DESCRIPTION:     

This course will allow students to understand and practice the skill of writing Opinion Editorials aimed at improving the public’s understanding of health and healthcare. Students will learn how to effectively engage a broad, non-medical audience through their writing, with the goal of producing an Opinion Editorial piece that could be submitted for publication to a local or national newspaper. 

This course will meet 2 times per week for 2.5 hours/session. The first four sessions of the course will be conducted in a seminar-style with a focus on discussion of the assigned readings. There will also be a brief time (10-15 minutes) allotted for writing. The second four sessions of the course will be conducted in a workshop format for the purposes of editing and receiving feedback on the students' editorial pieces. During the workshop students will share their work and receive constructive critical feedback from the instructor and their peers.

Outside of class, students will be responsible for critically reading all course material (approximately 10-15 hours per week), preparing one presentation (approximately 5 hours during the week they are assigned), completing writing assignments and discussion posts (approximately 15 hours per week), and meeting with a class partner to discuss each other’s work (approximately 3-5 hours per week).

OBJECTIVES:  By the end of this course, students will:

• Describe what an Op-Ed is and how this format can be a valuable tool for a physician to engage the general public with issues in healthcare (ICS01)
• Critically read and discuss published Opinion Editorials, mining the work for tools that can be used in their own piece of persuasive writing (PBL01)
• Gain experience writing, editing, and providing and receiving feedback on an Op-Ed piece  (PR01, PR02, SPB01, SBP02)
• Pursue publication of an original Op-Ed piece that serves to educate a public or medical audience. The rotation director will be available outside of the   duration of the elective if needed to mentor individuals on the logistics of publishing (ICS01)

Faculty:  Brittany Bettendorf, MD
Max Enrollment: 12
Offered: 
    SP22 - 2/12/24-3/8/24 
Length of Elective: 4 weeks
Administrative Contact: Kathleen Steenlage
Report To:
Special Conditions: Grading is PASS/FAIL only.