K.M. Krohn is assistant professor, Department of Internal Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6116-7128 .
G. Yu is a resident, Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
Acad Med. 2022 Jul 1;97(7):1004-1008. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004630. Epub 2022 Jun 23.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the spread of related health misinformation, especially on social media, have highlighted the need for more health care professionals to produce and share accurate health information to improve health and health literacy. Yet, few programs address this problem by training health care professionals in the art of science writing and medical journalism.
Created in 2011, the Stanford Global Health Media Fellowship aims to train medical students and residents in public communication strategies. Each year, 1 physician-in-training is selected to complete the fellowship, which includes 3 rotations: (1) 1 academic quarter at Stanford's Graduate Program in Journalism, (2) 3 to 5 months with a national news network (previously NBC and ABC, now CNN), and (3) a placement at an international site. During the year-long program, fellows also complete a capstone project tackling a global health equity issue.
Since 2011, 10 fellows have completed the program, and they have acquired skills in reporting, writing, multimedia, social media, and medical communications. During the news network rotation, they have completed more than 200 medical news pieces and improved the quality of the health information in a myriad of other pieces. Alumni have continued to write and report on medical stories throughout residency, other fellowships, and as practicing physicians. One alumnus is now a medical news producer at CNN.
Expanding high-quality training in medical journalism for physicians through partnerships with journalism schools; communications departments; and local, national, and international journalists can greatly improve physicians' ability to communicate with the public. It also has the potential to greatly improve the health information the public receives. Educators should consider embedding mass health communications training in medical education curricula and increasing opportunities for physicians to engage with diverse public audiences.
新冠疫情以及相关健康错误信息的传播，尤其是在社交媒体上的传播，凸显了培养更多医疗专业人员来制作和分享准确健康信息以提高健康素养的必要性。然而，很少有项目通过培训医疗专业人员的科学写作和医学新闻技能来解决这个问题。
斯坦福全球健康媒体研究员项目于 2011 年设立，旨在培训医学生和住院医师的公共传播策略。每年都会选拔一名住院医师参加该研究员项目，项目包括 3 个轮岗：（1）斯坦福新闻学研究生课程一学期，（2）与国家新闻网络（之前是 NBC 和 ABC，现在是 CNN）合作 3 至 5 个月，（3）在国际机构实习。在为期一年的项目中，研究员还需要完成一个重点项目，以解决全球健康公平问题。
自 2011 年以来，已有 10 名研究员完成了该项目，他们获得了报告、写作、多媒体、社交媒体和医学交流方面的技能。在新闻网络轮岗期间，他们完成了 200 多篇医学新闻报道，并提高了其他无数新闻报道的健康信息质量。校友们在住院医师期间、其他研究员项目期间以及作为执业医生继续撰写和报道医学故事。一位校友现在是 CNN 的医学新闻制片人。
通过与新闻学校、传播部门以及本地、国家和国际记者的合作，为医生提供高质量的医学新闻培训，可以极大地提高医生与公众沟通的能力。这也有可能极大地改善公众接收到的健康信息。教育工作者应该考虑将大众健康传播培训纳入医学教育课程，并增加医生与不同公众受众互动的机会。
