Welcome to another episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD! This week, I'm talking medical writing, specifically continuing medical education, with my guest, Alexandra Howson. With Alex, we look back on her career journey after her PhD and we explore her expertise in making the PhD to CME career transition. Get your pen and paper out! You'll be wanting to take notes! Alexandra Howson is a medical writer, educator, and podcaster. A former trauma operating room nurse, Alex was faculty at the universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh in Scotland for a decade, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the sociology of the body, gender, and health. She left academia in 2004 and subsequently built a thriving freelance medical writing business in the USA that specialized in creating content for continuing education in the health professions. Alex now shares her deep expertise in health care and education with new-to-the-field medical writers. Through courses, coaching, and community, she teaches writers how to confidently create education content for health professionals and build a sustainable CME/CE writing niche. What we covered in the interview: Alex's journey from research to medical writing Disidentifying with being an academic The complexity of medical writing Using your transferable skills for medical education Day-to-day tasks in CME The importance of building relationships for finding clients Advantages of defining a niche: energy conservation, building authority Making CME writing sustainable This episode’s resources: Write Medicine | Website Write Medicine Podcast | Spotify Thank you, Alexandra Howson! If you enjoyed this conversation with Alexandra, let her know by clicking the link below and leaving her a message on Instagram: Send Alexandra Howson a thank you message on Linkedin! Click here to share your key take-away from this interview with David! Leave a review on Podchaser ! Support the show ! You might also like the following episodes: Olivier Bernard – Debunking Pseudoscience Kate Dahl – Reinventing Yourself after Academia Merle van den Akker – Debunking PhD Misconceptions Sirisha Kuchimanchi – Navigating Manufacturing and Engineering as a Woman As always, if you find value in Papa PhD and in the content I bring you every week, click on one of the buttons below and send some of that value back to me by becoming a supporter on Patreon or by buying me a coffee :) Support the show on Patreon ! Or buy me a coffee :)