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MohammadSamy
PavelZemliansky
ENC1102H
04/11/16
WritingChangesintheMedicalProfessionOverTime
Introduction:
Thefocusofmyresearchwillbetoanswerthequestionofhowaperson'swriting
changesastheyspendmoretimeinthefieldofmedicine,aswellaswhytheybelievetheymade
certainchangestotheirwriting.Specifically,whatweretheirpersonalreasoningsbehind
favouringacertainwayofwriting,andwhytheythinktheyweretaughtacertainwayfromthe
beginning.Myresearchquestionishowdoeswritinginthemedicalfieldchangeinresponseto
timeandexperience?Thisisanimportantconcepttounderstandandanswerbecausemuchof
theadvancementofmedicineismadethroughbuildinguponpastknowledge,andthestylesof
writingmayhavechangeddependingonwhatwasthoughtofasimportantatthetime,aswellas
thecountryoforiginofthewriter.Thisresearchwillshowwhatchangesarepresent,aswellas
thepossibleeffectthattheycreatewithinthemedicalcommunity.
Methods:
Inregardstomymethodsforcollectingdata,IusedsomeobservationsIobtainedby
lookingatthewritingsmadebydoctorsthatarerecordedandwouldbeconsideredmeasurable
events(154)accordingtoDriscoll.Theseincludenoticingthebehavioursoftheintervieweeas
wellasanalyzinghowtheyhaverespondedtothecourseoftheircareersofar.However,this
willonlyaccountforapartofmydata,asmostofmyresearchpaperreliesheavilyupon

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interviewsthatIhavelead,mainlyoneonone.ThisiswhereIgatheralargeamountofpersonal
experienceaswellasinsightintothechangesthatmembersofthefieldhavemadeintheir
writing.AsmentionedinDriscollsarticle,interviewsareusefulforlearningspecific
informationfromindividualsaswellasgettingexperiencedopinions(163).Thiswasamongthe
mainreasoningforchoosinginterviewsoversurveysinmyresearch.AsfarashowIgainaccess
tothisinformation,Iplannedaccordingly.IpersonallyknowprofessionalsinthefieldwhoIam
abletoaskfortheirtimeinordertoconducttheinterview,andtheseindividualshaveavast
amountofexperienceamongthem.Ialsointerviewedsomeonewhoisabouttoenterthemedical
field,soIwasabletogaugewhattheircurrentviewofwritingisasanewermember,and
comparetowhatelseissaid.WhileIamgatheringmydatathroughtheseresearchmethods,I
alsoaskedmyintervieweestojustifyandexplainthestepstheyundertakewhilewriting,inorder
tounderstandmoreoftheintentandpurposebehindeachpiece.Thecodingthathasbeendone
onthecontentoftheinterviewhassetupthedatainsuchawayastoanswermyresearch
question.Thecategoriesdisplaywhatmyintervieweedeemedimportantintheirwriting,andthe
labelsworktoshowthespreadeffectseenonwriting.
Results:
TheresultsthatIhavefoundfromtheinterviewareasfollow.Theintervieweestated
multiplechangesthattheyhadwitnessedintermsofthewritingaspectofthemedicalprofession.
Chiefamongthesewerethefactthatmostwritingisnowdoneoncomputersandcaneasilybe
copyandpasted,andthefactthattherehasbeenachangeintheMedicaresystem,whichthey
believetendstopromotepractitionerstoproducemorewritingwhilenotincreasingthequalityor
effectivenessofthewriting.Additionally,myintervieweehadexperienceoflearningtowritefor

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theprofessioninbothaforeigncountryaswellashereinAmerica.Intheiropinion,muchofthe
writingthroughouttheworldisveryuniform,duetoamultitudeoffactorsincludingthemajority
ofmedicalwritingbooksbeingpublishedinthewesternworld.Lastly,theyalsomadenotethat
inregardstoaudience,theprofessionalsdotreattheirpapersakintolegaldocuments,astrouble
canbecausedintheformoflawsuitsiftheydonotfollowtheircode.
Ialsoreceivedasimilarviewfrommyinterviewwithastudentwhowouldsoonbe
enteringmedicalschool.Hedescribedhisstyleofwritingnotsomethingverymuchfocused
upon,howeverhewroteinwaysthatwereexpectedbyhisprofessors.Beingrelativelynewto
thefield,hedidnothaveenoughexperiencetorecognizeanypossiblechanges,howeverhe
commentedonthefactthathewastaughttobeveryspecificinhiswritingandclear,inorderto
avoidanymisinterpretationsamongthemedicalstafforlegaltroublesinthefuture.My
intervieweealsostatedthattheyhadanideaofsomechangesthattheywouldmakeintheir
writingoncetheywereinthefield.Thereasoningforthesechangeswasthattheyfoundsomeof
thewritingsospecificthatitwaswasteful.Asheexplainedit,heknowsthathemightnot
understandthereasonsrightnow,butfromhisperspectivethereisadecentamountofworkthat
isnotnecessarytofocusonforthepatientinthenotes.Theystatedthattheyareawareofthe
Medicaresystemschanges,howevertheybelievethatthedutyofamedicalprofessionalshould
beofahigherorder.
Discussion:
MuchoftheinformationthatIhaverecievedfrommyinterviewwithaprofessionalof
themedicalfieldhashelpedmetoanswermyresearchquestion.Ihavelearnedthatchangesin
writingaretakingplacethathasleadtosomedoctorsprioritizingquantityoverqualityintheir

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writing,inorderforagreatergain.Thisalsogivesinsightintoashiftinthepurposeofthe
writingthataprofessionalstartswithinmind.Ihavealsolearnedthatmuchofthemedical
knowledgeisaccessibleinalinearway,withmostbooksbeingsourcedfromthewesternworld,
thereislittlechanceforvariationamongtheteachingsofmedicalwriting.Additionally,thereare
varyinggenresofmedicalwritingthatIalsolearnedofthroughtheinterview,acrossseveral
mediumssuchaselectronicpapers,emails,aswellasthepreviouslyestablishedwrittennotes.
AsexplainedinGrantDaviesarticle"Rhetoricalsituationsandtheirconstituents",therearealso
constraintspresentsuchasthepossibilityofaprofessionalswritingbeingusedaslegalevidence
inthefuture.
Myinterviewwithastudententeringtheprofessionalsoallowedmetogainabasicgrasp
ofwhatthecurrentthoughtwasofsomeonewhohadrelativelylittleexperienceinthefield.
WiththisIwasabletocomparemyresultsandunderstandwhatisbeingfocusedonmore
currently.Frommyinterview,theunderstandingisthatwritingiscurrentlytaughttobefocused
onbeingascorrectaspossible.Thismostlikelyoccursbecausethosestillinschoolingare
writingforagradeandthereforeneedtomeetwhateverqualificationsaresetbytheprofessor
andschool.Therewasnotalotoffocusupontheamountofwritingthatastudentcouldcreate,
aswasseeninthosewhohavealargeramountofexperienceinthefield.Thispurposeofwriting
issomethingthatmustchangesomehowfromthebeginningofacareerthroughtheexperience
gained.UnfortunatelyIdidnothavetheopportunitytointerviewanindividualthatmighthave
thistransitionalexperience.

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Conclusion:
ThereasonIhadchosetodothisstudywastofigureoutwhatchanges,ifany,occurin
anindividualswritingastheygainexperienceinthemedicalfield,andwhatarethereasonings
behindthem.Answeringthiswouldhelptoidentifyapossibletrendandallowformedical
writingtobecomemoreefficientbyfocusingonwhatisnecessaryfromthebeginning.Giventhe
timeallottedandmyresources,Iwaslimitedtofindingfewpotentialsourcesforinterviews,and
therewasdifficultyinplanningtimetomeetwithindividualsinordertogettheiropinion.If
furtherresearchweretobeconducted,Iwouldsuggestgatheringalargernumberofsourcesfor
interview,aswellasavarietyinlevelofexpertise.Havingabroaderrangewouldhelpinorder
toidentifyanytrendsseenthroughthedifferentdemographics.Trendstolookforwouldinclude
anychangesseeninwritingsuchasshiftsofimportance.Asmentioned,thiswouldalsopossibly
leadtounderstandinghowthoughtprocesseschangewithexperiencebyanalyzingtheresponses
andsearchingforsometransitionalperiodacrosstheindividuals.

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WorksCited
Driscoll,DanaLynn."Introductiontoprimaryresearch:Observations,surveys,andinterviews."
WritingSpaces:ReadingsonWriting2(2011):153174.
GrantDavie,Keith."Rhetoricalsituationsandtheirconstituents."RhetoricReview15.2(1997):
264279.
Samy,Danial."InterviewwithSoontobeMedicalStudent."Personalinterview.04Apr.2016.
Samy,Shahid."InterviewwithMedicalProfessional."Personalinterview.30Mar.2016.