped her reconnect with her purpose.

The goals of her book are to help the general public understand what physicians in training go through and to provide those considering a career in medicine to develop a deeper understanding of the profession.

Narrative Medicine

The medical humanities discipline of narrative medicine is a way to connect doctors with their non-medical side. And it assists them in overcoming burnout by enabling them to define meaning in their lives.

Dr. Unis uses her abilities as a creative writer in other ways:

1. Literary Inspiration For Expression (LIFE)
   
   Dr. Unis designed her first lesson to be a true reminder that we are more than our professions. We have life experiences that may be influenced by our work but are not entirely defined by them.

2. Book Club
   
   Those who wish to write but don't feel comfortable doing so can share their writing in a safe nonjudgmental environment. The primary objective is to improve clinicians' well-being by expressing themselves through writing.
   
   

3. Medical Group's Weekly Blog

   Claire writes a brief reflection essay about anything that is happening in the world or in her life every week. People appreciate being reminded that others are going through these very human situations.

Summary

Dr. Unis' book can be found on her website. Additionally, it is offered directly at Warren Publishing, and at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Kindle. You can contact her through her website, Facebook, and Instagram.

NOTE: Look below for a transcript of today's episode.

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Links for Today's Episode:

• Dr. Claire Unis' Website
• Buy Balance, Pedal, Breath: A Journey Through Medical School [this is an Amazon affiliate link]
• How to Become a Marvelous Medical Mystery Author – 231
• Add Discipline to Creativity to Be a Successful Medical Writer – 179
• How to Influence the World by Writing a Medical Thriller – 116
• NewScr!pt

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Transcription PNC Podcast Episode 259

How Creative Writing Prevents Burnout and Restores Vitality

John: I have a great respect for physicians who write and especially those who also get paid to do so. I was very pleased to meet today's guest and convince her to tell us about how she has integrated writing into her career while she's still doing clinical medicine. So, with that, I will say hello and welcome Dr. Claire Unis.

Dr. Claire Unis: Hi John. Thank you so much for having me on the show.

John: Yeah. I kind of feel like I need to support writers, whether they're writing some fiction or even a technical writer or whatever, because I think a lot of physicians think that writing is not really an option in terms of either part-time or full-time replacement for medicine, but some have made a great living doing it as well enjoy doing it. So, that's why I thought it'd be great to talk to you today.

Dr. Claire Unis: Thank you. I'm really grateful to be on your show.

John: Let's see, we do have some things to talk about, including a memoir that you've written, but why don't you tell us a little bit about your background, your education, where the writing came in and then we'll go from there?

Dr. Claire Unis: Sure. I actually went to Dartmouth for undergrad and although I entered college knowing that I wanted to become a doctor, I was delighted to find out that you don't actually have to major in a basic science to become a doctor. And once that avenue was open for me, I tried all kinds of different things, but landed on something I've always loved, which is writing. I was actually a writing and literature major in undergrad, and then was fortunate to be accepted to UCSF for medical school. And I went down that road for a little while and part way through, looked up and said, "Wait a second. I need to write about this."

Before I graduated from medical school, I enrolled at USF, university of San Francisco in a master of fine arts program in writing. I was able to spread out my UCSF education by a little extra six months at the edge. So, I graduated in December 2000 from there and with my MFA in creative writing in May of 2021. So, I was able to get both degrees before starting residency that same June at children's hospital Oakland where I started residency in pediatrics.

John: Okay. Now you've been practicing since you finished your residency, correct?

Dr. Claire Unis: That is correct. I went right on into it like I think most of us do when we look up and realize that we need to make some money. Yeah.

John: And do you still enjoy pediatrics to a large extent?

Dr. Claire Unis: I really do. I really do. And I think partially I can say that was so much enthusiasm because I've been able to bring writing back into my life. I think like many of us, once we get to a certain point in our careers, we have a certain level of mastery of what we're doing most days. You start to look around and say, "Okay, what else? What else can we do?"

John: That's true. For me, as a family physician, it became pretty mundane after a couple of years. And most of what I was seeing was trivia anyway. All right. So, tell me, why is writing so important to you? Obviously, you've been interested for most of your life, but what is the draw of writing, particularly non-technical writing, which I don't think you're doing at this point?

Dr. Claire Unis: You're correct. I'm not doing technical writing. I thought about it very early on and realized that if I wrote for a career, if I wrote things I wasn't excited about, it was not going to have the same resonance that writing has for me now. I probably started writing very young. I found a journal at home where I wrote a song/poem when I was in like first grade. Not super sophisticated stuff, but clearly, I always have had this impulse to write things down. I think in adolescence is when it became something that was really part of my life. It was how I made sense of things, how I made sense of that burgeoning understanding of mortality and just all of those changes. So, I started writing regularly then.

And then in college when I returned to it, it's really because of that musicality, it's the way that the right words, the right description of an experience that you relate to really resonates and really kind of gives you that moment of "Yes, someone understands me" or "Yes, we share this experience." That resonance is what has kept it so important to me and has made it so hard for me to give up that creative writing.

John: Well, I think I can relate to that. Not so much as a writer, but as a reader. And we have each our own preferences, but boy, when I read something that communicates well, that it creates a story in my head, in my mind, I can visualize it. There's just something about it that is beyond watching a TV show or playing a video game or something like that, which tries to bring it into reality, but it's better when you're imagining it, I think.

Dr. Claire Unis: Absolutely. Absolutely. And being able to bring that experience back out to something you can share with someone else and have someone read it and say, "Wow, I really felt that" or "Wow, that really meant something to me" is just an amazing feeling.

John: Well, this is a good point to segue then, because as I was reading something this past week, which was your memoir, I could visualize what you were doing, what you were describing. And there's a lot of active things going on in some of the writing list of chapters I was looking at. So, why don't we go ahead and talk about that. It seems like you used that even maybe through medical school to get through medical schools. Tell me how that whole idea of white writing a memoir and then later publishing it, how that came about.

Dr. Claire Unis: Boy, that's a great question. One of the wonderful programs that I was able to participate in at UCSF was called The Healers Art. It was a program put on by Rachel Naomi Remen. And as I understood it, it was designed to see if we could prevent doctors from burning out in the future by putting first year medical students in touch with the reason that they came to medical school to begin with.

And this was fantastic for me. I had taken a year off to be a ski bum between college and medical school. And so, I really came in probably little prepared for the rigors of study that was in front of me. And so, this was a great course that allowed me to use creativity. I think we were drawing pictures and writing little things just to reconnect, be like, "Okay, is this worth it? This is painful. Do I really want to do this?" I think it first got ratified in some way or I first felt like it was going to be okay to pursue some creative pursuit in addition to medical school with that course. And then as you go through medical school, you can feel yourself changing. You can feel how transient those experiences are and how some of them you really just want to forget. And others of them, you realize that, "Wow, I really hope I can remember what I learned from this situation."

I think the impetus to write the memoir really came from the desire to hold on to that reason for becoming a doctor and hold on to that before self, a rather innocent and naive person who applied to medical school and wrote wonderful, glowing admissions essays about how this was the most important work in the world.

So, writing about it really put me back in touch with my purpose and also helped me make sense of some of those experiences as I was going through it. That's kind of a long wordy answer but as I look back at my journals, which I journaled like an inch of text maybe every day. I had a little tiny daily calendar. So, I would just write down some little thing about every day.

But when I go back and look at that, the idea about writing about it came to me pretty early in third year. And I approached the admissions office at UCSF and spoke to somebody in that department. And being told that I could do this, being told that I could be accepted and could write just opened everything up for me because suddenly there was somewhere to put all these experiences as I was going through them. And it wasn't just something I had to hold onto and endure.

John: Okay. That's one of the questions I had as I was reading some of the book. You were journaling at the time. And is there a difference between journaling and writing a memoir or is that two separate things? Did you just happen to use some of the journal entries in the memoir or were you actually writing the memoir as you were journaling?

Dr. Claire Unis: That's a great question. I started out with just the journaling. As most of your audience, if you're in medicine knows there was just no time to write very much as I went through medical school. But because I could feel that change happening and because I really wanted to be able to remember this later in order to write about it, I wrote those little tiny journal entries as I went through.

During my fourth year, I spread my fourth year out over that extra six months. My fourth year was actually like an 18-month year. I was simultaneously in classes at UCSF. And so, then I was actively writing while I was going through fourth year. But as we all know, the fourth year is a little less rigorous than all the years that have come before. So, it was possible to really focus on my writing for a month and then be in my clinical rotation for a month and then focus on my writing for a month. A little bit of both, but I was aware that I needed to synthesize these journal entries and really write while it was still fresh.

John: Then at some point, there's something called "Balance, Pedal, Breathe" came into existence, but it wasn't at that point. How do you feel having published it and what made you decide "Okay, I actually want to put this in a way that can be out there for other people?"

Dr. Claire Unis: Yeah. I had to finish some version of it to graduate from UCSF, which I did. And I knew it wasn't finished even at that time. As a new graduate, you don't really have that much confidence in what you know or how you're going to use these experiences. And I think part of me was really very nervous about getting this into final published form had I really been able to do at that time. And I did have an agent interested and there was some back and forth, and I think I kind of just panicked and then I started residency and there was no time.

But what got me back to this, and then of course, over the years I actually wrote the chapter on my OB rotation during my pediatrics residency when I was working and taking care of the babies. Some of these chapters came later. Most of them were at least initially conceived during the end of medical school. But I came back to this when the pandemic hit. It was kind of like being handed this little gift of time. And I think many of us were like, "What am I going to do with this sudden gift of time?" And there wasn't any question in my mind, I really needed to come back to this. I was facing symptoms of burnout and feeling like something had to change and pulling this out and rereading it really kind of got my heart all flutter. It was like, "Oh my gosh. This is what I felt when I went into this." And this is what I experienced. I think writing the memoir at that point or getting back into it sort of put me back in touch with my purpose, but it also, and this is the uncomfortable part, it made me face things I wasn't very proud of either. It's been many years since I graduated from medical school.

And during that time, there were things that I did that were selfish, that at the time, I didn't know how else to get through. And then when you look back, you go, "Okay, that doesn't actually create a human that I can be proud of being." Some of going back to this later inspired me and some of it forced me to evolve a little bit more yet than I've even evolved over the years as we all do. But getting it published is literally a dream come true because I always wanted to. At the same time, it's a little bit like walking around naked sometimes because people are reading some of your inner thoughts and I definitely had some feelings of panic as it was being released of, "Oh my gosh, maybe I shouldn't do this." But it was too late.

John: That's not a trivial thing. I thought if I were to write some kind of book, sort of a fiction book, and I wanted to make it interesting, I'm afraid I had to put things in there that I had done or experienced to make it sound real. But then I wouldn't want people to read it because I'd be embarrassed by what was in there.

Okay. Now I'm going to put you on the spot. We knew you knew we were going to talk about the book. So, sell me on the book. Who should buy this book? It's out there, it's available. Tell us where you can get it and who would it resonate the most with? Because there's got to be an audience for it, right?

Dr. Claire Unis: Absolutely. And I've been really fortunate that anyone who has read it has come back to me with glowing reviews. "Oh, my goodness. I didn't know you could write like this." And while this really resonated with me and I had no idea what medical school was like, or those who have read it would have gone to medical school. Actually, it's really funny. I guess I shouldn't say who it was, but somebody I knew well in medical school got in touch with me and said, "I now have a clearer memory of your medical school experience than my own." And I say, "Well, that's a fascinating thing to say." I think it's absolutely relevant for anyone who's thinking about going to medical school, anyone who has gone to medical school, the nurses who I'm friends with who have read it have really resonated with it as well.

But ideally, I think this is a book that could do very well with book clubs. I don't think you need to be in medicine. And my whole goal in writing it, was to help someone who's not in medicine, understand what your doctor has gone through to get to that point. And I think that's really important and that is part of what drove me back to it during the pandemic as well. There was this huge disconnect between the general public and the people who are trying to take care of them. And I just have always felt understanding is the key. If people could understand each other's experiences, it would take us so much closer to being able to communicate well and bridge those differences. So, I really wrote this book to have universal appeal and to be relevant to anyone who's interested in what someone going into medicine has experienced.

To answer your second question, it's available on Amazon, it's available on Barnes & Noble. You can buy it from the publisher, which is Warren Publishing, and they were fantastic to work with, but I will tell you that you can get a lot faster through Amazon. And it is available also on Kindle.

John: Okay. Two comments. One, Warren, because I don't want to get into too much detail, but everyone always asks, "Well, how did you publish it? Was it traditional? Was it self-published?" And Warren is one of those that's in between, right?

Dr. Claire Unis: Yes. Warren is a hybrid publisher. So, what that means is that there's some shared expense in terms of what goes into publishing the book. They help with curating the editors that you work with. So, I know you've previously interviewed Deborah Blaine who is a friend and a wonderful writer of medical thrillers or medical mystery. So, she's a great example of someone. And she actually turned me on to Warren Publishing. And then once you sign on with them, there's a developmental editor, there's a copy editor, there's a proofreader. There's a lot of rounds of editing that they help and then making sure that everything is in line as it should be so that it can be presented as well as a traditionally published book. And it can be sold in bookstores, which is something that most bookstores won't carry self-published books. So, for me, it was a faster process than going through a traditional publisher and it allowed me to put out a product I can be extremely proud of.

John: Yes, it's very professionally done, obviously. The second comment I was going to make, and I hadn't thought about this before, but when you said it would be something that someone who was thinking of going to med school or was starting med school would read, I think back, I could have really used that darn book because I had no one in my family that was in medical school. The first rotation that I did in my third year of medical school, I had no idea what was happening. I just showed up. It's like, "Okay, what's going to happen now? I'm in the surgical rotation with some Vietnamese doctor who was at the VA and I got to be here every third night and stay here?" Oh my gosh, it was a total culture shock.

Dr. Claire Unis: Absolutely. Nothing really prepares you for that. Your first two years don't prepare you for that. We had one panel where the upperclassmen told us a few things to make sure that you had with you and then off you go. So, thank you.

John: Yeah, that's really good. And you know what? I'm the only one that has mentioned the title of the book. So, tell us the title, the complete title. And then we'll move on to my next question.

Dr. Claire Unis: Sounds good. The title is "Balance, Pedal, Breathe: A Journey Through Medical School." And the reason for the title is that this book is every bit as much about my other outdoor pursuits or outside medicine pursuits as it is about medical school. And I think that's also part of the universal appeal.

For example, when I talk about my pediatrics rotation, I'm also talking about paragliding and traveling and learning a new language. And when I'm talking about the surgery rotation, I'm also talking about swing dancing, which was something I did quite during medical school.

Balance also has to do with rock climbing. There's a chapter that is called "Unsure Footing" that's about a multi pitch long climb that I went on. And I interweave that with stories of uncertainty in medicine. Pedal was mountain biking. Biking absolutely saved my soul, I think during the second year as we approached boards. And then breathe because so much of this book revolves around images of breath. And breath drives everything. It's how we deal ourselves, to deal with whatever we have to deal with. It's how we recover from something that's difficult. It's how we center ourselves. And it has so much to do with any active outdoor pursuit.

The title very much harkens to all the other experiences that are interwoven with the medical experiences here. And then the subtitle "A Journey Through Medical School" because it very much was a journey both emotionally and physically.

John: Very nice. Yeah. There's a lot to talk about here but this is a thing that impressed me and what we're going to talk about for at least the next 10 minutes or so. So, you published a book like, "Okay, that's your writing and how it's manifest in your life now?" No, you're doing like three or four other things in which you've incorporated and integrated writing into your daily, I guess, life. So, explain what you're doing from that aspect. The teaching, the coaching, whatever you want to talk about. We only have so much time, but I want to hear about those things. I think the listeners will too. And some of those things, I think you're actually getting paid for as part of a program at the university.

Dr. Claire Unis: Yes. Thank you. When I looked up and realized I needed to do something more than just clinical practice, that was actually before the pandemic. And at the time I had recently learned about narrative medicine, which is a field of medical humanities that came into being right around the time I graduated with my MFA, feeling like I was the only person in the world who wanted to merge the humanities with medicine. It turns out I was not.

There was a team of doctors and other writers and all kinds of collaboration was going on at Columbia university to create narrative medicine, which is basically the use of texts, which could be pictures, photographs, any kind of example of the humanities to connect doctors with the other side of themselves, the nonmedical side of themselves and give them something to talk about that will also get in touch with basically geared against burnout by allowing people to talk about something nonmedical and get at the meaning behind what is going on in their lives. Because we doctors learn very early on that we don't share what's going on emotionally with our patients, that we are supposed to be quite stoic in the face of all kinds of trials. And obviously over a lifetime of that, that's a recipe for burnout. And I think of creativity as an antidote to burnout.

So, I'd come across this narrative medicine program. And I was thinking about enrolling, although having two children and a practice on the west coast, it was terribly practical to go to the east coast for a program. And in talking to someone who I would consider a mentor at my work, he said "Wait a second, you have an MFA in writing. Do you really need another master's degree?" And I thought about it and I was like, "Wow, you're right." It was already in the works before the pandemic. I was creating a program involving writing and literature appreciation for other doctors, modeled loosely on what they're doing with narrative medicine at Columbia and then the pandemic hit. So rather than be able to meet with people in person, suddenly everything went virtual. And it was honestly perfect timing because suddenly everybody had a little bit more time to spend, checking out something new.

So, the first class I put together was something that I called LIFE - Literary Inspiration For Expression. And in this class, I would provide a short story to people ahead of time and they would read it and then we would get together and discuss it for a little while. And then I would give a writing prompt to which people could free write and they didn't have to share their writing with anybody. It was just a chance to a little bit of personal reflection based on the discussion that we've had.

I deliberately chose stories that had nothing to do with medicine. This was really intended to be true enrichment and a true reminder that we are much more than our professions and that we have life experiences that are perhaps informed by our jobs, but certainly not completely circumscribed by our jobs. And that class was very popular.

And so, from there, I went on to develop some writing workshops. I found that there were a number of clinicians who were trying to write on their own and really could benefit from having people to bounce their ideas and their writing off of. I created a book club. I worked with one of our patient family advisors to develop a writing class. So, people who didn't feel comfortable with their writing, but wanted to write, could learn some techniques. And then ultimately after taking several narrative medicine workshops, I did feel comfortable working with someone else who was in that program to offer some narrative medicine classes also.

So, I've been very busy offering classes to clinicians with the main goal being to improve clinician wellbeing. And I was fortunate also that some of this work was funded by a grant. I worked for Sutter medical group. And Sutter Health had a joy of work committee formed that received a grant to support work that would help or kind of augment clinician wellbeing.

And so, I was a recipient of some of that money that funded some of my time to put into program development. And that was a real boom because like many of us, it's hard to take time out from other things that we're not getting paid for, or take time away from things that we are getting paid for to really develop something like this. And so, it gave me the permission to say, "Okay, this is part of my job. I have to create something." That seems like that was a lot of talking on my part, but that's a summary of what I've done with the writing. And one more thing, I've been able to write a weekly blog for our medical group. So each week I just write some short reflective piece about something that's going on in the world or in my life that I consistently get nice feedback on. I think people like to hear just a reminder of other people are having these very human experiences alongside the medical obligations.

John: Now, the one thing I think that I remember from discussing before we got on the call was some kind of communication coaching. Is that encompassed in what you've already described or is that something different?

Dr. Claire Unis: No. Fantastic. That's a great reminder. Actually, even before I started all these writing programs, I have held the title of clinician communication coach. And in that role, I would sometimes shadow other doctors and just help with techniques that would help with communication with patients.

And the goal of this is really to make the day a little easier. Many people struggle with how do you get out of the room, for example, after you've finished a visit? How do you avoid, "Oh, doctor, one more thing" and not feel like a jerk if you say "We can't handle that today?" How do you make sure that patients know you care, even though you also have a time constraint?

So, we have some classes actually that we teach through that department and I really enjoy that as well. Honestly, I've found that working to help clinicians enjoy their work and help them manage symptoms of burnout, if not get rid of them somehow, have been all things that I've really enjoyed. So yes, clinician communication coaching is something that I've been doing for several years. Now, I'm going to say we're probably getting close to five but I did start that long, long before. And that wasn't my idea. I was fortunate to be hired into that role. And it's part of our patient experience.

John: Well, it sounds like you have an array of things that you're doing that aren't strictly practice and you've cut the hours and the practice down I guess significantly, but you're still seeing kids and doing that. So, you've got that going. And I take it. I don't hear a lot of burnout right now coming from you or at least evidence of it. But I don't know, I haven't given you a questionnaire to complete or anything. So how do you feel right now doing everything that you're doing?

Dr. Claire Unis: For me, this is a great balance. I'm working 50% clinical time in medicine, and honestly, I was doing that long before. And even with that, there were days that I was feeling like it was too much because there's so much nonclinical extra work that we do every time we set foot into the office and it starts to feel less appreciated. I think doing the clinician communication work has helped me also be a little bit more efficient in my interactions with patients and feeling good about them. That's really what it's about. If you get out of that room feeling good about the interaction, you feel a lot better about your workday also. So, I've been able to really enjoy that. But having time to create and help others create has done wonders for my ability to feel like I have a great balance. And I look forward to my clinical days. I look forward to seeing patients. I really enjoy my time. I do not think there's any way on this planet that I could do it full time. So, I'll be fully honest about that. The time away is essential for being able to be fully present.

John: Yeah. And I think that's common and probably underrecognized by most people. I think we forget when we're in it that medicine is very intense. And not that these other things don't take a lot of time and energy to do, but the intensity of taking care of patients, having the responsibility, the threat of a lawsuit, plus all the paperwork piled on top. I really personally can't see how someone can practice more than 20, 25 years without kind of segueing into something a lot simpler. But it sounds like you've got a great balance that could go on for quite a while, as long as you're enjoying all of it.

Dr. Claire Unis: Absolutely. I want to add one more thing to that. And I think this is something that most of us are feeling is that more and more we're being told what we need to achieve in an office visit. That's not necessarily the goals that we need to set out there, right? There are all these metrics that we're supposed to meet and these extra things we're supposed to be doing. And the more we're told to just toe the line and do something that does not involve our own creativity, the more important it is that we have some creative pursuit outside of it. So, it's soul sucking not to have that self-determination. And so, I think it's just extremely important and it doesn't have to be writing, obviously. It's not everybody's jam. But it is essential to honor that creative side of ourselves. Everybody has a creative side, and it really deserves to be expressed in some way.

John: All right. That was very inspirational to me and probably to the listeners as well. I hope you enjoyed that people. But before we go, a couple questions. First, tell us what's the best way to get ahold of you or just to find what you're doing? Do you have a website and other ways on social media we could track you down?

Dr. Claire Unis: Absolutely. My website is www.claireunis.net. And on there, there is a "Contact me" little section. So please feel free to drop me an email, especially if you're interested in classes. I'm not sure once this grant runs out, exactly what my next move is going to be, but I've certainly had some people outside my medical group ask about classes. So, I'd love to know if you're interested. I can also be found on doctorsonsocialmedia.com. You can look at my name, and my book is also on there. On Facebook or Instagram, basically, most of the socials I'm at Literary Art in Medicine. And the book I think I mentioned can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or there's a link through my website also.

John: Excellent. All right. I will put all those in the show notes too so people don't have to hurriedly write down right now or if they're in their car or something. Before I let you go, though, I'm going to just basically ask you what advice you might have for my listeners. I think you have a pretty good idea. It's basically physicians, some of whom are burnt out, maybe a high percentage are thinking about doing something else. And so, maybe you just have some pithy answer to their problems. But just tell us what advice you would give them right now.

Dr. Claire Unis: I guess my best advice is just that you need to honor your creative side. If there's something that you really wish you could do more of in your free time, maybe look into that, look for classes, look for ways to develop yourself further in a totally different avenue. It will make you a better doctor. It will make you more present when you are in the office.

For many of us financially, the thought of pivoting to something else is really daunting. And I know John, you are way more an expert in that than I am. But speaking for the sole satisfaction side, the more happy you are, the more you tend to your own needs on the outside, the more present you are on the inside. So, hopefully that's helpful to people, whether it's writing or something else.

John: I think it's very helpful. And some of the principles that we follow here that really as a physician you should have a life that's joyful and fulfilling, that you wake up to in the morning not dreading. And whether that means adding something to it or doing something different, what you've told us about today can be very helpful in that regard. I really appreciate that. So, I think we are out of time now. I guess all I can do now is say goodbye and thank you again for coming on the show today.

Dr. Claire Unis: Sure. My pleasure, John. Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

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The post How Creative Writing Restores Vitality and Prevents Burnout – 259 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Dr. Barbara Loeb shares the healing power of poetry in this interview. She is an author, speaker, mentor, facilitator, and physician leader. And she is committed to promoting well-being, especially for people working within healthcare. 

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After transitioning her practice to become part of Advocate Aurora Health, she moved into a number of chief medical officer roles for other health systems, hospitals, physician networks, and health plans. She also served as an independent consultant for the Studer Group, improving physician communication and leadership skills.

During her career, she became highly aware of the balance she had to maintain between her work and her personal life. From all these vantage points, she observed the fatigue, lack of self-care, and burnout that many peers experienced.

The Healing Power of Poetry

In her first book “How to Save a Life: Healing Power of Poetry,” Dr. Loeb utilizes the principles of presence, reflection, self-awareness, and self-compassion to create poetry that displays the personal healer’s journey. She inspires the reader to reflect on their own individual path to well-being. By sharing her poems and introspective travels, she reveals the great strength one can build by engaging in this process.

To cultivate her own well-being, she developed her own restorative ritual. It combines mindfulness, writing, and building deeper connections with patients and colleagues. She intensified this practice during the challenges of the pandemic.

Today, Dr. Loeb shares this knowledge with colleagues through speaking, writing, mentoring, and facilitating groups. Her focus is on building mindfulness and promoting narrative medicine and related initiatives. She notes that the healing power of poetry is a metaphor for it's effect on her professional and personal journeys.

Summary

Dr. Barbara Loeb describes her transition to the most recent chapter in her life. Some might call it retirement. However, Barb feels as productive as ever. And she is having a positive impact on those around her while doing what she finds meaningful. 

NOTE: Look below for a transcript of today's episode.

Links for Today's Episode:

• Dr. Barbara Loeb's Website
• How to Save a Life: Healing Power of Poetry on Amazon [this is an affiliate link]
• Mindful Practice in Medicine at the University of Rochester
• Narrative Medicine: An Opportunity for Empathy, Reflection, Profession, and Trust. Rita Charon, MD, PhD
• Maven Project
• NewScr!pt

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Today's PNC Podcast Transcript

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Transcription PNC Podcast Episode 228

How the Healing Power of Poetry Saved My Life

John: Dr. Barbara Loeb.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Hi, John. I'm glad to be here today.

John: It's good to see you again. We're doing a video just so we can do the interview. I remember talking to Barb very clearly because she was doing something at the time that was near and dear to my heart because I had been in hospital administration for a while. But today's interview can go in a little different direction. I think you'll all enjoy this.

With that though, tell us a little bit about yourself, the thumbnail version, and your background. What's been going on since we talked to you over two years ago?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, John, two years ago when we talked, we talked a lot about how I prepared myself to take the plunge into executive physician leadership and gave some advice, but I didn't really realize at that time that I was beginning to go in another direction. There was an undercurrent there even long before the world changed for all of us, that something was sort of peaking. And I wasn't really aware until a few months later, things sort of started to happen.

John: Yeah, looking back there was nothing. I think there had been a little bit of a transition, there was a gap there, but I hadn't really heard that you said anything related to what we are talking about today based on what I know. I really want to see what's changed and learn more about what you've been up to. So, tell me more about that.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, first of all, I had a change in my career path, which was the first thing that happened, but simultaneously I actually had a little bit of change in my physical health. I had a back problem. I've had spinal stenosis surgery several years back. Actually, it's been almost eight, nine years now. But I started to have some relapse. And I realized at that time that I had spent my life really in a cycle of constant doing. First, as a young doctor, running with my kids to daycare, then to the office and writing prescriptions, seeing patients, and making a lot of critical decisions that were life and death and had to be done right now. And when I transitioned into a physician leader, I did the same thing just with a different focus. And at this time, right after we talked, I realized that it was time to take a pause. That I had spent my life focused on others and I needed to turn a little bit more towards what I needed to have my own well-being improved.

John: Okay. It seems like it's a common thing that comes up for physicians, obviously because we have this kind of shared pathway we go through during our careers and our lives. And for some of us, it comes earlier than others, but it sounds like a common thing. It'll be interesting to see what you've learned and share with others that are listening today. So, when you notice that, what kind of steps did you take to change or to do something different?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, the first thing I decided to do was to move away from my administrative role and I decided to focus more on promoting wellbeing for myself and wellbeing for others in healthcare who were like me, who had not really attended to their own needs. I wanted to find a way to become more grounded and present and connected with myself. I turned back to the practice of mindfulness.

John: Okay. Now back to the practice, was that something you had done before or was this a new thing?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: When I was young, I had done a lot of mindfulness and my mother actually was a Buddhist. And I used to meditate and I used to do a lot of very creative things as well. They had all fallen by the wayside with this career of producing and the pressures and stress of the healthcare profession. And so, I thought, well, maybe one way would be to go to a retreat. And I signed up for a Zen retreat in California, a place called Deer Park Monastery that was founded by a very famous monastic Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh which many of you may have heard of.

And I also simultaneously started looking at ways that people were using mindfulness for healthcare people. There's a program out of the University of Rochester school of medicine, where they use mindfulness techniques in training to help physicians and connect with their patients and their colleagues and prove their resilience as well as their care. Those were two paths I started on simultaneously.

John: Okay. So that reminds me, I've had other guests that have been involved heavily with meditation. Some of them teach meditation. These are physicians. There's something about, I don't know, being so focused on intellectuality or concrete things and science and that some of us abandon the softer parts of our learning. And boy, that's pretty interesting though, that your mother was a Buddhist because there's a lot of knowledge there about how to approach this.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Yeah, she was. And my husband said that my mother's name was Judy, and he said, "Well, the Judy in you is coming out now, you're interested in art and poetry and meditation". I guess the Judy was coming out of me. I know it was the genetics or the background, but one of the things that I'd like to turn back to for a moment, as you mentioned about science, and this is a softer side. Yes and no, because there's a lot of science now about mindfulness. And if you study the works of Daniel Goldman or Richie Davidson, the neuroscience shows that cultivating mindfulness actually has a physiologic neurologic effect on your brain. And that our brain has neuroplasticity, the ability to grow and change.

We used to think the brain was like a fixed organ and that nothing would change, but there's been a lot of scientific evidence that the brain does change. And that long time meditators have thickening of their neocortex frontal lobe, which is our center of executive function. There's a lot of science now that shows that this can help us and also suppress some of our lower brain functions, a fight-flight-freeze, and the emotional overload that we have in these terribly difficult times and difficult challenging careers that we have in medicine.

John: Okay. I'm going to ask a little more about this because I want to get your perspective on it. Of course, meditation and mindfulness are not exactly the same thing. Is it? Maybe mindfulness is a form of meditation. What is your take on that? Explain that to some of us who are novices.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: I think meditation is a form of mindfulness. I think mindfulness is sort of an act of paying attention on purpose, being aware, being present, and allowing yourself to connect to what is actually here in the present moment, sensations, even thoughts. It's not eliminating any of those things, and it's not going up to the Himalayas and saying, "Oh, it's actually just focusing your mind and attention back onto the present moment, the things around you".

John: I know little about it, but I did read about it for a while. I've read several books about Buddhism and so forth. And the one time I decided to use it, I'm just giving my own example, this was 20 years ago, but I was very depressed, I was burnt out. I was going through a divorce. It was a lot of anxiety, a lot of thoughts that were out of my control seemingly. My approach to mindfulness was simply, if I was driving, I would focus on the license plate in front of me, focus my hands on the wheel. I'd go home and I earned a shirt and I would focus on that or I would chew a French fry and I would do it very slowly and I'd feel the crunch and the oil come out. Everything was focused on exactly what's happening right now. That's my take on my own personal use of mindfulness.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it while you're driving, maybe at a stoplight when you're waiting for it to turn green. There's a common exercise about noticing when you're at a stoplight or waiting in a line, but I was wondering, well, how was that for you?

John: Definitely, it would just push all the other thoughts out of my mind. And then I would relieve a lot of those physiologic responses. And I've thought about in the past trying to meditate or to take a course or something, and I haven't, but that's the closest I've come to it. I know a lot of people though, that have used it extensively and have been very pleased and have physically and emotionally, and mentally felt better.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, yeah, one of the things that you can do, or that is part of mindfulness is within your daily activities, as you mentioned. But sometimes as for instance, if you're a nurse and you're working in a COVID unit and you're very overwhelmed and you're just continuously doing things, taking care of patients. If in a moment, as you're walking from room to room, you begin to notice the sensation of your feet on the ground, or when you wash your hands, you feel the sensation of the water and the soap.

That gives a moment of you becoming back present in your own body, and also gives you a chance to decompress from this constant, "What do I have to do next?" And there's a lot of stress. Bringing yourself back into your body with sensations has a very calming effect and helps you build your resilience to face difficult times. So you can do things in your daily activities, such as some of the ones you did, some of the ones nurses and doctors and others caretakers can do. People find a very positive effect of doing that.

And then also when you're in a situation, you are able to notice what the sensations are of your body. Like, for instance, if you're in a conflict or you're in a situation where someone has died, your grief of loss, when you notice what's coming up in your body, you can actually sort of lean into it and ease some of that and give yourself a moment. You don't just have automatic tightening and clenching and different things that don't help your wellbeing. There's a lot of benefits to it in just daily life.

John: All right. I want to pause for a minute now, only because I know that you have a website. Do you address some of this on the website? Do you have some of the articles you've written?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: My website right now is more focused on my poetry. But I would like to expand into some of these other areas, neuroscience, et cetera. I would recommend if someone's interested in neuroscience to look into the Healthy Minds program from the University of Wisconsin in medicine because Dr. Richie Davidson is in charge of that. And then there's also for caregivers and doctors, and the healthcare people, there's the mindful practice program in the University of Rochester that talks about healthcare. There are a lot of things out there and you can certainly contact me if you want to hear more information about what programs are out there.

John: Excellent. Well, you did just mention the poetry. So let me just give the website, first of all, mind2heal.com. We'll do it again at the end. Somewhere in this process that you've described now, you did get into writing specifically writing poetry, which will be described on that site. Tell us how that happened and what was that process like?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, it was interesting. There actually were three phases and I've turned it into what the three intentions for my book are because in mindfulness, we talk about beginning with what your intention is. Really the first writing came about at that retreat I mentioned. And the monastic was talking about in a hundred years from now, your name, your face, your voice, no one will know your identity that we all think is so important. Our name up in lights, it's so critical. No one will know who Barbara Loeb is, or John Jurica is. No one will know us.

So that actually freaked me out a little bit. And I thought, well, my great-great-grandchildren will be asking their parents who this Barbara person is. And I decided I needed to send them a message. I wrote my first poem, which was called "To All Generations with Love". And it was basically sending a message into the future that I'm with them, even if they can no longer know who I am. So that was the beginning of writing poetry. But I didn't know at that time that it was going to be a book.

John: Ah, so then you kept writing, right? Apparently.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, what happened then was the pandemic hit. Not a good time. Like many of you, I was already trying to figure out what my next life was. They always say in your previous life you figure out your next life. And I already told you about the first two lives and I was in my third life. And then the pandemic hit and all the plans I had, like everyone else, were destroyed. And in addition, unfortunately, I had some really significant losses. My father passed away of COVID in the first month of COVID on his 90th birthday in isolation. I couldn't be with him. He was in the hospital. They didn't have anything to treat him at that time. And then my mother-in-law, my husband's mom got COVID and she survived the COVID, but then it was downhill and she passed.

And in the middle of all that, my two-year-old grandson got hit by a car. And my husband and I had to rush to Colorado before vaccines were available and take care of the other four kids. They are five siblings. He luckily survived, but it was pretty stressful. It was a spinal cord injury. I realized I really needed to look at how to heal myself. And poetry, mindfully sitting, reflecting, and writing was very healing for me. And it opened the time that I hadn't spent in all those 40 years in healthcare to actually attend to my own self-care.

John: Okay. That kind of tells me that the title is very similar to what you just said. The healing that occurred because the title is "How to Save a Life: Healing Power of Poetry", right?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: That's right. And I always thought that I would write something or do something that would help healthcare people and their healing process was always healing others. And I realized that this poetry writing in a sense saved my life from going into a downward spiral in these really difficult times because it energized me and gave me a feeling of uplifting and hope. That was actually the second intention of the book. It was saving my own life with the healing power of poetry.

And also, it sorts of brought me to what I call the third phase or third intention when I realized that there were other people will like me, many, many, many thousands and thousands of doctors, nurses, and others that had spent so much time caring about other people, caring for other people that they had left themselves not attendant. And I thought, well maybe if they see my journey, this can help save their life metaphorically speaking, by connecting them with their inner wisdom and inspiring them to write or paint or do whatever it is, or even just sit and reflect and release their own ability for creativity and healing. The third intention was to share the methodology with others, for promoting their self-healing.

John: I don't want to get into too much detail, but how was that? What was it like? Was it difficult to turn those that you had written into a book to get the book published or self-published? Just a couple of sentences on that.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: It was a journey and I'm glad to connect with anyone who needs advice on that. I first published it through Amazon Self-Publishing. By the time I decided to make the book in my phase three, the third intention, I had a lot of poems already that I had written. In part, I had the material, but I had to do the editing and I used an independent vendor called Fiverr to edit and to format, which was very helpful. And I used my mother's artwork as an illustration. So that was really fun because it was a journey into the legacy of my family and I put it all together. It took a little bit, but there were a lot of good YouTube videos out there and webcasts that helped me and gave me advice on how to do it. I was able to accomplish it. I actually put the whole book together in less than six months.

John: Nice, nice. But you had already written a lot of it before that, right?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Yeah. I had written the poems. I had to do the prolog and the introduction. And then at the end of the book, I actually have an appendix that explains

every poem, just a few sentences saying where I was when I wrote it, what I was thinking, what my intention for that particular poem was. And a lot of people have found that very helpful. Although the poems are not abstract, they're pretty clear. A lot of people like that little extra background.

John: Nice. Okay. So, I've interviewed many people that have written books, some self-published, some published by national companies, and things in between, but I don't usually have people read from their books. But I thought, wait a second, if you've got a book of poems, we should be able to have you read one of them for us and really give us an example of your poetry.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: I would love to.

John: All right, let's do it.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Yeah. I picked out one that is relatively short and it's about how we're driven from one thing to another. And I realize that the ability to change anything or do anything is to first become aware of the cycle of doing that I was in and that I'm in. So, it's called "Shiny objects".

"I'm floating in a sea of uncertainty, beneath the surface among shiny objects. Reaching for one I'm distracted by another. Turning back the first one disappears. Dazzled by yet another and another. I try to scoop them up, they slipped through my looped arms, gracefully dancing in slow motion just out of reach. I turn and search. My goggles are clouded. I swim to the surface gasping for air with one deep breath and one deep pause. I dive down again and again."

John: Thank you for doing that. I don't read a lot of poetry, but I always imagine that I'm not reading it necessarily the way the poet wrote it and with the inflection and the timing. And it's nice to hear someone actually read their own poetry and get the feeling and how it was. Because poetry has a certain rhythm to it.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Yeah. Well, I like reading it to myself because it reminds me of what I was thinking and what my intention was. And I hope that it inspires that in someone else to think, "Gee, I've been there".

John: Right. Now did you write poetry when you were younger? Was that part of growing up? Because it's sort of like, well, someone just starts writing poetry? Tell me about that just as an aside.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: When I was a teenager, I wrote a number of poems, including one that was like your epitaph. My teacher said, write your epitaph. But in the front of the book, I actually have a poem that I wrote when I was like 14 or 15 years old. I did write poetry then, but then there was a big gap. I journal from time to time over the years, but then life got in the way of anything creative and all I did was work, work, work, and raise my children and take care of my patients and become the executive and all those things. And there was no space.

John: Right. This has been quite a journey so far that you've described, but I know from briefly talking to you before we actually set up the interview today that it's kind of led into some other things. And we do have time here, so maybe you can tell us some of the other things that you're involved with that my listeners might find interesting.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: I definitely would love to. The first thing that came about was when I was talking about mindful practice. I originally was looking into how we can help other healthcare folks through mindfulness. I got involved with a program called Mindful Practice out of the University of Rochester school of medicine and dentistry. It's started by two physicians that are general physicians, Dr. Ron Epstein and Dr. Michael Krasner.

And basically, it talks about bringing mindfulness narrative, like the stories and dialogue into healthcare so you can connect better with yourself, your patients, and your colleagues. And I trained as a facilitator of this program. I would recommend it as something to check out. There are retreats and remote programs that people can attend. So that's the first thing I've been involved in. And also at the same time, I got involved with a narrative medicine program. I'm sure you're going to ask me what narrative medicine is.

John: Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Narrative medicine focuses on bringing what is called narrative competence into healthcare. Narrative competence means the ability for a person to acknowledge, absorb and interpret the accent stories and the plight of others around them, whether it be themselves, their patients, or their colleagues. That philosophy, that discipline was started at Columbia University with Rita Sharon. And she's really sort of the person who coined narrative medicine, but now it's quite spread throughout the country. And a lot of medical students and medical centers have courses in narrative medicine, which focus on close reading and reflective writing.

The program I've been involved with is through Advocate Aurora Health. We have a narrative medicine group that meets twice a month. And what we do in that group is we start with a meditation, a mindfulness reflection of some sort, and then we have a writing prompt. It's something that inspires us to write. And then we share in breakout rooms and then we have a closing reflection or meditation. And that has been very helpful in sort of stimulating me to write and bonding with a community of people. Just like the mindful practice, also a community of people that have like minds, that want to cultivate mindfulness. And this group created creativity and writing and humanities in healthcare.

John: Okay. Now you said two phrases that I'm not sure I know what they mean. Closed reading and reflexive writing. What was that?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Okay. Close reading means when you read something more in a mindful fashion. In the very classic narrative medicine groups, they actually do a little more disciplined work around reading pieces whereas in an advocate auroras group we're a little bit more informal. But in classic narrative medicine, they have a particular way they read from the literature and then they write reflectively, meaning what comes up after the reading is a reflection in a way. And they do that in a more disciplined way. In our group, it's a little bit more open.

And we actually also have people in our group that are not directly healthcare workers, because everyone is part of the healthcare system on one side of the stethoscope or the other. It really helps by actually duplicating the relationship that you would have with the patients. We have to be able to relate to people regardless of what our role is and diminish that hierarchy of doctor-patient because that actually sometimes gets in the way of good communication and understanding of each other's stories.

John: That makes sense. If you're doing narrative medicine and are following the principles and you're not including the patient, it makes sense to be involved with people. Of course, we could all be patients too, but we have a different jargon than the average patient. It would be nice to do that together.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Yeah. I don't know if you have time to share this, but there are two things clinically that have been done that have been very helpful related to this type of discipline. Our narrative medicine group's founders, his name is Dr. David Thoele, and also Marjorie Getz. They're the two founders of that group. Dr. Foley is a pediatric cardiologist and he's created a three-minute mental makeover where what he does is he works with the patient and the patient's family and they write three things they're grateful for, summarize our life in six words and three wishes if they had Aladdin's lamp. And that process of writing and reflecting with patients changes the dynamics between the caregiver and the patient and creates a synergy, a relationship, a communication that really helps care.

And then the other one I wanted to mention is Dr. Joshua Houser, who is out of the Jesse Brown VA and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He has a program called Poetry for Veterans. And what they do there is they read poetry with veterans. Particularly, he's in palliative care, so some of them have very severe diseases. And they've witnessed a change in the patient's perspective about their own life story and how they relate to their caregiver, how they relate to each other, not just as in a medical way, but as humans. And they also do that kind of thing with their staff. Those are two examples of reading and writing together that have introduced a different level of human connection into healthcare.

John: All right. Well, that's a lot to get my brain around, but it's very helpful. Thanks. Because I can look those things up and I will actually include some links to those as well for listeners that are interested.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: There was one more thing that I'm doing if you have time.

John: Sure.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: It's called the Maven project and it's a non-for-profit telehealth organization that supports free and charitable clinics and federally funded clinics. And we have peer consults, specialists can give peer-to-peer consults on difficult cases for these providers in these clinics of need. We do mentoring for healthcare folks, doctors, nurses, others, and we do medical education including a weekly or biweekly COVID education. So that's a group of seasoned physicians. And actually, we've engaged them now in our writing narrative medicine program as well. But their main program has focused on helping these free and charitable clinics by supporting their providers, their clinicians working there.

John: What would the mentoring most commonly be related to if somebody needed some help with something?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: There are two types of mentoring that I do. The first one is leadership mentoring. I use my background as a CMO and medical director for other physicians that are in these clinics that don't have the funds for professional mentors. They can't hire an agency or firm to do that. I use my professional background and I've mentored for my professional organization and others organizations. I use that background to mentor them, to help them reveal for themselves what their leadership path might be. And like in episode 93, if they're trying to make transitions, how they might do it.

And then we also do clinical mentoring. I mentor nurse practitioners that are in areas where they may have simpler clinical questions, but they don't have access to a clinical mentor right there. So, they'll present me with cases. I'm an internist for those who might not know. So, they present me with basic internal medicine cases and we just talk about what they might do. And if they need a specialty referral, I can refer them to one of our Maven project specialists, and then they can have a more in-depth conversation about the patient's issues.

John: Awesome. I will definitely put a link to the Maven project in the show notes as well. It's a lot to be doing, a lot on your plate, but it sounds like it's not stressing you out. You're feeling pretty good about

it all.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: I feel good. I think one of the things we all have in common, whether we're still pursuing a clinical career, a leadership career or other careers, because I know that's been the topic of conversation for you and other podcasts, we all have this deep desire to help other people and to share what we've learned. And these are just other pathways that I've used that I'm using to continue to do that because that also energizes me, not just the self-reflection, but what I could inspire someone else to feel or do or heal. It's very uplifting for me. Although sometimes it seems like a lot to me too, it's still very helpful in my own personal journey.

John: Very nice. I guess I wouldn't say that you're retired because you're doing so many different things. I'm supposedly retired now. I did my last clinical shift a month ago. But everyone that I've ever talked to, particularly physicians that are so-called "retired", they're as busy as they ever were. It's just how it goes.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Yeah. I always wonder what the word "retired" means. Does that mean we all went to sleep suddenly?

John: Hopefully not. Well, it might be a good sleep.

Dr. Barbara Loeb: We need the fairy dust for the prince charming to come and kiss me and wake me up.

John: Yeah. Well, before I let you go, though, we are getting to the end. I just want you to maybe think about my listeners. They're basically physicians for the most part who sometimes are frustrated, they're burnt out, they're looking for other options. Not that I really want every physician to not take care of patients because we all need physicians. But anyway, if you have any advice and basically what you've learned over the years, including the last four or five years, what advice would you have for them if they're feeling kind of frustrated and not really good?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: Well, my advice is sort of simple. I think the first step is to just take one breath and because we've been holding our breath for at least 20 months. And I also like to share this quote that sometimes is attributed to Victor Frankel. Although I hear that his family says he didn't say it, I still love the quote. "Between stimulus and response, there is a space. And in that space, we have the power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

What I would suggest to people is to find a moment to pause, notice, and reflect and go into that space so you can uncover really the wisdom that you most likely already have, but just haven't had the time to connect with it. And whatever it is, whether it's creativity or other things, you will be energized and move forward by that. Maybe doctors like to have a 1, 2, 3 plan of what to do, but I think we just have to stop first and allow ourselves to find what we already know. So, one breath.

John: All right, good advice. Slow down, take a breath and pay attention. Excellent. Well, Barb, I think I've taken up enough of your day so far, but we've learned a lot. I'm going to put links to everything. I would definitely say that listeners, you should visit the website. www.mind2heal.com and go to Amazon and look for the book. Again, there'll be a link to that. At mind2heal.com there are several different things that people can learn and see about the book. I think you've got some video deals where you're talking about different things related to what we've discussed today. Does that sound good? Did I miss anything?

Dr. Barbara Loeb: No, that's perfect. I really appreciate the opportunity. And it's been a lot of fun being with you again. I haven't seen you in so long. I haven't talked to you in so long. Thank you so much for allowing me to share this with the listeners. Thank you.

John: It's been my pleasure.

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The post How the Healing Power of Poetry Saved My Life – 228 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Heidi Moawad, MD, is a neurologist and adjunct professor at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. She's worked in many facets of medicine, including clinical practice, healthcare utilization, medical writing, telemedicine, payment policy and undergraduate and medical education.

She's the author of the book Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine, and she's the host of a website for physicians that's devoted to non-clinical careers. She wrote the book and created the website to help doctors looking for instructions and information about the universe of healthcare jobs, entrepreneurial paths, and nonclinical work. The book provides detailed step-by-step instructions for doctors who are looking for information about nonclinical careers.

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Graduates have taken leadership positions at major healthcare organizations and have become entrepreneurs and business owners. If you want to acquire the business and management skills needed to advance your nonclinical career, contact Dr. Atchley’s office by calling (865) 974-6526 or going to vitalpe.net/physicianmba.

Birth of a Nonclinical Career Expert

Heidi Moawad was passionate about her work as a neurologist, and she loved what she did. But around 2003, she started becoming more and more frustrated with utilization review issues and other interference in her practice. In her frustration, she approached the company that was declining her requests to learn more about the UM process.

She began to provide reviews for the company, and ultimately turned that into a full-time nonclinical career, leaving clinical medicine. With the extra flexibility and free time she created, she followed her other passion – medical writing.

Colleagues began asking her to teach them how to make a similar transition. In response, she began doing extensive research, which led her to publish Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine through Oxford Press. She then created her website nonclinicaldoctors.com so she could continue to update career information and provide job listings for interested physicians. Between writing her book and creating her website, she truly is a nonclinical career expert.

Here are some of the highlights of our conversation:

• How Heidi handled her career transition, and what she learned along the way;
• What inspired her to translate what she learned into a book;
• How she published her book;
• Ways to gain freelance writing experience as a physician;
• The resources Heidi provides on nonclinicaldoctors.com; and,
• Her advice to doctors looking to make a career change.

Click here to download a TRANSCRIPT of today's interview

Summary

Heidi Moawad is a fantastic example of a physician nonclinical career expert generous enough to share her experience with us. Our conversation taught me about the different paths to medical writing, as well as the work involved in becoming an author.

She took some pretty bold steps early in her nonclinical career, transitioning from full-time neurologist to a job in utilization review in just 9 months. And once she recognized the enormous interest in nonclinical careers, she used her writing skills to begin yet another career. She became an author and website curator, identifying and presenting resources for physicians in career transition.

During our conversation, she taught us about how to become a writer. She described:

• which websites and print publications are a good fit for different kinds of work,
• when we should expect to get paid, and,
• how we can start leveraging our writing to build industry connections.

She gave us a fascinating insight into the world of publishing. And she encouraged us not to give up on our writing. She also provided key advice when interviewing: don’t show up without doing your research. Get to know the industry you’re looking at before you apply for a position. Then show up with plenty of background knowledge and educated questions to ask.

Click on the links below to order Heidi Moawad’s book, check out her website, and read some of the articles she’s written. If you have further questions for Heidi, you can reach out to her via the contact form on her website.

Resources

Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine Book

NonClinicalDoctors.com

Heidi Moawad's LinkedIn Profile

VeryWell Health articles

Medical Economics articles

MD Magazine articles

Sermo

Doximity

The University of Tennessee Physician Executive MBA Program

I want to sincerely thank the UT Physician Executive MBA program, again, for sponsoring the show. It’s an outstanding, highly rated, MBA program designed for working physicians. It might be just what you need to prepare for that joyful, well-paying career. You can find out more at vitalpe.net/physicianmba.

Thanks again for listening. I hope to see you next time on Physician NonClinical Careers.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, share it on Twitter and Facebook, and leave a review on iTunes.

Podcast Editing & Production Services are provided by Oscar Hamilton

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed here are mine and my guest’s. While the information provided on the podcast is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge, there is no express or implied guarantee that using the methods discussed here will lead to success in your career, life or business. 

The information presented on this blog and related podcast is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. It should not be construed as medical, legal, tax, or emotional advice. If you take action on the information provided on the blog or podcast, it is at your own risk. Always consult an attorney, accountant, career counsellor, or other professional before making any major decisions about your career. 

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher

The post How to Be an Author and Nonclinical Career Expert with Dr. Heidi Moawad – 063 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

• You can start by working part-time.
• There is a lot of flexibility.
• The demand for writers continues to grow.
• A large cash investment is not required to start.

Before we jump into today’s interview, I want to thank listeners who have rated and review this podcast. It really means a lot to me.

And for those who have NOT: Please take a minute to go to iTunes or your smartphone podcast app and leave a short review. It helps other physicians find us.

I hope you’ve had a chance to listen to last week’s show. It featured Michelle Mudge-Riley, and her newly updated Physicians Helping Physicians Membership site. Go to vitalpe.net/episode055 or vitalpe.net/itunes to listen.

Find Freedom as a Freelance Medical Writer

My guest today, Dr. Emma Nichols, addresses all the topics listed above in today’s interview.

She has a doctorate in molecular biology. And, she’s a seasoned medical communications professional. She specializes in continuing medical education and news writing. Her company, Nascent Medical, provides expert medical writing services using a team of experienced MD- and PhD-level writers.

As she was building her company, she needed to vet and train capable writers. That led to developing a course to train freelance medical writers about the business. Dozens of physicians have launched their own writing careers based on Dr. Nichols' training.

I’ve personally spoken with several writers who have recommended her course. So, I thought she’d be an excellent guest for the podcast.

If you’ve considered a career in medical writing, Emma provided some great advice.

She described the benefits of a career as a freelance medical writer. And she outlined the personality traits that best fit such a career.

She suggested that writers start out by writing part-time to see how well they like it.

Click here to download the TRANSCRIPT

Other Resources

Emma mentioned the American Medical Writers Association (aka “AMWA”). It's a good resource for physicians considering a writing career. It’s next big annual meeting – the 2018 Medical Writing & Communication Conference – is being held in Washington, DC, from November 1st through the 3rd.

She also suggested looking at the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society if you're interested in technical writing.

Finally, she also told us about a free webinar she’s hosting. It's called “Freelance Medical Writing — A Lucrative Work-From-Home Career Choice.”

You can join the webinar on Thursday, October 25th, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. It’s a very good way to learn how to become a freelance medical writer. She’ll be going into more details about some of the topics we covered today. And she'll discuss potential salary expectations. To sign up for the webinar, go to 6weekcourse.com.

If you'd like another perspective on medical writing, you should also listen to my interview with Mandy Armitage in Episode #22.

Thanks again for listening. I hope to see you next time on Physician NonClinical Careers.

As always, I welcome your comments and feedback.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, share it on Twitter and Facebook, and leave a review on iTunes.

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed here are mine and my guest’s. While the information provided on the podcast is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge, there is no express or implied guarantee that using the methods discussed here will lead to success in your career, life or business. 

The information presented on this blog and related podcast is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. It should not be construed as medical, legal, tax, emotional or other types of advice. Always consult an attorney, accountant, career counsellor, or other professional before making any major decisions about your career. 

If you take action on any information provided on the blog or podcast, it is at your own risk. Always consult a professional, e.g., attorney, accountant, career counsellor, etc., before making any major decisions related to the subject matter of the blog and podcast.

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The easiest ways to listen:  vitalpe.net/itunes or vitalpe.net/stitcher

The post How to Find Freedom as a Freelance Medical Writer with Dr. Emma Nichols – 056 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Updates

I’m collaborating with other physician entrepreneurs in a variety of ways that I’ll be talking about in future podcast episodes. So, I recently completed a guest post for Look for Zebras. The creator of that blog, Sylvie Stacy, was featured in Episode #44.

My article is called How to Expedite Your Search for a Nonclinical Career. In it, I list 5 methods you can use to accelerate your transition that involve creating a plan, building accountability, and using expert advice.

I’m working on a course and an eBook. And I’m coming up on podcast episode number 50 next week. Also, I’ve created a new bonus for subscribers. It’s a free 29-page guide called How to Land Three Popular Hospital Management Jobs, and it can be downloaded for free by going to vitalpe.net/hospitaljobs

What Is a Platform?

I’ve become very interested in interviewing physicians who have created a successful platform. But, what is a platform? Let me quote Michael Hyatt’s book, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World*, to answer that question.

“Very simply, a platform is the thing you have to stand on to be heard. It’s your stage. But unlike a stage in a theater, today’s platform is not built of wood or concrete or perched on a grassy hill. Today’s platform is built of people. Contacts. Connections. Followers.

“Your platform is the means by which you connect with your existing and potential fans. It might include your company website, a blog, your Twitter and Facebook accounts, an online video show, or a podcast… your personal appearances as a public speaker, musician or entertainer. It might even include traditional media such as a newspaper column, magazine articles, or radio show.”

You’ll recall that Tom Davis, my guest in Episode 47, built a very nice platform. He created a beautiful website, and he blogs daily. He presents online videos and is in the process of publishing 5 books.

Enter Dr. David Geier

David Geier is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist providing education and commentary on sports and exercise injuries. And he has incorporated many of the methods listed in Michael Hyatt’s book.

He delivers keynote presentations and workshops to business and healthcare organizations. He writes a regular sports medicine column for the daily Charleston newspaper, The Post and Courier. It’s one of the most-read columns in the newspaper.

His book, That’s Gotta Hurt: The Injuries That Changed Sports Forever*, was published in June 2017 and is available in bookstores everywhere. He’s done well over 1,000 interviews about sports and exercise injuries for television, radio, magazine, newspaper and online media. Some of the publications in which his interviews have appeared include USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CNN, FOX News, ABC News, Huffington Post, US News & World Report, Forbes, Business Week, Health, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Journal, and many more.

He’s been a busy man.

He created a fantastic speaking and writing career, and posted well over 300 podcast episodes. He continues to practice orthopedic sports medicine full-time. And his practice has really benefited from his platform. He has developed a loyal following of patients, readers and listeners.

During our interview, David explains how he built this platform, and created the authority that enables him to speak, publish and maintain his media presence. Let’s get to it.

What Did I Learn

David’s passion and excitement really came through during our conversation. He’s a definite trailblazer when it comes to using social media, blogging, podcasting and video to promote his brand.

He provided many pearls, including:

• how he got his start with social media,
• how he built his practice focusing on local search engine optimization (SEO),
• why he switched from a local to a national SEO approach,
• why and how you should start your platform,
• how to get into public speaking and become a media personality,
• using a literary agent to publish a book,
• how he repurposes free content to sell it to his tribe, and,
• why he believes that online education for patients will be in high demand for years.

Follow His Lead

Anyone thinking about developing a platform to support a clinical career, or to use the same methods to create an online, location-independent business will benefit from this week's conversation with David Geier.

Click here to download the Transcript.

Links for Today's Episode:

• Dr. David Geier's Web Site
• David Geier's Book That's Gotta Hurt: The Injuries That Changed Sports Forever

Next week, I’ll present the first interview in a 2-part series about a career as a Medical Science Liaison. It’s my first foray into the world of pharma-related careers. So, don’t miss it.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on the Apple Podcast App.

If you liked today’s episode, please tell your friends about it and SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

And, join me next week for another episode of Physician Nonclinical Careers.

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed herein are those of me and my guest, where applicable. While the information published in written form and in audio form on the podcast are true and accurate, to the best of my knowledge, there is no express or implied guarantee that using the methods discussed herein will lead to success in your career, life or business.

The opinions are my own, and my guest's, and not those of any organizations that I'm a member of, or affiliated with. The information presented on this blog and related podcast is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. They should not be construed as advice, such a medical, legal, tax, emotional or other types of advice.

If you take action on any information provided on the blog or podcast, it is at your own risk. Always consult a professional, e.g., attorney, accountant, career counsellor, etc., before making any major decisions related to the subject matter of the blog and podcast.

[*This is an affiliate link – I receive a small commission if you purchase the book.]

The post How to Build a Platform and Create Authority with Dr. David Geier – 049 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Before we get to today’s interview, I want to remind you about the new edition of my weekly newsletter. Once a week, I write about my efforts to convert my blogging and podcasting hobby into a business.

I’m calling this series of newsletters Creating My Online Business. I just released my second issue this past Saturday. In it, I shared my advice about starting your business and selecting a niche. I will release the next issue this coming Saturday.

To follow me on this journey, you’ll need to sign up for my newsletter by going to vitalpe.net/newsletter. There’s no cost to learn what I’m doing. And I promise to share all of the good and bad of trying to create this new business. If you want me to send you the first two issues, email me by replying to the newsletter.

Dr. Sue Zimmermann Achieves Balance in Her Work

Sue Zimmermann graduated from Medical School at Brown University, then pursued her orthopedic training at New England Medical Center. Then, she practiced orthopedic surgery at Dartmouth Hitchcock Health system in Nashua, New Hampshire for 24 years.

Photo by Erik Witsoe on Unsplash

She began to think about retiring, but with the idea of slowing down and entering a nonclincal career. So, she searched for a career coach, ultimately working with physician career coach, Dr. Heather Fork. Listeners will recall that I interviewed Heather in Episode 18 of this podcast.

In the interview, Sue describes how she was preparing for her transition, when she suddenly lost her position at the hospital where she worked. Fortunately, her planning paid off. She was ready to make the shift. And she networked with colleagues, identifying several opportunities that fit her gaols.

As a result, she is now working in an outpatient orthopedic clinic, teaching and writing. Her quality of life is excellent. And her income is meeting her needs for this stage in her life. She has achieved real balance in her professional life.

  Click here to download a TRANSCRIPT of this interview with Dr. Sue Zimmermann

Resources for Today's Episode

During the interview, we discuss the following resources:

• Drop Out Club for job postings
• PANCE (Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam)
• PANRE (Physician Assistant National Recertifying Exam)
• Association of Women Surgeons
• List of ARC-PA Accredited Physician Assistant Schools
• NetCE, a medical education company that needs physician authors on a per manuscript basis
• Sarah Campbell at NetCE can be contacted using this email address development@netce.com

Coming Up

Next week, I present my conversation with a very successful orthopedic sports medicine specialist, Dr. David Geier. He has created a fantastic online platform that helps educate patients, and promote his books, media exposure, and speaking engagements. I know you'll thoroughly enjoy next week’s episode.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on the Apple Podcast App.

If you liked today’s episode, please tell your friends about it and SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

And, join me next week for another episode of Physician Nonclinical Careers.

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed herein are those of me and my guest, where applicable. While the information published in written form and in audio form on the podcast are true and accurate, to the best of my knowledge, there is no express or implied guarantee that using the methods discussed herein will lead to success in your career, life or business.

The opinions are my own, and my guest's, and not those of any organizations that I'm a member of, or affiliated with. The information presented on this blog and related podcast is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. They should not be construed as advice, such a medical, legal, tax, emotional or other types of advice.

If you take action on any information provided on the blog or podcast, it is at your own risk. Always consult a professional, e.g., attorney, accountant, career counsellor, etc., before making any major decisions related to the subject matter of the blog and podcast.

The post How to Balance Clinical and Nonclinical Work with Dr. Sue Zimmermann – 048 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Tom describes his transformation, and shares the lessons he's learned in the process.

Before we get to today’s interview, I want to remind you about the new edition of my weekly newsletter. Once a week, I write about my efforts to convert my blogging and podcasting hobby into a business.

I’m calling this series of newsletters Creating My Online Business. I just released my second issue this past Saturday. In it, I shared my advice about starting your business and selecting a niche. I will release the next issue this coming Saturday.

To follow me on this journey, you’ll need to sign up for my newsletter by going to vitalpe.net/newsletter. There’s no cost to learn what I’m doing. And I promise to share all of the good and bad of trying to create this new business. If you want me to send you the first two issues, email me by replying to the newsletter.

OK, let’s get to today’s interview.

Enter Dr. Tom Davis, the Online Authority

Dr. Tom Davis is a freelancer based in St. Louis, Missouri. A board-certified family physician, he joined a three-doctor single-specialty group right out of residency. He practiced in the same small town in rural Missouri for twenty years.

Using one of the first total-risk Medicare Advantage plans in the country, he grew his practice over 16 years into a regional health system. Then he merged with a competitor in 2012 for $130,000,000.

He discovered that he and corporate medicine were not a good fit. So, he quit to become a freelancer and author. He now advises physicians and groups on how to succeed under Medicare Advantage. In the process, he has developed his online authority.

He also serves as an expert witness on medical malpractice and healthcare fraud. He mentors young clinicians on their contract negotiations and transition into employment. And he has written two books. The most recent, Telemedicine Confidential – Keeping Your Family Safe, will be released on September 1st, 2018.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

I strongly recommend you listen to the entire interview. The insights were awesome and kept on coming. We talked about developing a new career, writing and publishing a book, creating an online presence, and much more.

Using Telemedicine as a Bridge Job

Near the end of our conversation, he provided valuable advice about where telemedicine is going. And he described how you can use it as a bridge between your clinical and nonclinical careers.

I was blown away by all the gems that Tom laid on us.

Here are some of the topics we discussed during the podcast:

1. How he created his website and his online authority..
2. His philosophy about providing free value, in the form of his newsletter, daily blog an other resources, for his customers.
3. How to use consultants and freelancers, such as those on Upwork.
4. The concept of 100 True Fans as written about by Kevin Kelly.
5. The upcoming release of his new book Telemedicine Confidential: Keeping Your Family Safe.
6. How he used a writing coach and whether you should, too.
7. How to address a writer's most common challenge, and the fallacy of writer's block.
8. Captain Jack Sparrow and Yoda provide sage advice.
9. Tom's next three books are in the pipeline.
10. How Tom plan's to use a literary agent and traditional publisher for his fifth book, Medicare Advantage Confidential.
11. His thoughts about using telemedicine as a bridge from your clinical to nonclinical career.

Tom covered so many topics. His inspiration and actionable advice were amazing. You really must listen to the entire episode; perhaps more than once!

I’m also offering  a transcript of the episode. To get that,  Click here to download a TRANSCRIPT.

Resources for Today's Episode

[table id=27 /]

Coming Up

Next week I’ll be presenting a conversation with an orthopedic surgeon who has created a balance between her clinical activities and two side-gigs. I know you’ll find her story very interesting.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast on the Apple Podcast App.

If you liked today’s episode, please tell your friends about it and SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

And join me next week for another episode of Physician Nonclinical Careers.

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

Disclaimer:

The opinions expressed herein are those of me and my guest, where applicable. While the information published in written form and in audio form on the podcast are true and accurate, to the best of my knowledge, there is no express or implied guarantee that using the methods discussed herein will lead to success in your career, life or business.

The opinions are my own, and my guest's, and not those of any organizations that I'm a member of, or affiliated with. The information presented on this blog and related podcast is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only. They should not be construed as advice, such a medical, legal, tax, emotional or other types of advice.

If you take action on any information provided on the blog or podcast, it is at your own risk. Always consult a professional, e.g., attorney, accountant, career counsellor, etc., before making any major decisions related to the subject matter of the blog and podcast.

[*This is an affiliate link. I make a small commission if you buy, but your price is unchanged.]

The post How to Become an Author, Consultant and Online Authority with Dr. Tom Davis – 047 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

After working clinically, she transitioned to working full-time in medical writing. She has experience as a freelancer and a full-time employed writer. She currently serves as a Medical Director for HealthLoop and continues freelance medical writing at Armitage Medical.

I've been interested in writing myself. It's one of  the reasons I started this blog. But Mandy is very serious about writing and describes what she did to make this her full-time career.

Mandy is also passionate about helping others to pursue a career in medical writing. During our conversation, she describes her transition from practicing physician to full-time writer, including resources that she used to develop her writing skills. She also defines the various categories of medical writing.

Here is some of her advice for transitioning to a writing career:

• Join the American Medical Writers Association;
• Enroll in a writing course;
• Identify and engage a writing mentor; and
• Use LinkedIn to advance your writing career.

She goes into some detail about each of these resources.

Although we did not spend much time discussing her freelance activities, Mandy still provides writing services through her own company, Armitage Medical. Some of the content she produces includes abstracts, CME and CE materials, treatment guidelines, journal articles, literature reviews, news stories and feature articles.

As mentioned in the podcast, I am still promoting a fantastic online course produced by the White Coat Investor, Dr. James Dahle, called Fire Your Financial Advisor. It is the best and most affordable way for high-income professionals to learn about reducing student loan debt; creating budgets and financial plans; selecting the right disability, life and housing insurance; investing for retirement; asset protection; the right way to approach housing; creating an investment portfolio; estate planning and much more. To learn more and to purchase with a money-back guarantee, go to vitalpe.net/money.

In Closing

You can contact Mandy Armitage using her contact form at Armitage Medical. You can also reach her on LinkedIn.

Let’s end today’s episode with this quote:

Next Time

In my next podcast episode, I'll present a conversation with a physician who transitioned out of medicine because of an injury. Although she loved her chosen career, she could no longer practice her specialty because of it. She tells us how she came to grips with that, and leveraged her experiences to create a new career as a physician advocate.

Be sure to subscribe to my newsletter so you don't miss it, using the form below.

[embed_popupally_pro popup_id=”3″]

Here is a list of resources mentioned in this episode:

[table id=19 /]

If you liked today’s episode please tell your friends about it and SHARE it on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Right click here and “Save As” to download this podcast episode to your computer.

The post How to Become a Medical Writer with Dr. Mandy Armitage – 022 appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.

Some years ago, a young African-American came to the realization that the key to escaping the poverty and hopelessness into which he had been born was to escape from illiteracy. Hence, he devoted much of his youth to educating himself. He not only learned to read, but to speak and write passionately and eloquently.

After moving from his birthplace in Maryland as a young man, he began to write about his experiences and found a following for his writings. Eventually, he published a book describing his life as a young black man in the U.S. Those writings and his speeches inspired thousands of persons who read them to join the movement that he had committed himself to.

His book, written and published at the age of 27, described in detail his life under, and escape from, slavery. It was published 16 years before the start of the U.S. Civil War, and made a meaningful contribution to the abolitionist movement that eventually ended slavery. That author was Frederick Douglass.

Great writing can have profound effects. It is an essential skill of any leader. Verbal communication is important. But writing serves as the basis for most important forms of lasting communication, even if the message is delivered in a speech. Whether writing a scientific presentation, book, white paper, or newsletter to our colleagues, it is a fundamental skill that must be learned.

When I think about improving my writing skills, I tend to think about writing from two standpoints:

• How to improve the process of writing, i.e., how can I make my writing more effortless and productive?, and
• How to improve the quality of writing, i.e., how do I create a message that is more engaging and persuasive?

I have found that blogging has enhanced both aspects of my writing. I am no expert, nor am I the next Twain or Hemingway. But I have spent hours studying the process of writing. And through blogging, I've experienced a crash course in creating content.

I have written in excess of 100,000 words in the past nine months. During that time, I have learned some things about writing more productively and efficiently that I think that other physician executives might find useful.

For this post, I am going to focus on the first aspect of writing skills: the methods I use to write in the most efficient way possible. Attmepts I've made to improve the quality and persuasiveness will be presented in a future blog post.

How I Used To Write

When I was preparing a presentation for the board, a lecture for the medical residents, or writing a paper to present to my medical staff colleagues, I usually wrote using the following approach:

1. Select the topic,
2. Decide on the three or four most important points I wanted to make,
3. Begin with a short introduction,
4. Write the body of the text, being careful to correct my grammar and spelling as I went along,
5. Write the conclusion, emphasizing the major points,
6. Create the title of the paper, based on what I had written, and
7. Go back over everything once or twice to clean it up.

This approach works, but it can be very inefficient. As a hospital executive, it might work out if you are only preparing one or two major presentations a month, and only occasionally writing articles in excess of 1500 words.

Unless your writing produces one complete coherent message (which I have never been able to do) it is unlikely that creating these documents would take less than three to four hours each, especially if they need to be converted to a slide deck for presentation to a medical staff or executive team.

Creating something like this twice a week will chew up a good day or two, especially if substantial research and inclusion of references are needed.

My New Keys To Writing Quickly

These are the methods I have learned and adopted over the past year. I found them useful in focusing my efforts to create content that is of equal quality to prior efforts, but in less time.

1. Create Writing Rituals

I was taught the concept of “state learning” when I was in college. This is a phenomenon in which memory retrieval is best when the learner is in the same state of consciousness as when the memory was formed. A similar process occurs when creating. Without getting into a long discussion about deep work or achieving a state of flow, suffice it to say that we each write best under certain conditions.

For me, it is early in the morning when I'm able to concentrate and unlikely to be distracted. I've already consumed at least a half cup of fresh coffee. And I have disconnected from phone calls, social media and email. Other rituals are described in this piece by Kathleen O'Shaughnessy. This may be the most important of my keys to writing quickly and clearly.

2. Start With a Descriptive and Compelling Title

As noted above, I used to believe that it was easier to brainstorm my content, write out the majority of the material, and then use what I created to help develop a title that was pertinent and descriptive. Over time, however, I have come to believe that by spending my time on the title first, based on the purpose of the article, it will drive the rest of the writing process. It forces me to be sure that my content truly delivers on the promise of the title.

Besides describing the point of the article or presentation, I try to create a title that will pull the reader in. It should be compelling and inviting. For this site, I think some of my titles might sound a little clichéd, but it is usually clear what I'm writing about.

3. Use the “Brain Dump” (or “Vomit”) Method

I've come to use a method recommended by other authors in which I write very quickly, without any censorship, dumping as much content on the page about the subject as possible. The idea is not to worry about syntax or spelling, poor construction or even vulgarities in this first iteration.  Just get the ideas down.

I have learned to ignore the spell checker. Some writers turn it off for this part of the process. I try to capture every related thought or idea about the topic, regardless of how peripheral it may seem initially.

And I don't want to be side tracked by any editing as I go. Editing comes later.

4. Use Google Docs for the First Draft

I use Google Docs because it has the best spell checker, hands down. I have noticed that some spell checkers are good, some are terrible, and Google Docs is awesome.

For example, although I would never write an article using email, I've noticed that the spell checker in AOL is awful. Because my typing is so crappy when I'm in a hurry, I often spell “the” as “teh” and “would” as woudl.” The spell checker in AOL never catches those mistakes.

Microsoft Word is pretty good, but its list of proper spelling suggestions often places my intended spelling in the middle of its list. The same can be said for the spell checking in my WordPress text editor. So, I must take the time to select the correctly spelled word most of the time, before moving to the next one.

However, Google Docs catches every misspelled word, and it somehow places the correctly spelled word at the top of its list every time. So, I just accept every suggestion and can correct an entire 1500 word document with dozens of mistakes in less than 10 to 15 seconds. I then copy and paste that draft into WordPress for the final editing if I'm writing a blog post.

One more advantage of Google Docs is that it automatically stores every document in the “cloud.” So, I don't have to send it to DropBox or Evernote to keep it accessible. This is great for me because I use three different computers to write (depending on if I'm at home, at work or traveling), one of which is a MacBook! I can access Google Docs on any of them flawlessly.

5. Use a Template

I learned this from Michael Hyatt. He uses different templates for all kinds of documents. For blogging, I have created a template that reminds me of the overall structure of the article. It can be changed, if necessary, but it eliminates the need to recreate the structure each time. If you write regular updates or board reports, using a template will maintain consistency and speed up the process.

The template I use for a blog post generally follows this structure:

• Title
• Personal experience or story
• Introductory paragraph
• Photo
• Body
• Photo/Quote/Table or Graph
• Summary/Conclusion
• Call to Action

This helps keep me on track. Also, if I get stuck on one part, I will work on another for a while, then jump back and finish the previous section later. I use a different template for different types of articles (e.g., a journal submission versus a blog post).

6. Do Research After the First Draft

This just sounds wrong! And it's true that for a scientific paper, I better have my facts organized and referenced, because the purpose is to present those findings to support a thesis.

But for white papers, guest posts, and non-peer-reviewed journals, the number of footnotes or annotated references is small. And the research is often used to support only a handful of statements. I don't know I'm going to include most of those statements until after the brain dump is completed.

If I do extensive research before I write, then I spend time chasing down some arcane fact that I end up not using in the article anyway. I can waste hours running down these rabbit holes.

For me, it's better to get a first draft on paper, then track down the references for the one or two statements that need support and include footnotes or links as needed. Often times, I may already have the reference stored in Evernote, since I use that to collect information proactively to help stimulate ideas for my writing.

For example, when I started this post, I had no inkling I was going to mention deep work and flow under: 1. Create Writing Rituals. But there they are, so I looked up the links to those terms after the completion of the first draft.

7. Set It Aside, Then Edit

Once I'm satisfied with the first draft, I really like to step away from the copy for several hours, or a full day if possible. I think I make better decisions about paragraph placement, eliminating clichés, and assessing section headings if I am looking at the content with fresh eyes. What seems like a logical statement sometimes reads awkwardly after taking a significant break. And remaining misspellings and missing words jump out much easier.

And I edit ruthlessly. I cut, shave, shorten and reorder until it sounds the way I want it to. I sometimes eliminate 30% or more of the original material in this step.

8. Read the Article Out Loud

It would be nice to have the material reviewed by an editor. But because I'm focusing on productivity and speed, this is not an option in most cases. Reading the content out loud is one more way to pick up poor sentence structure or phrases and paragraphs that sound awkward or confusing.

9. Write More

The final key that I've come to realize is that writing more helps me write better and faster. Nothing works like practice!

Wrapping Up

There may be additional little tricks that I've forgotten. But if you adopt some of these nine suggestions, you will certainly improve the speed and quality of your writing. And you could start writing a blog to practice these techniques and enjoy the other benefits of blogging that I described in a previous post.

Next Steps

Please tell me about any writing hacks that you have discovered and applied. My readers and I can always use more hints to help us improve our writing.

In a future post, I will provide some ideas about writing that is more compelling and inspiring.

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Email me: john.jurica.md@gmail.com

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The post Blogging Has Taught Me 9 Keys To Writing Quickly And Clearly appeared first on NonClinical Physicians.