Category Archives: writing

Cochrane 2015 – writing for a non-expert audience

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Dr Justin Coleman

Apologies to anyone reading this who is not currently listening to me live at my Cochrane Symposium writing workshop (Melbourne, Wed 25 Nov); I’m teaching clever researchers how to write for ordinary folk. I have just dumped a few exercises … Continue reading →

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The doctor is NOT IN

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Dr Justin Coleman

I love being a doctor. I love the variety, the capacity to touch lives. But most of all, I love the holidays. The very best bit of my job is not doing it, and instead doing the crossword on the … Continue reading →

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Irritating my whole profession

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

Recently I have found myself becoming more pugilistic and less pusillanimous. Or, to use fewer ‘pu’ words, more disputative and less tentative. Simpler still – and with apologies to women and rats – more man and less mouse. Not for … Continue reading →

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My performance-enhanced brain

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

Most conference presentations wash over my spongiform brain and swish straight down the drain. But one presentation at last month’s Australasian Medical Writers Association conference (forgive the plug) stuck in my mind, almost as if something had sealed up my … Continue reading →

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Crowd-sourced meta-health writing: wish I’d thought of it first.

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

A mate of mine has just obtained crowd-sourced funding to write a series of medical articles on the croakey.com website. This opinion series sponsored by individual payments will be an Australian first, if you don’t count John Laws and cash-for-comments. … Continue reading →

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Ask yourself four diet questions. Or I will.

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Dr Justin Coleman

I just don’t have the appetite for diets. Or, more specifically, for taking a diet history. The sort of thing my health service’s dietitian does ten times daily—bless her, and all her thin colleagues. Honestly, if the patient’s answer to … Continue reading →

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Factual facts vs Dad jokes

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Dr Justin Coleman

My exciting tale of seeing @DoctorKarl, a real, live science geek, in my home town’s writers festival was first published here in Medical Observer, Oct 2013. This morning I took two of my sons to see Dr Karl Kruszelnicki at the Brisbane Writers … Continue reading →

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Election mode

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Dr Justin Coleman

For some reason, elections are on my mind. I have a fascination with our 24-hour political fascination. The concept that a single campaign interview gaffe might actually change who we ask to rule our land for the next three years. … Continue reading →

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Blogging about blogging

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Dr Justin Coleman

In some sort of weird russian-doll unpacking of layers, I’m sitting in a blogging workshop and all 25 of us are analysing my blog. I figured that while we’re doing it, I’d take the opportunity to blog about the process. … Continue reading →

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Locum days

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Dr Justin Coleman

In my heady days of youth, I spent 18 months avoiding a steady job and worked as a locum. This involved a serious commitment to helping out GPs in their week of need, then running away. My CV screamed like … Continue reading →

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