What I Learned Getting My Master of Science in Health Communication

Boiling down 1,500+ hours of reading and lectures into a five-minute read.

I recently completed my Master of Science in Health Communication at Boston University. What did I learn?

Well, I guess I learned something, because I ended up with a 3.97 GPA. But all told, I probably spent at least 1,500 hours reading and participating in discussions over nearly two years.

Can I sum it all up in about about 1,000 words?
Sure, I’ll give it a shot.

Here’s my high-level takeaway — course by course — in the order I took them:

• Health Communication (HC 759)
What’s different about health communication compared to “regular” communication? One issue would be literacy, especially in today’s multi-cultural environment.

While it’s tempting to assume a general audience understands what a word like “hypertension” means, the fact is many don’t even understand the concept of high blood pressure. That certainly puts more pressure on today’s health communicators.

• Epidemiology for Health Communicators (HC 751)
If you’re going to communicate about health issues, especially about the cause and treatment of disease, you’re going to have to learn how to read a research study. That’s because a phrase like “clinically proven” may turn out to be completely meaningless.

You’d be surprised how often the media makes claims like these about a study, even when the authors of the study acknowledge weaknesses in their methodologies.

• Interactive Marketing Communications (HC 757)
Public health campaigns perform so much better when they, oh I don’t know, actually reach the public. If you’re just talking to your audience and not engaging them as a community through new media and new technologies, don’t expect much success.

Not everyone interacts, of course, but communication that demonstrates at least the potential for interaction is highly effective and offers plenty of creative possibilities.

• Media Relations (HC 758)
People once referred to “the media” as what we now call “mainstream media” — newspapers, magazines, and broadcast outlets. Now we have to expand that perspective.

Relationships with mainstream media are still important, of course, but what about all those bloggers and influential social media participants? They can damage your reputation, too (probably in 24 hours or less in some cases). On the other hand, they can also be among your top supporters.

• Advanced Writing for Healthcare (HC 761)
The best “advanced” writing for healthcare communication is copy that doesn’t seem advanced at all. If you’re debating whether to turn that comma into a semicolon, you’re probably on the wrong track.

Keep it clear and concise. And yes, believe it or not, it really does take more time to write less — a concept I wish my clients understood more clearly when setting deadlines.

• The American Health Care System for Health Communicators (HC 750)
I’d like to understand the American healthcare system, but I just can’t get past the notion that it’s not really a “system” at all because it was never designed in such a way — even with the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Different health communicators will be likely be working on advancing varying competing interests — some to improve quality, some to increase access, some to lower costs. No, you can’t have all three, so it will be interesting to see how things work out.

• Contemporary Healthcare Marketing (HC 755)
About 100 years ago, companies ran their businesses from a production orientation. You made stuff and people would buy it simply because there wasn’t any other stuff to buy. That changed, of course, as competition began to give consumers more choices — so businesses adopted a marketing-oriented approach.

But many health organizations never really had to do much marketing before, so they’re still stuck in the dark ages of production orientation. That’s not “contemporary” at all.

• The Biology of Disease (HC 752)
If learning is defined as remembering, no I probably didn’t learn too much in this class (although I did get an “A”). But if learning is characterized by at least knowing there’s something you don’t know — and where to find the information when you need it — then I learned a lot.

For example, I’ll probably read The Lives of a Cell again. Now when author Lewis Thomas uses terms such as “organelles” and “phages,” I’ll know a lot more about what he’s talking about.

• Contemporary Public Relations (HC 756)
It wasn’t that long ago when public relations practitioners focused much of their efforts on pushing messages out to traditional media publishers through press releases.

But now anyone can (and should) be a publisher — distributing compelling and engaging content that demonstrates thought leadership. Once you understand that every company is a media company, you’ve got at least part of the notion of contemporary public relations nailed down.

Remember, these are only my top-level impressions of these courses, each of which covered plenty of other issues. I do wonder if my classmates share any of my impressions, so I invite them to share their own comments here.

One quibble, though…
Here’s what I didn’t learn.
Is healthcare one word or two?

Even BU really can’t say for sure. Note that the course, “The American Health Care System for Health Communicators,” covers “healthcare ethics, law, and the complexities of cross-cultural and psychosocial considerations within today’s healthcare system” (emphasis mine).

It looks like the latest edition of Webster’s New World Dictionary says it’s one word, but it still doesn’t seem as if that issue’s really been settled.

I’ll stick with one word, “healthcare.” After all, I’m not paid by the word.