To write, or not to write: The scientist's dilemma

As part of the iJOBS Career Panel Series, on April 14^th 2015, Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Biogen and NPR sponsored the Scientific Writing and Journalism career panel held at Rutgers University, Newark campus. I was excited from the moment I found out about this event. Science communication is something that has always been in the back of my mind, but I didn’t quite know how to pursue it. Writing about science for the general public is something that you are not trained for during graduate school, not even while you are a postdoc, unless you learn it on your own. Participating in this event motivated me to work on my writing skills and gave me some ideas on how to make my science writing reach other people. Thanks to the panelists, Dr. Dylan Harris, Associate Director of Medical Writing at Biogen, and Dr. Jessica McDonnald, health reporter for WHYY-FM, public radio station, for sharing their story on how they were brave enough to move from a career in research academia to science writing careers. I learned that becoming a science writer requires discipline. You have to create a habit of reading lay science magazines, and to participate in social media if you want to find your own voice and style. It could be as demanding and stressful as working in research academia, due to constant deadlines. A great word of advice from the panelists was to target small companies as starting points for your writing career. Small companies are less likely to ask for previous writing experience, and might be willing to train you in the science writing craft. Once you gain the necessary experience you can move on to bigger companies for science writing jobs. In the end, sometimes you may have to create your own opportunities, such as writing your own science blog. Think of the last time you tried to explain your research work to someone outside your science field (i.e. family, friends, etc.). Was it an easy task? Or did you struggle? Science writing and communication are important aspects of what it means to be a scientist. Learning how to communicate our science to others should be part of our education and training. Unfortunately, this is not the case. When you look at curriculum from different science departments, courses on how to improve your science communication and writing skills are lacking.  Do you think it is time for a change in our science education and training system? What do you think will happen to science industry in general if we fail to communicate our findings beyond our benches?