If you had told me before residency I’d come out of it with an interest in medical journalism, I would’ve offered to help find the person you mistook me for.
Four years ago, I sat in awe during an op-ed writing workshop led by my co-intern, thinking, "I wish I had the knowledge, skills, and passion to do this kind of work." I eventually did get to write op-eds, though not through any carefully orchestrated plan. Instead, an unexpected, harrowing personal experience — one that made it clear how quickly a gap in public policy can become a threat to patient safety — changed the trajectory of my career.
After experiencing my first episode of anaphylaxis during a flight, and discovering that airlines are not required to carry Epipens in their emergency medical kits, I felt compelled to advocate for change. The duality of being a physician and passenger prompting flight attendants to ask if there’s a doctor on board highlighted a serious lapse in public safety that pushed me, cautiously at first, beyond my comfort zone, and resulted in the writing and publication of my first op-ed.
My path into medical journalism was unusual, but the lesson was not: clinicians do not need permission, or a perfectly linear path, to contribute to discourse on public health and safety.
Healthcare professionals live in a world of logic, defending decisions through evidence and reasoning. While writing opinion pieces and providing clinical care may seem unrelated, compelling op-eds rely on many of the same instincts. Advocacy depends on storytelling. Data can define a problem, but stories convey urgency and accountability in ways statistics alone cannot.
Writing has made me a better physician, educator, and communicator. In medicine, we often dismiss writing as a “soft skill,” but that framing overlooks how central communication is to what we do. Medical journalism isn’t an artistic detour from medicine; it’s an extension of it. It translates clinical experience, uncertainty, and systems-level gaps into something the public and policymakers can understand and act on.
This matters because when clinicians are absent from public discourse, health care narratives are shaped without clinical context or lived experience. In that vacuum, misinformation — often more accessible and widely shared than evidence-based perspectives — fills the gap. The $6.8 trillion wellness industry and influencer marketing increasingly shape how our patients — and, admittedly, some clinicians — understand health.
How do we translate scientific discovery and clinical nuance into something the general public can actually use? Academic journals remain essential, but these are often too complex and inaccessible to lay audiences. How do we make health information understandable and actionable for people like my extended family in rural Louisiana?
It’s easy to underestimate the credibility and platform that come with our profession. Fortunately, social media isn’t the only option for those of us lacking TikTok-level rhythm and confidence. Op-eds remain one of the most accessible entry points for clinicians interested in public-facing advocacy,
Institutional media relations teams regularly connect journalists with clinicians and can help pitch stories to news outlets. What began for me as a courtesy email ahead of my op-ed turned into local television interviews and broader national coverage. That exposure helped push an overlooked safety gap into public and legislative conversation around air travel safety.
Government relations teams can also be valuable allies. With their help, I connected with a staffer for my state senator and contributed to institutional support for legislative language to update airline emergency medical kits.
There are structured educational opportunities as well. Some trainees pursue elective rotations with news organizations; a month spent with ABC News’ Medical Unit in New York was one of the most formative experiences of my training. Programs like the Doximity Op-Med Fellowship (currently accepting applications!) offer direct editorial mentorship.
Medical journalism offers a way to extend our work beyond the bedside and into the systems that shape patient care. At a time when public understanding of health is increasingly fragmented, clinicians’ voices are not just valuable — they are necessary.
The question is not whether we have something to contribute, but whether we’re willing to use our voices when they are needed most.
In what ways have communication skills been helpful in your practice and in engaging with the public about health concerns? Share in the comments!
Lindsey Ulin is a palliative care physician in Dallas, TX. She enjoys writing in indie coffee shops and bookstores and spoiling her dog Winston. She tweets at @LindseyUlin. Dr. Ulin is a 2025-2026 Doximity Op-Med Fellow.
