The Center for Medicine and the Media at The Dartmouth Institute
Medicine and the Media Conference
Much of the medical information Americans get comes through the media. Stories about new discoveries, “breakthroughs,” incidence of disease and other topics are a constant presence in newspapers, electronic media, and increasingly, the web.
But how do news organizations and journalists ensure that what they’re reporting is through and accurate? The Center for Medicine and the Media, in partnership with the National Institutes for Health, offers an annual conference to give journalists tools to make them better interpreters and reporters of medical information.
Now in its 8th year, the Medicine in the Media conference has drawn participants from across the country and across a range of news organizations. The conference alternates between NIH headquarters in Bethesda, MD and the Dartmouth Institute in Hanover, NH.
More information, including the agenda for the 2009 conference, comments from past participants, and registration information, can be found here: http://medmediacourse.nih.gov/index.html
“...attending last year's Medicine in the Media course was the best thing I have done for my career. Walking away from the course with a massive binder and an armful of handouts was quite symbolic of the intensity of the weekend and density of material covered. Not only was it enlightening to learn how (and when) to determine absolute and relative risk and the relevance of p-value, for example, the course also lent broader context to the realm in which we operate as health reporters. Between the many real world examples of errors created or perpetuated by journalists covering health and medicine to the less-than-pure intentions of sources from industry to academia, I found the experience illuminating in unexpected ways.”
— Sarah Baldauf, 2008
U.S. News & World Report
“Thank you so much for the organizing and sponsoring such an important and worthwhile conference. I am honored that I was that I was selected to participate in a seminar with such distinguished leaders and such a noble mission.”
— Nicole Sarrubo, 2008
Consumer Reports on Health
“The information I learned here is such a great basis for my health journalism career. Even though I am a local journalist in a small community (small state), I still found relevance in every presentation...The speakers were great and funny. Even though it was a physically and mentally exhausting week, they kept my interest.”
— Allison Rupp, 2008
Casper Star-Tribune
“I thought it was absolutely incredible. I came out of the program a much better reporter when it came to writing and reporting on medical research. The public would be healthier and wiser if every medical reporter was able to enroll in this program before covering scientific studies and screenings. Not to mention, the food was fantastic!”
— Hiran Ratnayake, 2007
Delaware News Journal