ENGLISH 395: WRITING FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS
Section 0101 MWF 9am-9:50am
Section 0201 MWF 10am-10:50am
Section 0501 MWF 1pm-1:50pm
Instructor: Dr. James M. Goodwin
Email: jgoodwi3@umd.edu; Phone: 301.405.3762 (PWP Main Office)
Office: 2222 Tawes Hall
Office Hours: MWF 11:30am-12:30pm, and by appointment
Course Theme and Description
English 395 is designed for students preparing for careers in the health professions because health
professionals need to make technical information available to a variety of audiences: to coworkers in the
hospital or clinic, to other experts in the field, to government agencies, non-profit organizations and
public policymakers, to patients and their families, and to the media. This course covers many of the
writing skills necessary for future health professionals, including preparing personal statements for
grad/professional programs (or internships), clarifying medical terminology for different lay audiences,
and summarizing the current status of an exigent health topic in the form of a scholarly literature review.
In addition to focusing on writing skills, we’ll also discuss films (mostly documentaries) & brief articles
on TWELVE exigent health topics including Lyme disease, disability studies (specifically cochlear
implants & Deaf culture), “inspiration porn,” trans* healthcare issues, gender verification in sport,
heterosexuality, autism, vaccines, fat studies, midwifery, physician-assisted suicide, & mortality.
Course Goals and Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the stages required to produce competent, professional writing through planning,
drafting, revising, and editing.
2. Write for the intended readers of a text, and design or adapt text to an audience who may differ in
their familiarity with the subject matter.
3. Demonstrate competence in Standard Written English, including grammar, sentence/paragraph
structure and coherence (along with dependent vs. independent clauses, semicolons vs.
colons, etc.), and the use of this knowledge to revise texts.
4. Produce cogent arguments that identify arguable issues, reflect the degree of available evidence,
and take account of counterarguments.
5. Discuss a range of exigence health topics & why they are relevant to future health professionals.
Grades
When grading each of your assignments, I will ask one overriding question: “Does this document do its
job successfully?” The “job,” or purpose, of each document will be explained on the individual
assignment descriptions that appear later in this syllabus, and we will spend ample time in class
discussing how you can create a rhetorically successful text for each assignment. I will use the following
criteria to evaluate your major writing projects:
A
Exemplary work. The text demonstrates originality, initiative, and rhetorical skill. The content is
mature, thorough, and well-suited for the audience; the style is clear, accurate, and forceful; the
information is well-organized and formatted so that it is accessible and attractive; genre
conventions are effectively used; mechanics and grammar are correct. The text is well-edited,
well-written, well-argued, and well-documented and requires no additional revisions.
B
Good work. The text generally succeeds in meeting its goals in terms of audience, purpose, and
rhetorical skill without the need for further major revisions. The text may need some minor
improvements in content, presentation, or writing style/mechanics.
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C
Satisfactory work. The text is adequate in all respects, but requires some substantial revisions of
content, presentation, or writing style/mechanics; it may require further work in more than one
area. For instance, central ideas may generally be apparent, but may often lack adequate
explanations, rhetorical analysis, or documentation necessary for different audiences and
purposes.
Individual Grades
Participation: 15%
3 Reflection Prompts: 5% total
Assignment #1 (Personal Statement w/ Resume): 15%
Assignment #2 (Extended Definition for Lay Audience): 15%
Assignment #3 (Extended Definition for Lay Audience): 15%
Proposal for Assignment #4 & Annotated Bibliography: 5%
Assignment #4 (Literature Review): 30%
I will use the following grading scale to calculate your grade for each assignment and the course (also,
students may receive “slash grades,” e.g., B/B-, which is an average of the 2 grades, i.e., 83.25%):
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F
98.5%
95%
91.5%
88.5%
85%
81.5%
78.5%
75%
71.5%
68.5%
66%
61.5%
0%
Participation (15%)
To do well, students must attend, be punctual, & actively yet courteously participate in class discussion.
To be able to do the last part well, students must view the films &/or read the readings before class, & be
prepared to speak about them. To speak about them, it’s easiest if students come to class with a question
or comment that they’ve prepared beforehand. Plus, & most importantly, this course stresses the
importance of draft workshops. Being on time & prepared is vital to your success in this class. Also, part
of your participation grade is based on a brief presentation on your lit review’s work-in-progress.
3 Reflective Prompts (5% total)
Establishing Expectations: Examine the syllabus and the learning outcomes for the course, the required
texts, our first week of class, and any conversations you have had with friends or classmates about the
Professional Writing course. Pay close attention to policies, procedures, assignments, and expectations for
the Professional Writing course. Now, write one single-spaced page explaining how you expect to do in
this course. Be specific, provide details and descriptions, and explain your reasoning as you address these
types of questions: What writing assignments or activities do you think you will do well on in the course?
Explain why. What writing assignments or activities do you think will be difficult for you? Explain why.
What parts of your reading, researching, and writing history (for example, your past classes, internships
or work experiences, organized groups in which you participate, or your personal hobbies) make you
confident about some parts of the course and hesitant about others? Explain why.
Mid-term Self-Assessment: This reflective writing prompt asks you to take stock of how you’re doing in
your Professional Writing course at midterm, examining what strategies are or aren’t working for you,
what writing knowledge and skills you have acquired or refined thus far, and what aspects of your
research and writing you need to concentrate on for the remainder of the course. To begin this reflection,
conduct an inventory of all the writing you have done for this course, looking both forward and backward
at your progress in the course. Once you have done so, write a one-page, single-spaced reflective piece
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about where you stand at midterm and where you’d like to go during the second half of your Professional
Writing course. Reflect on what you’re learning about your writing process, your strengths as a writer,
and your preferences and writing habits. Be specific, provide details and descriptions, and explain your
reasoning throughout this brief reflective essay.
Revisiting Your Expectations: This prompt asks you to revisit all of the writing you have done this
semester, particularly your formal writing assignments and your two previous reflective essays. First,
revisit the learning outcomes for the Professional Writing course, which you can find in your syllabus.
Second, review your written response to the “Establishing Expectations” and “Mid-Term SelfAssessment” prompts, reflecting on what you wrote about your expectations for the course at the
beginning of the semester as well as your assessment of the first half and predictions for the second half
that you made at the mid-semester point. Third, reread all of the major writing assignments you composed
for this course; look for signs of progress you made in your writing abilities, noting specific writing
strategies you learned how to deploy to achieve your rhetorical goals. Once you have reviewed the course
learning outcomes and the writing you’ve done this semester, compose a one-page, single-spaced essay
that highlights the major writing skills and writing-related knowledge you developed in your Professional
Writing course. You need not discuss each and every thing you learned; instead, focus on three or four
skills that you feel you’ve improved the most from the beginning to the end of the semester, that best
demonstrate the type of writer you are or have become by the end of the course, or that you expect to
draw on in your future professional or civic lives. Be specific; provide examples, details, and descriptions
from writing projects you created this semester; and explain your reasoning throughout this brief
reflective essay.
MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS
Assignment #1 (Personal Statement): 15%
Purpose: Gain Admissions to a Graduate or Professional Program (or obtain an internship)
Audience: Admissions Committee/Officer for that Program (or internship)
Context: One in a series of hundreds of other impressive candidates’ statements, read quickly by various
members of a committee who are also reading other application materials such as transcripts and letters of
recommendation
Target length: as specified by program, typically about 5,000 characters, singled spaced
Research a graduate or professional program in your field that requires you to write a personal statement
as part of the admissions process. Write your personal statement in compliance with the requirements of
the program you have selected. Make a copy of the requirements for the personal statement so that you
can submit it with your draft and final version of the personal statement. The purpose of the personal
statement is for you to make a case for why you want to become what it is you want to become (doctor,
PA, speech therapist, etc.), to persuade the reader that in addition to your academic record and your
professional experiences (i.e. all the accomplishments detailed elsewhere in your application package),
who you are as a person is an ideal fit for this program and/or the profession the program leads to. The
audience is the admissions officer or board. One of the most effective ways to “prove” or demonstrate that
you have a specific character quality (such as determination or a deep-seated commitment to the
profession) is to include a short narrative which illustrates that quality. To give you practice in doing so,
for this assignment, you must include some element of narrative.
Assignments #2 & #3 (Extended Definition for Lay Audience): Each 15%
Length: each 1,200 words, single spaced
Choose a medical or health term that either is not commonly understood, or is commonly misunderstood,
or (due to recent advances or to changes in perspective) is now differently understood. Write an extended
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definition for that term for a non-expert audience, using a minimum of 3 sources. For each assignment, a
different term, a different audience (government agencies, non-profit organizations, and public
policymakers, to patients and their families, and to media), & a different venue (an entry in a newsletter,
an extended memo, etc.) will be chosen. Consider why the audience would want/need to read this
definition, in what situation or setting your definition would appear, and what you hope the audience will
gain by reading and understanding your term. Each assignment will be accompanied by a 250-word
memo that explains why this audience & this venue for this term.
Assignment #4 (Literature Review): 35%
Length: 3,000 words, single spaced – excluding bibliography
This final project topic and the audience for it is something you should begin thinking about very early in
the semester, possibly related to the term you chose for assignment #2 &/or the issue you choose for
assignment #3. You will write a 500-word proposal that includes an annotated bibliography of 10
articles that’s worth 5%, while the literature review of 25 peer-reviewed articles for a professional
journal is worth 30%. The purpose of the literature review is to help readers understand what is
currently happening in a particular field, on a particular subject (the last 5 to 10 years); they involve not
merely explanation and description but also analysis and synthesis; and they not only analyze and
synthesize what the field knows but also, potentially, point to what the field still doesn’t know and needs
to research in order to better understand what is at stake. Note: Students will also give a brief presentation
on their work-in-progress.
Also: What is your target professional journal for the lit review? What are the information needs of your
professional audience? Which style guide is most appropriate? Penultimately, do NOT simply write an
annotated bibliography (an academic genre different from the literature review); compile a set of
abstracts; or give a history of the topic (because it’s about current status). (These are all likely
components of a literature review, but they should not be the whole project.) Finally, do you venture an
opinion on the direction of future research?
Itinerary
Week 1
8/31: Introduction & Stasis Theory
9/2: Lyme disease: Andy Abrahams Wilson, Under Our Skin (find under “modules”) + Wikipedia’s entry
on “Lyme disease controversy”
9/4: Lyme disease: Sample Lit Review on Lyme disease + The Lancet, “Personal View: Antiscience and
ethical concerns associated with advocacy of Lyme disease” (PDFs on ELMS)
9/6: Reflective Prompt (“Establishing Expectations”) due via ELMS as Word attachment
Week 2
9/7: No CLASS
9/9: 2 Sample Personal Statements (PDFs on ELMS)
9/11: Draft Workshop (+)
9/13: Assignment #1 due via ELMS as Word attachment
Week 3
Conference #1: 9/14-9/18
Week 4
9/21: Cochlear Implant & Deaf Culture: Josh Aronson, Sound & Fury (find under “modules”)
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9/23: Cochlear Implant & Deaf Culture: Josh Aronson, Sound & Fury” 6 Years Later (find under
“modules”) + Carol Padden & Tom Humphries, “Deaf People: A Different Center” (PDF on
ELMS)
9/25: Inspiration Porn: Stella Young, “Inspiration Porn” (view in class)
Week 5
9/28: Trans* Healthcare: Leslie Feinberg, scene from hir 1993 novel Stone Butch Blues + Natalie
Ingraham, Vanessa Pratt, & Nick Gorton, “Counting Trans* Patients: A Community Health
Center Case Study” (PDFs on ELMS)
9/30: Trans* Healthcare: PBS’s Frontline, Growing Up Trans + Riki Wilckins, “Transgender Dinosaurs
& the Rise of Genderqueers” (PDF on ELMS)
10/2: Gender Verification in Sport: Laura Hercher, “Gender Verification: A Term Whose Time Has
Come and Gone” + Tavia Nyong’o, “The Unforgiveable Transgression of Being Caster
Semenya” (PDFs on ELMS)
Week 6
10/5: Heterosexuality: Hanna Blank, “Introduction: Sexual Disorientation” from Straight: The
Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality (PDF on ELMS)
10/7: Sample Student Essays (PDFs on ELMS)
10/9: Draft Workshop (+)
10/11: Assignment #2 due via ELMS as Word attachment
Week 7
10/12: Autism: Mick Jackson, Temple Grandin (find under “modules”)
10/14: Autism: Temple Grandin’s TED Talk
10/16: Vaccines: PBS’s Frontline, The Vaccine War
Week 8
10/19: Fat Studies: Pat Lyons, “Prescription for Harm: Diet Industry Influence, Public Health Policy, &
the ‘Obesity Epidemic’” from The Fat Studies Reader (PDF on ELMS) + Julia Feng, “5 Effective
Ways People with Thin Privilege Can Fight Fatphobia”
(http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/04/thin-privilege-fight-fatphobia/)
10/21: Midwifery: Abby Epstein, Business of Being Born (find under “modules”)
10/23: Physician-Assisted Suicide: PBS’s Frontline, The Suicide Plan
10/25: Reflective Prompt (“Mid-Term Self-Assessment”) due via ELMS as Word attachment
Week 9
10/26: Mortality: PBS’s Frontline, Being Mortal
10/28: Sample Student Essays (PDFs on ELMS)
10/30: Draft Workshop (+)
11/1: Assignment #3 due via ELMS as Word attachment
Week 10
11/2: Sample Lit Review #1 (PDF on ELMS)
11/4: Sample Lit Review #2 (PDF on ELMS)
11/6: Sample Lit Review #3 (PDF on ELMS)
Week 11
11/9: Sample Lit Review #4 (PDF on ELMS)
11/11: 3 Sample Student Proposals (PDF on ELMS)
11/13: Workshop of Proposal w/out Annotated Bibliography (+)
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11/25: Lit Review Proposal w/ Annotated Bibliography due via ELMS as Word Attachment
Weeks 12 & 13
Conference #2: 11/16-11/20 &11/23
Week 14 & Week 15
Presentations: 11/30-12/4 & 12/7
12/9: Draft Workshop (+)
12/11: Draft Workshop (+)
12/13: Assignment #4 + Reflective Prompt (“Revisiting your Expectations”) + Participation Grade
Due via ELMS as Word attachments – 3 SEPARATE DOCUMENTS
Course Policies
Disabilities: If you have a registered disability that will require accommodation, please let me know right
away. If you have a disability and have not yet registered it with Disability Support Services in 0126
Shoemaker (4-7682 or 5-7683 TTY/TDD), you should do so immediately.
Religious Observance: Please inform me within the first two weeks of the semester of any intended
absences for religious observance.
Excused Absences: Under the new policy, the University will accept as an excused absence a self-signed
note from a student who has missed a single lecture, attesting to the date of the illness. The note must also
contain an acknowledgement by the student that the information is true and correct and that providing
false information is prohibited under Code of Student Conduct. The student is also obligated to make a
reasonable attempt to inform the instructor of hir illness in advance. For non-consecutive, medically
necessitated absences from more than a single lecture, written documentation of the illness from the
Health Center or an outside health care provider is required.
Also, I have identified on the syllabus any activity that qualifies as a “Major Scheduled Grading Event”
since the requirement for accepting a self-signed note does not apply to these events. These “Major
Scheduled Grading Event” are marked above with an asterisk (+). In this course, these events are our
draft workshops. A student who experiences a prolonged absence or an illness preventing attendance at a
major Scheduled Grading Event is required to provide written documentation of the illness from the
Health Center or an outside health care provider, verifying the dates of treatment and the time period
during which the student was unable to meet academic responsibilities.
Academic Integrity: University of Maryland's Code of Academic Integrity defines the following acts as
“academic dishonesty”: Cheating: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials,
information, or study aids in any academic exercise. Fabrication: intentional and unauthorized
falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Facilitating Academic
Dishonesty: intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate any provision of
this Code. Plagiarism: intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own
in any academic exercise.
Final Note: This syllabus is subject to change. If there are changes, timely announcements will be made.
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