The ability to understand and digest new information quickly is one of a medical writer’s key skills. A question that often comes up at interviews is ‘How do you get up to speed on new therapy areas?’

It turns out, there’s a skill to ‘background reading’ to ensure you find out the right information for your new project.

Apply perspective

While you may be interested in every detail of this new disease, there may not be time to immerse yourself if time is limited by a looming deadline. Focus your search by asking what your client is likely to be interested in. Focus on the disease, how it is treated and the major treatment classes available. What are the unmet needs, and which healthcare professionals manage patients? With more time, you could delve deeper into your client’s clinical trials in this indication.

Focus on the latest thinking

Medical knowledge develops over time, so it’s essential you read the most up-to-date literature about your therapy area of interest. Forget the dusty text books and find some recent review papers from PubMed – try to find those published in reputable journals. The most recent treatment disease management guidelines incorporate the latest drug approvals and trial data.

Read beyond the heavy science

It can be overwhelming if your first experience of a new therapy area is very detailed. You may benefit from first taking a wider perspective. Patient websites provide basic but highly accessible introductions to a disease or condition, explaining clearly how it affects patients and what types of treatments are available.

Learn from different sources

There’s only so much one can learn from reading review papers. Switch it up by searching up alternative ways of learning, such as YouTube videos by experts or congress presentation recordings.