Readings

This page presents the readings for the class, plus examples of student work. (Courtesy of the authors and used with permission.)

Required Text

Buy at Amazon Penrose, Ann M., and Steven B. Katz. Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Longman, 2004. ISBN: 9780321112040.

Readings by Session

SES # READINGS
1 (no readings)
2 (no readings)
3 Guidelines for resume and cover letter in online version of The Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing.
4

Charon, Rita. "Narrative Medicine: Form, Function, and Ethics." Annals of Internal Medicine 134, no. 1 (2001).

Groopman, Jerome. "God at the Bedside." The New England Journal of Medicine 350, no. 12 (2005).

Ofri, Danielle. "Tools of the Trade." The New England Journal of Medicine 349, no. 18 (2003).

Campo, Rafael. "Just the Facts." The New England Journal of Medicine 351, no. 12 (2004).

Kidder, Tracey. "The Good Doctor." The New Yorker, 10 July 2000.
5

Ofri, Danielle. "Acne." Annals of Internal Medicine 132, no. 11 (2000).

Buy at Amazon Williams, William Carlos. "The Girl with the Pimply Face," and "The Use of Force." In The Doctor Stories. New York, NY: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 1984. ISBN: 9780811209267.

Buy at Amazon Selzer, Richard. "Brute." In Letters to a Young Doctor. Reprint ed. Orlando, FL: Harvest Books, 1996. ISBN: 9780156003995.

Buy at Amazon Ross, Carolyn, ed. "Rhetoric: Writing about Personal Experience." In Writing Nature: An Ecological Reader for Writers. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1995. ISBN: 9780312103910.
6

Buy at Amazon Fadiman, Anne. "Preface," and "The Eight Questions." In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. ISBN: 9780374525644.

Buy at Amazon Gawande, Atul. "When Doctors Make Mistakes." In Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. Reprint ed. New York, NY: Picador, 2003. ISBN: 9780312421700.

Nuland, Sherwin B. "Mistakes in the Operating Room-Error and Responsibility." The New England Journal of Medicine 351, no. 13 (September 2004): 1281-1283.
7

Sample student narrative essays:

Mirkin, Dima. "Faith and Medicine." (PDF)

Condon, Karen. "Injuries and Self Perception." (PDF)

Essays of your 2 or 3 workshop partners.
8

Charap, Mitchell. "Reducing Resident Work Hours: Unproven Assumptions and Unforeseen Outcomes." Annals of Internal Medicine 140, no. 8 (2004): 814-815.

Skeff, Kelley M., Stephen Ezeji-Okoye, Peter Pompei, and Stanley Rockson. "Benefits of Resident Work Hours Regulation." Annals of Internal Medicine 140, no. 8 (2004): 816-817.
9

Choose and read a pair of articles for critical review:

Yacht, Andrew C. "Collective Bargaining is the Right Step." The New England Journal of Medicine 342, no. 6 (February 2000): 429-431.

Cohen, Jordan J. "White Coats Should Not Have Union Labels." The New England Journal of Medicine 342, no. 6 (February 2000): 431-434.

Ley, Timothy J. "Removing Career Obstacles for Young Physician-Scientists - Loan-Repayment Programs." The New England Journal of Medicine 346, no. 5 (January 2002): 368-372.

Nathan, David G. "Educational-Debt Relief for Clinical Investigators - A Vote of Confidence." The New England Journal of Medicine 346, no. 5 (January 2002): 372-374.

Freeman, Thomas B., Dorothy E. Vawter, Paul E. Leaverton, James H. Godbold, Robert A. Hauser, Christopher G. Goetz, and C. Warren Olanow. "Use of Placebo Surgery in Controlled Trials of a Cellular-Based Therapy for Parkinson's Disease." The New England Journal of Medicine 341, no. 13 (September 1999): 988-992.

Macklin, Ruth. "The Ethical Problems with Sham Surgery in Clinical Research." The New England Journal of Medicine 341, no. 13 (September 1999): 992-996.

Bach, Peter B., and Mark B. McClellan. "The First Months of the Prescription-Drug Benefit - A CMS Update." The New England Journal of Medicine 354, no. 22 (June 2006): 2312-2314.

Slaughter, Louse M. "Medicare Part D - The Product of a Broken Process." The New England Journal of Medicine 354, no. 22 (June 2006): 2314-2315.
10

"Science as a Social Enterprise." Chapter 1 in Writing in the Sciences. pp. 3-22 (omitting exercises).

Sample student critical reviews.
11 (no readings)
12 Critical reviews written by your workshop group.
13 Barton Basics: A self-help guide to the MIT Libraries catalog
14

"Reviewing Prior Research." Chapter 4 in Writing in the Sciences. pp. 83-101 (omitting exercises).

Sample review article and literature review as part of grant proposal: Writing in the Sciences. pp. 236-248 and 303-314.

Bring Writing in the Sciences to class.
15 Individual research.
16

Sample student review articles:

Anahtar, Melis. "Hold the Phone?" (PDF)

Mutiso, Herman. "Malaria Control." (PDF)

Individual research.
17 Individual research.
18 (no readings)
19 Review articles written by your workshop group.
20 (no readings)
21

"Communicating with Public Audiences." Chapter 8 in Writing in the Sciences. pp. 176-200 (omitting exercises).

Skim reports posted on several public information Web sites.

Read sample student Web report.
22

Look through other reports posted on your chosen site.

Additional research to meet needs of new audience.
23 (no readings)
24 Reports written by your workshop partners.
25 (no readings)
26 Review earlier work and choose excerpt for editing workshop.
27 Track down one of your favorite books, stories, or poems, and select a passage or poem to read in class.