Towards the end of November 2020, I landed my first concrete writing job at Proactive for Her, a medical company, the basis of which was formed through my first ever freelance gig after I graduated. Rarely do companies hire non-experienced people. But at the same time, start-ups or NGOs who cannot afford experienced people give work to newcomers. So, it is a fair trade-off. It was a similar situation for me as well. I had writing skills but no experience. The first person who believed in me and gave me work was Soumya ma'am. As soon as I graduated, I started working as a content creator for VHS, a non-profit hospital based in Chennai. When I got selected for the medical content writing job at Proactive for Her, I had four months of content creation experience on my CV. It is solely because of Soumya ma’am.
Dr Renuka set up a video call with me before I joined their organisation. I was a little nervous as I thought it was an interview call. But she started telling me about the company and their expectations from me and I understood that they had already selected me as a content writer for them. Proactive for Her is a digital health clinic for women-specific health problems. I was expected to interview doctors and deliver 2 articles per week. As I got the hang of writing these medical articles, I upped my game and started writing 3 or sometimes 4 articles per week. With time I had more clarity on how to write them, so my speed also improved.
With consistent perseverance, I hit a milestone - I had 50 published medical articles in my name! This small achievement made me so happy that I decided to write about it. When I was in college, I had never thought that I would work in the medical field. Although, it does remind me of an anecdote. In 6th standard, during art class, Ms Sandra asked us to draw ‘My dream’. I was not good at memory drawing, but copy sketching was child’s play for me. In our Marathi textbook, we had a chapter that involved a doctor. At that age, my dream was to become a doctor. I used to love using the doctor set to treat humans and stuffed toys. So, there was a drawing of a doctor talking to the patient beside him. I copied it and was proud of my creation. When I showed it to Ms Sandra, she gave me 3/10 marks. It was way below my expectation; I had at least 8 or 9 marks in mind. Before I could question her, she showed me the mirror and asked, “Are you going to grow up to become a man?” I was embarrassed. How stupid of me to copy blindly without using any logic! She was kind enough to give me those 3 marks for effort and drawing skills.
I am deviating from the main subject, but since I had a vivid memory of the drawing, I wanted to include it in this blog. It only took 5 mins of Internet search to find the 6th Standard Marathi textbook, SSC board, 2012 syllabus. I was so happy and proud to have acquired it! This illustration drawn by Swati Sabnis, is from chapter 15, 'Saduche bill' written by Suhas Bartakke.
Other such instances indicate that maybe that was my childhood dream. As Dr Kavita was the only practising doctor in our society, everyone would run to her in case of any medical problem. Like everyone, my mom would take me to her if I caught a cold, cough, fever and likewise. After checking me, I would continue sitting on the bed and fiddle with her instruments until my mom finished talking to her. I was always fascinated by them. Similarly, Dr Bina, my eye doctor’s clinic was so interesting too. When I had my first eye check-up with those cool equipment, I wanted to be an ophthalmologist.
I reckon that my Nani's dream had a massive influence on me. She always wanted my mom to study medicine, so much so that she nicknamed her ‘Doctri’ and continued calling her that even though she never became a doctor. But as I grew up, I realised neither I wanted to become a doctor nor did my parents want me to. When I started writing these medical articles, I was reminded of my childhood dream. I felt that even though I did not choose to become a doctor, still somehow I came back to it.
I started with writing on the topic ‘Understanding the basics of menopause’. Honestly, before writing the article, I just knew that menopause is the cessation of the menstrual cycle. But when I interviewed a gynaecologist and wrote the article, I understood there’s so much more to it. Overtime, I gradually connected with more healthcare experts - a nutritionist, anaesthetist, physicians, a physiotherapist, an oncologist, a psychologist and a dermatologist. Talking to each expert was equally enlightening.
I was writing about topics that I dare not discuss with anyone openly. However open-minded I consider myself, when it comes to sexual health, menstrual health, reproductive health-related topics, I hesitate to talk about it. I realised that I am comfortable talking to a doctor or writing, yet I found myself uncomfortable sharing these articles with my family. I would not even let anyone take a sneak peek of my laptop while I would type these articles - I would either lower the brightness of my laptop or sit in a corner. But, I was completely okay with sharing them with my close friends or people my age. So my brain considers some situations comfortable while some not. My mom and dad talk to me openly about these topics, but I feel weird in those moments. It’s so strange that it’s inexplicable now!
Medical writing does not demand me to write creatively. Despite that, I never got bored of it! Because I get to learn about so many different things whenever I interview an expert and write the article. I have to use my creativity in simplifying complicated medical topics to get the message across to the people. It makes me happy when I think about the innumerable people benefitting from these articles. This fact motivates me to continue this work.
Soon, I also found myself spreading the knowledge I gained and giving people random yet helpful tips.
After writing on calcium, I told mom, "Sesame seeds have a high amount of calcium; we should make hummus often.”
“Ideally we should start going for pelvic tests from 21 years of age.”, I told a friend during our video call.
I sent the article on contraceptives to a friend and said, “Read this article, it will be useful.”
“Peeing and washing up after sex is important.” I discussed this with another friend.
My dad was trying out intermittent fasting, so I emailed him the article I wrote on same subject with a short note, “Hi, read it, it will be useful.” His response was, “Yes it is a useful article. Very well written and properly structured piece. Keep it up.”
During a discussion on pregnancy and having kids, I contributed, “After 32-33 years, it becomes hard to become pregnant. And for other techniques like IVF, you have to be rich.”
“You must do both aerobic and strength training exercises.”, I advised my cousin, who only does push-ups and squats.
Since my brother suffers from too much acne, I explained all the self-care tips that he could follow to manage it. “Your face wash should have salicylic acid as it helps in controlling the oil production.”, I informed him. He got his face wash from the bathroom; I checked the ingredients and gave him a green signal.
After writing the article on toxic relationships, I analysed my relationship with an ex-friend to find out how toxic our friendship was.
I got the idea to write on 'How to cope with friendship breakups?' next because of suffering two friendship breakups in my life.
And that's how I got tagged ‘half-doctor’ by my mother.
I may still be shy to discuss everything openly, but I understand the importance of being aware of these hushed topics.
I recommend all of you to visit the Proactive For Her blog page to learn more.
Also, if anyone wants archives of Maharashtra Board textbooks, visit ebalbharati.
コメント