What and When
Penn State Health Physician Writers Group is a workshop for clinicians who are interested in creative writing for publication in professional medical journals. Humanities professor, Kimberly Myers, PhD who holds a doctorate in literature, hosts the PWG.
Each PWG cohort meets once a week for five weeks during the fall and spring semesters. Participants collectively decide the day and time of meetings, which last two hours.
Process
During each meeting, participants learn the conventions—and discuss a few examples—of a particular genre (e.g., personal reflection essay, imagist poem, haiku, free verse poem,micro-fiction). Participants then write an original work of that genre and send it to their colleagues, who read and reflect on it before the following meeting. The subsequent gathering is a workshop in which participants discuss each person’s writing in terms of content and form. Authors revise their work based on this collective critique and then submit it for publication.
Impact
Original work by the Penn State Health Physician Writers Group has been featured in New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine, Academic Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Medical Humanities, and other general and specialty medical publications. Their work has also been featured on television, radio and the Internet as part of the WITF public television / public radio series “Facing Cancer Together” and has been covered by the Harrisburg Patriot-News. By invitation, the PWG gives public readings at universities, professional conferences, and grand rounds.
How to Join
Please contact Dr. Kimberly Myers for information on the next Physician Writers Group cycle.
Email: kmyers2@pennstatehealth.psu.edu
Patriot News Article: Prescription For Expression