Overcoming Obstacles and Building Bridges in Global Medical Communications

Abstract

Medical communicators are tasked with delivering scientific information to numerous stakeholders, including patients, caregivers, providers, researchers, policymakers, and payors, around the world. In recent years, content offerings have expanded beyond traditional scientific publications deliverables, such as abstracts and articles, to include enhancements that are more easily digestible by patients or busy clinicians, such as plain language summaries, infographics, graphical abstracts, and other multimedia formats. Global medical communication is a burgeoning field that involves the delivery of cutting-edge scientific research to a broader global audience. However, medical and scientific articles have historically been published only in English and kept behind journal paywalls, limiting accessibility by the global scientific community. In this special issue of the AMWA Journal, we explore some of these issues and consider ways that medical communicators are improving access to scientific data and bridging the gaps between stakeholders around the world.