Teaching doctors journalism skills
The Fellowship in Journalism and Health Impact: a new way to build competence in advocacy
This paper describes the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health's Fellowship in Journalism and Health Impact: a seven-month, part-time, experiential program run as a working newsroom, in which advocacy competencies are learned, practised, and demonstrated on real published work.
How it runs
A ten-day hybrid bootcamp covering news judgment, narrative interviewing, writing clearly for lay audiences, audio, and basic reporting.
Weekly "news bureaus" led by working journalists, who help fellows shape ideas into pitches.
Pitches go out weekly to media partners worldwide; commissioned stories are mentored through reporting, writing, and editing to publication or broadcast.
Concurrent monthly seminars on podcasting, social media, investigative tradecraft, and longform, with optional alumni mentorship afterward.
What we have learned
Since 2012 the programme has trained 252 students, including 67 physicians, who have produced over 1200 stories carried by more than 150 outlets. Participants find the hardest shift is moving from being the expert a reporter seeks to being the reporter seeking expertise — a shift that responds to coaching. They report that journalistic discipline improves their patient counselling and interprofessional communication, and that advocating through journalism eases feelings of powerlessness and burnout.
Citation Bigham BL, Steiner R. Teaching doctors journalism skills in the fellowship in journalism and health impact: a new way to build competence in advocacy. Med Educ. 2025;59:1007-8. doi:10.1111/medu.15672
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND.