Inspiration to start writing at a workshop by the Uganda Society for Health Scientists and the Research and Writer's Club

Since childhood, I had a hidden passion for writing that I was not fully aware of. It is only now that I realise that throughout the course of my life to-date, I have had sporadic episodes of writing. Like in primary school at Kitante, I felt a need to start a school newspaper but I never really got up to the challenge so I settled with organizing a small weekly class newspaper (the name of which I do not recall). It was hand-written and a few copies were made. Then in secondary school I tried at writing poems that encompassed a whole range of topics (but mainly love, I won't lie haha). I think I did a fairly good job because I enjoyed a couple of compliments around the class as I gave them out to be reviewed by classmates. Feasting on such positive compliments pushed me to write even more and more. There are a number of such writing episodes that kept flashing on and off but it is only now that I come to recognize that writing is in me and I am starting to learn how to fish it out.

I was fortunate to be one of 9 attendees at a workshop on scientific writing on Saturday  November 26th 2011 at the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI). It was organized by the Research and Writers' club at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (CHS) in conjunction with the Uganda Society for Health Scientists (USHS). Credit be to the CHS Writer's Club chairperson, Ismael Kawooya for making it a reality. Attended were doctors from the USHS that presented to us, challenged us and offered mentorship to those willing. Among these esteemed doctors were: Dr. Andrew Kambugu, Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, Dr. Pauline Byakika (who snuck out of her child's school ceremonies to come encourage young writers. Thanx doc.), Dr. Robert  Kalyesubula, Dr. Damalie Nakanjako and Dr. Charles Namisi. Thanx also be to Richard and Isabella for the snacks.

The workshop was dubbed: scientific writing. It was out to inspire young medics to write scientific papers and see them published. This is highly relevant as you can not run away from writing as long as you want to become a professional. Regrets passing around the presenters had it that: "if only I had begun when I was still at Med school, maybe I'd now have 15 more publications than I do currently." Therefore starting early and not waiting until one is "a little older in the carreer" was a point of emphasis.  We were also encouraged to network and seek mentorship. In this workshop, I found an element of self discovery as I recalled some of the episodes of writing I had had previously. In my mind, this paved a path for recognition that somewhere in my humanly brain is a portion of writing that I have not fully explored. Indeed as I type away at this, I know what I'm doing now is one of the confirmatory tests of this existence.

 Like Dr. Sabrina said: "If you do not publish, you will perish... You need to write to remain relevant". Have you ever googled someone's name only to find no results about the person "as if they do not exist"?- Dr. Sabrina. In the professional world, your publications that are helpful to society give you a pedestal, a right to be listened to, they make you relevant. She went on to challenge the common notion of  "what shall I write?" saying that you can write about anything you find interesting. There are always interesting things around us that we merely enjoy and chat about but we never put them in a manuscript for everyone else who can to find them enjoy with us. Therefore we should not just hide away that great idea, story, medical case et cetera in our bedrooms or in class. You need to "write about it and portray it to the masses" as Dr. Sabrina put it.

Dr. Pauline said that "there's good exposure today and we are fortunate." Back in the day resources were not available, no one was there to tell students about writing and finding a mentor was no easy task. Today however, mentors are all around us and you only need to tag along them to acquire the benefit. Doctors are almost always 'singing' to students to write and get published, and the computer age is upon us. Oh the computer age, writing has never been any easier. In the past, you had to scribble on paper and later have the work typed by a 'professional'. Dr. Andrew Kambugu said that "today, word processing has changed things" all that pen and paper scribbling has conveniently been replaced by typing. He also related to us an experience abroad of being amazed at the very fast typing speeds some people have acquired and from this encouraged everyone to go for typing lessons. Maybe after such lessons and with practice, we may all comfortably type away at our screens without ever having a glimpse of the keyboard.

At least every presenter emphasized the fact that in order to write an excellent meaningful and helpful scientific paper, one must read read read. The more you read, the more you learn and the wider your vocabulary becomes. Dr. Andrew said "you can't run away from the fact that if you're going to write, you have to read." This rule of good writing could not be emphasized any more than it was.

So, how do you do it? You could start by keeping a journal, that could help tremendously as Dr. Andrew intimated to us. Dr. Sabrina said that "you can start by being a guest writer in a newspaper" and that you can be part of the group that promotes and posts articles to your local medical school journal. She also said that there is a lot of research that can be easily done at even our level. For example: "What is the average time that a medical student takes to move from the main campus to medical school?" Dr. Pauline suggested that if you have not participated in any active research, you have many rare and interesting "case series" you fall upon while doing ward rounds, "you can start with those at this stage" and that you can make a review and seek an expert for help on the matter.

As a group, we discussed a number of things including: how we can improve the culture of unity among the young scientists. Suggestions included: mentorship, start small, be proactive, put things on paper, express your passion, read more widely and "keep it simple, keep it interesting."

Discussed also was how to sustain writing once you have begun: Commitment to writing, "write it down", read more, share your passion with others, get started as "writing begets writing" and "don't stop writing-Dr. Andrew, set aside time to writing, keep records, develop an inquisitive mind.

After writing your scientific paper you must always publish to share this information "with the masses." You post it to a relevant journal and if it is accepted, you are published. Lastly as a group, we discussed how to handle rejects by the editors of journals of which we proposed that: do not give up, mourn your losses and move on, use your peers to do a review and tell you whether you r article is worthwhile, do not aggravate the reviewer, "acknowledge the issues raised by the reviewer, choose the journal you want to publish in wisely for your level, and as a peer reviewer be fair in your opinions and comments about others.

The way forward: as of that day we were told "bring out your work from the closet" and share it with the world. To help us with publishing at this stage, the doctors intimated that "the society" (USHS) could help us. Hand in your work to them, they will help you edit it and help you post your research or article to a relevant journal. More information about the Uganda Society for Health Scientists and how you can become a member are available on their website on http://ugshs.org/registration.htm.

It was a beautiful Saturday on my part and I am highly grateful to all the Uganda Society for Health Scientists and the Research and Writers' club at the Makerere University College of Health Sciences for organizing that workshop and may they do the same in the semesters to come such that others like me become inspired to start writing. Allah bless you all.