Healthcare Professional Resources
Healthcare professionals expect content written by someone who understands the science, not just the words. I create accurate, evidence-based clinical resources and CPD education that healthcare professionals trust and use.
With 20 years of experience as a health and medical communication specialist, I help clients identify, distil and articulate key messages for healthcare professional audiences across print and digital communications.
I am a Sydney-based health and medical communication consultant who produces healthcare professional resources for Australian healthcare organisations, government agencies, research institutes and pharmaceutical companies. I create accurate, evidence-based content calibrated to the scientific literacy and regulatory expectations of clinical audiences — from GPs and specialists to nurses, pharmacists and allied health practitioners.
I turn complex medical research, scientific information and data into accurate, high-quality, evidence-based content for healthcare professional resources. I have the scientific literacy to get the clinical details right, and the communication expertise to make them land.
Audiences
I write for the full range of medical specialist and allied health practitioner audiences, including:
Aboriginal health workers, aged care staff, audiologists, dentists, dietitians, emergency physicians, GPs, midwives, medical specialists, nurses, obstetricians, ophthalmologists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, rehabilitation specialists and speech therapists.
I have even co-authored journal articles on understanding the pain points and enablers of healthcare practitioners (GPs and nurses) (1,2) — experience that directly informs how I frame clinical content for these audiences.
My clients include government agencies, research institutes, specialist medical practices, pharmaceutical companies, health not-for-profits and medical device companies to develop clinical resources for the full spectrum of healthcare professional audiences — from GPs and specialists to pharmacists, nurses, aged care workers and allied health practitioners.
Every resource I produce is grounded in current peer-reviewed evidence, correctly cited, and calibrated to the health literacy and regulatory expectations of a clinical audience.
Recent healthcare professional resource projects
My recent projects include:
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clinical app content
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print and online clinical brochures, evidence summaries, guides, CPD education modules, ebooks, fact sheets, leave-behinds and manuals
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blogs
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email, newsletter and website content
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SMS content.
Protect Your Heart: A healthcare professional resource designed and written for First Nations heart health for the National Heart Foundation of Australia.
Evidence Review: A healthcare professional resource designed to support ultrasound best practice.
If your organisation needs healthcare professional resources and education that are accurate, authoritative and useful to clinicians, I'd love to discuss your project.
Healthcare professional resource updates
Healthcare professional resources must be regularly updated to remain relevant, informative and accurate as clinical practice and treatment guidelines change regularly. If an organisation’s tone of voice, branding or style changes, this also needs to be reflected in updated resources.
I work with clients to update healthcare professional resources by:
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ensuring that they use the most current evidence-based and best-practice information and that they are correctly cited
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ensuring that graphs and tables contain the correct elements
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ensuring that the trends in graphs and tables are correctly articulated in the content
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identifying supporting evidence from credible sources
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developing a clear, flowing and easy-to-understand information architecture to assist healthcare professionals in quickly navigating content and pulling out the most relevant information
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assessing if the current publications are appropriate for the target audience
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ensuring that the language, tone and style of patient publications are appropriate
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finesse complex medical jargon and evidence into concise language
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developing a Style Guide for the organisation, brand or project to ensure that all publications consistently use the same language, literacy level, tone, grammar, spelling, formatting and referencing styles.
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editing or re-purposing content from print to web content, emails and social media posts and vice versa.
Client feedback
"I had the pleasure of working with Melissa as the content writer for a complex health-related project and I am very pleased with the result. Melissa navigated the complexities of the project while remaining flexible to our evolving needs. Her attention to detail was evident in her work that she passed back to us ahead of schedule. I would be very happy to recommend her to anyone looking for a writer who is efficient, knowledgeable and easy to work with."
"Hi Melissa, Thank you for your work on this. It is looking good. It has been great working with you. Thanks for your hard work on the resources, you have done a great job."
Recently published work
AURA Report: Australian report on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health
Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC)
AURA 2023: Fifth Australian report on antimicrobial use and resistance in human health
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
Clinical review: Sexual safety of mental health consumers
Agency for Clinical Innovation
Crohn's and Colitis National Action Plan
Crohn's and Colitis Australia
Agency for Clinical Innovation
National Heart Foundation of Australia.
References
1. Brodaty H, Gibson LH, Waine ML, Shell AM, Lilian R, Pond CD. Research in general practice: a survey of incentives and disincentives for research participation. Ment Health Fam Med. Sep; Volume 10, Issue 3, 2013:163-73. PMID: 24427184; PMCID: PMC3822664.
2. Jamshidi N, Waine M, Binet M, Mohan V, Carter D, Morgan, B. The adoption of point of care testing technologies for respiratory tract infections in primary care in Australia: Challenges and facilitators. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease, Volume 110, Issue 4, 2024.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What are healthcare professional resources?
A: Healthcare professional (HCP) resources are clinical education and reference materials designed specifically for practitioners. Examples include CPD modules, clinical apps, eDetailers, fact sheets, clinical guides, treatment pathway documents and conference summaries. Effective HCP resources require a medical or technical writer with both scientific expertise and an understanding of clinical practice.
Q: How often should healthcare professional resources be updated?
A: Clinical guidelines, evidence bases and treatment recommendations change regularly. Resources should be reviewed and updated at least every two to three years, or sooner when a major guideline update or new body of evidence is published. I provide resource audit and update services to keep your content current, accurate and relevant.
