Here’s a plug

This last Monday it was my turn to give a “Fellows’ Talk,” a yearly ritual in which fellows are asked to give a 40- to 60- minute presentation on a topic of interest during a divisional conference. My talk this year was about allogeneic stem cell transplant survivorship, and the possible role of patient-related characteristics, at the time of or subsequent to transplant, in predicting adverse outcomes.

I spent a fair amount of time sweating about the presentation. As many of you might guess from my blog posts and columns, I’m usually not lacking in opinions about anything and everything, but that doesn’t mean I’m not a nervous public speaker just like everyone else. I tried to make myself feel a little better by investing a lot of time in preparation and revising before the talk — which might help to explain my absence in blog posting last week!

At one point, I rummaged through a closeted bookshelf in my house to find a paperback that my associate residency program director had given to me (and my co-residents) a few years ago. It’s entitled “Writing, Speaking, & Communication Skills for Health Professionals” and was published by Yale University Press in 2001.

My only regret in looking through the book was that I hadn’t read it thoroughly much earlier in my residency or fellowship. The advice and insights contained within it were invaluable. So, a shameless plug for any of you who give presentations, construct posters, write grants and/or have any interest in academic medicine — take a look. Though some of the information may seem intuitive, I find it worthwhile now and again to review the basics, because almost inevitably I’m able to take away something useful that I can apply to my own work. In this case, the tips on presenting to and for an audience were very helpful to me in advance of my own presentation.

As far as writing is concerned — I’ve heard wonderful things about “The Sense of Structure: Writing from the Reader’s Perspective” by George Gopen, though admittedly I haven’t read the book. I have heard Prof. Gopen lecture, though, and participated in one of his workshops. My own writing improved after just listening to him for an hour or two, so I’d imagine that reading the book would produce an even greater effect.

Good luck to all of you with your own presentations and writings — and thanks for humoring me by reading mine!