How I Started: Writing & Publishing

A neatly arranged workspace includes a laptop, a journal, image from Unsplash

This post is the first in a new mini-series called 'How I Started.' This series will feature individuals who have created spaces in public health. This is a follow-up to my first post of the year where one of my advice was to 'start.' I hope this series gives you some inspiration on what to start.

My blog has largely been a space for writing reflection and opinion pieces. This post will share my journey on how I started writing & publishing. Everyone can write, but it is important to ensure your writing gets published to share your viewpoints and challenge people's thinking. Publishing also ensures you are credited and cited for your ideas. To publish you can do it in a simple way such as creating LinkedIn articles, creating a blog, or publishing your articles in a journal or online magazine.

I first attempted to publish an article as a first-year student at the University of Toronto (U of T). If you read my 'About Me' post, you know my major, but if you are new here I majored in Health Studies with a double minor in African Studies and Immunology. I have always had a passion for public health, thus when there was an essay competition by Juxtaposition, U of T's Global Health magazine, I made sure to submit to the competition.

My article was titled "The Forgotten Issue of Universal Healthcare Coverage," and it did not win nor get published. Eager, to publish an article, I tried again. This time I submitted an article on child and maternal healthcare to the same magazine, which also was not published. Although I did not succeed in my first publication attempts, it was something I enjoyed doing, so I continued. While you may not succeed in your first attempts, if it is something you do enjoy doing, seek feedback and keep trying!

Although I did not succeed in my first attempts to publish my writing, it was something I enjoyed doing, so I continued.

That summer, in August 2017, a mudslide occurred in Freetown, Sierra Leone. This mudslide motivated me to draft an article, particularly about the public health impacts that followed the immediate efforts. I wanted to bring attention to the fact that the longer-term public health impacts were being ignored, and that is something that we cannot forget after such a disaster occurs.

After the second year of my undergraduate degree, I interned at Friends of the Global Fight in Washington, D.C. During this internship, I conducted research and drafted an issue brief that was later published. This was following several revisions from my supervisor as we worked to improve the piece. This experience reassured me that I had writing skills and that with further support, my writing could and would get published. That summer, I continued working on my article draft about the mudslide in Sierra Leone.

During the first semester of my third year, I studied abroad at King's College London. During this time, I submitted the mudslide article draft and received feedback that it took me a while to go through as it was now 2 years after the mudslide. I finally finished going through the edits during the second term of my fourth year, after I submitted all my graduate school applications. Once I finished revising the edits, the article was published. While you may be eager to write, it is important to balance your commitments.

As a fourth-year student, I also recognized that I wanted to expand my writing, particularly on various public health topics. With this intention, I applied to be a contributor to the Rare Disease Review Journal. Being a part of this journal, I learned about rare diseases and I was able to publish 2 articles on a rare disease and rare disease policy. The website is no longer active, so when you publish, make sure you save a copy of the publication for your records. This will make it easy to use it as a writing sample for job applications and it will ensure that you always have a copy. After publishing these articles, I have continued writing various pieces such as blog posts and peer-reviewed articles.

This experience reassured me that I had writing skills and that with further support, my writing could and would get published.

Remember that when you are writing, finishing the first draft is the hardest part. Once the draft is complete, you just need to edit the work. If you do not succeed in publishing your work the first time do not be discouraged. Keep trying and always ask for feedback that way you can improve your work.

And if you are looking for places to publish your article, check out this post by Dr. Madhukar Pai at McGill University. It has over 50 places where you can pitch your writing.

Happy writing everyone!