Medical and Science Writing
Ann MacDonald has been a medical writer for 25 years. She is currently working on a book that combines memoir with medical investigation. Using her skills as a medical writer, MacDonald explores how her mother died of septic shock in a respected teaching hospital while the medical team remained blind to what was happening until it was too late to intervene. The book examines the cognitive biases, emotions, and hierarchical power dynamics that prevent swift diagnosis and interventions. It also includes stories of advocates, physicians, and nurses working to improve sepsis recognition and care.
She pays the bills by working as a freelance medical writer. Until recently, she was a senior medical writer at Custom Learning Designs, where she developed interactive learning modules about diseases and treatments. Previously she held senior communications positions at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Before that , she worked as an editor at Harvard Health Publishing, the consumer health publishing division of Harvard Medical School. During that time, she spent four years as editor of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.
Earlier in her career, Ann held communications positions in development and public affairs at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, and served for two years as eastern regional director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
She has ghostwritten three health books for doctors and contributed to a fourth. Her articles on health and other topics have appeared in Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Providence Journal.
Ann earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Brandeis University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She is a member of the Authors Guild and the New England Science Writers.
To view an online portfolio of Ann's work, visit www.annmacdonald.net.
Or view her LinkedIn profile.
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