Everyone employed in medical affairs, learning, and training encounters the challenges of communicating complex, scientific material in a clear and accessible manner. This expert blog contains advice and best practices for presenting scientific information to your target audience, from pedagogy to design, technical specs to usability, timelines to costs and everything in between.
Visual Storytelling Blog for Medical Affairs
How to communicate complex, scientific material
in a clear and accessible manner
Engaging eLearning tools with a fresh editorial design
/0 Comments/in eLearning /by Julia Imkampe, PhDEvery day, employees working in medical affairs use high-quality apps and read interactive digital publications with a sleek and clean design. They do all of this after they get home from work. And the next day the same employees go to work and sit in front of boring slides to learn information crucial for their profession. How design can engage or derail an eLearning. Read more
How to create an effective learning and development program for medical affairs–part 2
/0 Comments/in Learning theories /by Anja Kloss, PhDAn interview with Thomas Frei, executive creative director at CAST PHARMA
This is the second part of an interview with Thomas Frei, executive creative director of CAST PHARMA, offering insights into the learning and development (L&D) philosophy of CAST PHARMA. Read more
How to create an effective learning and development program for medical affairs–part 1
/0 Comments/in Learning theories /by Anja Kloss, PhDAn interview with Thomas Frei, executive creative director at CAST PHARMA
Learning and development (L&D) is something that accompanies you throughout your entire life. Learning for your career does not end with graduation or an academic degree. Read more
Sharpening the message of key study results
/0 Comments/in Slide decks, 90 seconds /by Stefan WolfTo differentiate their product from the competition, communicating the results of scientific studies is crucial for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Their MSLs need effective tools in order to be able to engage health care professionals in a meaningful dialogue. Read more
Don’t overload your learners: Getting rid of redundant explanations of visuals in eLearning tools
/0 Comments/in eLearning /by Julia Imkampe, PhDCreating eLearning tools for medical affairs is a complex project. The scientific content needs to be carefully compiled and organized, and different theories about learning need to be considered in order to design a didactic concept. Read more
Laying the groundwork for a multi-unit eLearning tool for medical training
/0 Comments/in eLearning /by Julia Imkampe, PhDeLearning tools are important for pharmaceutical and biotech companies to provide their employees with the foundational knowledge they need for carrying out their responsibilities. Read more
Telling a visual story using a scientific slide deck
/0 Comments/in Slide decks /by Colin CasciaScientific slide decks, mostly implemented in PowerPoint, play many important roles in medical affairs:
Read more
Self-directed learning with PowerPoint: visually appealing and cost effective
/0 Comments/in eLearning, Slide decks /by Julia Imkampe, PhDTraining for Medical Affairs is always challenging—particularly in the onboarding phase, when employees with different knowledge levels start their jobs at different points in time. Read more
Bringing scientific study data to life with animation
/0 Comments/in Video and animation /by Stefan WolfAcademic publications present scientific studies and clinical trials in a text-heavy format. That means several pages of black print on white paper. Read more
Visual storytelling – fast sketch
/0 Comments/in Video and animation /by Stefan WolfOver the past two to three years, there has been a huge increase in the use of Fast Sketch animation to convey explanations and information. Read more
Team discussions – benefit from the knowledge of peers
/0 Comments/in Classroom training /by Lisa KubeTeam discussions allow learners to benefit from each other’s knowledge and to close their individual knowledge gaps in small teams. They also offer learners the opportunity to scrutinize their current knowledge and obtain new insights in the process.
Gagné‘s steps of instruction
/0 Comments/in Learning theories /by Thomas FreiEducational psychologist Robert M. Gagné’s general guidelines can be extremely useful when designing effective learning systems. Read more
Strengths and weaknesses of expert presentations
/0 Comments/in Classroom training /by Lisa KubeExpert presentations are widely used for training medical affairs in the pharmaceutical industry. While having a number of advantages, expert presentations alone are insufficient to prepare medical staff for their professional responsibilities.
Dual coding theory
/0 Comments/in Learning theories /by Thomas FreiPsychology professor and writer Allan Paivio hypothesized that visual input and verbal input are processed differently in the human mind and the information learned is then organized using mental codes corresponding to these separate representations. Read more
Load management
/0 Comments/in Learning theories /by Thomas FreiAnother very important point to consider when designing educational tools is the perfect balance between holding the learner’s interest and avoiding an exhausting overload of information. Read more