Journalism
I started my freelance career writing for MIMS Magazine and over the years I've contributed to GP, Doctor, Hospital Doctor (and some other titles that are no longer with us). For several years I had a regular column in Chemist and Druggist and for a while I even had a 100-word column about minor ailments for Best magazine.
Prescriber news
Prescriber is a twice-monthly peer-reviewed journal for health professionals with a special interest in prescribing and medicines management. I write the news stories that front every issue, focusing on factual analysis and interpretation of clinical developments. I identify potential stories from current awareness services, research them, and write a spin-free and readable summary of the key findings so that readers can decide what they think for themselves.
You can find examples of Prescriber news stories at www.escriber.com.
Prescriber features
Every issue of Prescriber includes several 800 - 1200-word features. I write analytical pieces that make prescribing issues, official reports, Government papers and prescribing statistics more accessible. One example is the Kennedy Report on appraising innovation in medicines, which called for closer relationships between the NHS, NICE and the pharmaceutical industry and presaged the Government's 2010/11 reforms. Other recent features include an explanation of NICE quality standards before the first was published; a review of the Richards report , on which the Government based its plans to improve access to medicines; and a review of the NHS over the past 20 years.
New Product Reviews
These days we don't get as many new drugs as we used to but what we do get can be highly technical, potentially costly and supported by reams of clinical papers. It helps GPs if they can get a handle on the key data, which is what we do with Prescriber new product appraisals. I summarise the drug's pharmacology and indications, and the evidence of efficacy and safety from the pivotal clinical trials. A senior clinician puts the data into perspective. Products we've recently covered include eslicarbazepine, intranasal fentanyl and ranolazine.