Guest Post: A Biomedical Writing Course in Mexico

[This post is from is from Sergio Lozano—a physician, translator, and editor in Mexico. Thank you, Sergio! –Barbara]

I recently facilitated a biomedical writing course with the participation of the Academic Body of the School of Nursing of the Autonomous University of Nayarit, Mexico. The course, which was held May 23 and 24, covered a variety of topics.

Some of the topics were ones addressed in the AuthorAID Resource Library. Others related to using word processing software (for example, setting margins, spacing, and font according to journal requirements) and reference management software. Because the American Psychological Association (APA) style is frequently used in nursing, we also covered manuscript preparation and writing according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Participants were very interested. They commented on previous experience with publishing research papers and mentioned some difficulties they encountered. They were grateful for the information in the course since they felt that their previous experience was trial and error.

The first day covered choosing a journal, using author instructions, the structure of a manuscript, using word processing software efficiently, and the methods, results, and discussion sections. It also included an introduction to reference management software. The second day covered the introduction, preparing the title page and abstract, and the publication process. 

Presentations included questions for the participants to discuss. Participants also received practice searching the Internet and using word processing programs. In addition, participants reviewed examples of published papers.

The event ended with participants wanting a longer, more detailed course and future training in reference management software.

I am thankful to all the participants and the leaders of the academic body for their interest and help in carrying out an informative and gratifying event. I also thank AuthorAID for providing resources that are very useful for facilitating a course.