Medical Content Creation: What’s In The News?

Another source for medical content is the news or current events. This, unfortunately, was most apparent this week with the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. But, there were other recent events as well, such as the infant formula shortage and the spread of monkeypox. There is never a shortage of news stories to spark medical content creation. One just needs to decide which news item is going to be targeted. After one decides which piece of news is most suited to generate the appropriate content, then the right aspect of the specific piece of news, worth discussing or creating medical content around, must be identified.

The important first step is deciding which news item to choose. The news item should resonate with one in regards to their goal for creating medical content. For example, my goal is to create medical content that connects to the category of children’s health in the acute care arena, since my clinical focus is in pediatric critical care and urgent care. I tend to look for stories or news items that I can connect to pediatrics with a focus on pediatric critical care and urgent care medicine. If one views my blog posts, one will see many articles that have that focus. For example, I created a series about when a parent should seek medical care for their child which includes such concerns as breathing problems or infections. This carries over into the news where I have discussed issues such as those mentioned at the beginning of this article. On my social media accounts, I have discussed the issues of COVID-19 and children, as well as other current events that have arisen. There are plenty of news items out there that are directly aligned to different areas of medicine or can be explored with a specific area of medical interest in mind.

So, how does one decide what to create medical content around or discuss in a particular piece of news? Well, as previously mentioned, there may be a direct connection with one’s area of expertise or a piece of the news can be teased out and discussed, as it indirectly relates to one’s area of interest. To help analyze the news item, one can ask oneself a number of questions:

• Is there a direct or indirect connection between the news item and your patient population or area of medical interest? If so, what is it and what is the connection?

• Is the information in the news item correct or incorrect? If it is incorrect, what information can one relay to accurately inform others? This is particularly important in the era of medical misinformation and disinformation online.

• Is there some specific piece of information in the news item that warrants clarification or more discussion? There may be a piece of information that is mentioned briefly, not explained well enough, or needs to be discussed more in depth for better understanding. One can expound upon a piece of information from a news piece to inform others.

• What is the implication of the news item? Can it be connected to better patient health, worse patient health, a particular issue of medical advocacy, or are there political/policy ramifications? An example could be discussing the public health pros and cons of investing in mental health, if there is a news item that is discussing a mental health funding bill or there is an event that centers around a mental health issue.

• Can the news item be discussed, as it relates to one’s personal experiences? If one has personal experience with the news item that is being discussed, it would be beneficial to share that experience with others.

• Is there a larger issue at play that the news item can be related to? Can the article or event be discussed as it relates to something on a larger scale? For example, if there was a child that tragically died from a drug overdose, could this lead to a discussion about the drug problem in America or mental health issues?

These are just a number of questions that one can ask about the news to create compelling medical content. But, if one critically analyzes the current event or news item, one may have other questions that come to mind. It is the question and the answer which you want to relay that will generate the content.

A news piece is the jump off point to discussing something that relates to one’s medical interests or passion. As mentioned previously, there is never a shortage of news and events. News is being generated daily, hourly, and even by the minute. There is great potential for the medical community to create great impact through discussions, education, and analysis of current events and news.

Do you have a favorite news source that you use to create medical content? If yes, what is it?