Learn how to write about diseases, treatments and medications.
How to Write Patient Education Materials is a 3-week online course teaching you how to:
- Write explainer content about complex health topics
- Create quality, compliant health copy
- Find patient education writing jobs
- And much more!
Trusted
More than 2000 students in 42 countries have taken our courses.
Flexible
Learn at your own pace, from anywhere in the world, with unlimited access.
Accredited
We’re independently accredited for quality, academic standards and professional development.
Comprehensive
The lessons walk you through exactly how to write a patient handout.
A comprehensive course
"How to Write Patient Education Materials is a comprehensive course, covering a variety of aspects of writing patient education materials. It was also great to have Michelle's responses to homework tasks and general questions, along with interaction with other students."
Kate Marsh, Australia
What you'll learn
How to Write Patient Education Materials teaches you how to:
- Explain complex medical topics clearly and concisely
- Answer your readers’ key health questions
- Provide the right amount of information without overwhelming readers
- Plan and structure your writing
- Write content that your readers remember and action
- Choose the most appropriate language for your health topic
- Improve your readers’ health literacy skills.
Who is this course for?
How to Write Patient Education Materials is perfect for writers (new and experienced), coaches, health professionals, communications professionals, marketers and researchers who want to write patient education materials for health services, websites, marketing materials, social media, health businesses, brands and resources.
How does this course work?
Here's what you can expect.
12 engaging lessons
- Self-paced; start learning as soon as you register
- Work through the lessons in your own time
- Email Michelle whenever you have questions.
Writing feedback
- Write a patient handout
- Send your handout to Michelle for feedback
- Get a detailed critique with action points and tips for improvement!
What's included?
Industry-leading resources to help you write high-quality patient handouts and educational materials.
- 12 comprehensive lessons (audio lectures AND text modules) meeting the core learning objectives
- 3 patient handout templates for writing about health topics, procedures and medications
- 14 free health writing webinars to enhance your learning objectives
- 25 handouts full of best-practice resources
- Downloadable audio lectures and lecture notes
- One assessed patient handout writing task to put the learnings into practice
- CPD accreditation for your annual CPD requirements
- Lively student-only Facebook group of 1100+ writers
- Ongoing access to course updates
- 1:1 support for every student
- Health Writer Hub Alumni membership including free webinars
- Loyalty discounts giving you 30% off every other course
- World-class eLearning platform for a seamless learning experience.
What are the benefits and opportunities after completion?
After you complete How to Write Patient Education Materials, you will have:
- A certificate to enhance your credibility when applying for freelance and employed roles
- Writing skills to help you write useful, engaging and readable patient handouts
- Confidence to write health content that answers the questions patients are asking
- Knowledge and templates to help you write high-quality health content in future.
Course curriculum
How to Write Patient Education Materials includes 12 lessons plus one writing assignment.
Focus areas
Understanding patient education materials
- What are patient education materials?
Gain an understanding of the purpose of patient education materials, explore the difference between education and promotion, and learn about the wide variety of patient handout options. - The importance of defining the ideal reader of your patient material.
Discover how and why educating patients involves understanding their needs and key questions. - Planning and context.
Learn how to effectively plan your patient education material and consider the key factors that influence your writing choices, such as format and context.
Structure, research and language
- How to structure a patient handout (with templates).
Determine the most appropriate structure for your patient education materials. Explore a variety of options for effective structure and get templates to help you write your patient education materials. - Conducting effective research for your patient handout.
Books, journal articles, websites or interviews? Learn the key sources you should rely on – and those you should avoid – when you’re researching for your patient handout. - People, not patients – using the right language.
The language you use in your writing can engage or alienate your readers, so discover how to help – not harm – your readers’ comprehension.
Focus areas
Health literacy, readability and engagement
- Improving health literacy.
Explore the relationship between health literacy and patient education and learn techniques to help improve your readers’ health literacy skills. - How to write readable patient education materials.
Discover the essential readability techniques that will ensure your handout is easy to read, understand, follow and remember. - How to write original, engaging content.
There are so many patient education materials online, so how can you make yours different? Learn strategies for creating unique content about common topics.
Referencing, editing and future strategies
- Referencing options.
Discover how to effectively reference your handouts and materials in both online and offline formats. - Effective editing and proofreading strategies.
Learn how to edit and proofread your work efficiently – even when you have limited time. - Next steps and resources.
Consolidate all the techniques in this course and develop strategies to monitor your materials in the future.
An incredibly supportive, helpful, and diverse group of professionals
"One of the most useful parts of taking the How to Write Patient Education Materials course was the connection to the Health Writer Hub alumni community and Facebook Group. It is an incredibly supportive, helpful, and diverse group of professionals with a passion for health literacy. They have provided great professional advice and even employment opportunities for me."
Amy Harris, USA
Writing assignment
Write a patient handout
- Write a patient handout on a topic of your choice using all the techniques you’ve learned in this course.
- Send your handout to Michelle after you’ve completed the course.
- Get personalised feedback and tips for improvement.
- Use your patient handout in your portfolio to show prospective clients and employers.
Alumni Bonuses!
Free templates, checklists, planners and 10+ hours of online learning.
- 14 webinars – webinar topics include quoting for jobs, finding clients, CV writing, finding employed work, website essentials, subcontracting, marketing and more!
- Freelance Career Planner (new in 2022!) - map out your freelance career transition confidently with our detailed planner
- Foundations of Readability & Plain English Checklist (new in 2022!) - ensure your writing captures the essential readability techniques all health writers need to know
- Writing templates - simplify the writing process with our handy templates
- COVID-19 communication resources - stay updated with the latest health communication best practices
Very informative, effective and valuable
"I am extremely proud to announce that I found How to Write Patient Education Materials very informative, effective and valuable in learning about how to write patient education materials. There is a well-organized planner to help you order your thoughts when planning what information to put in the health education materials about the health topic of your choice and lectures which tell you what to how and what to or not to write. I enjoyed the lessons and lectures which were very attention-getting and interesting."
Karon King, USA
Certified and accredited
Accredited for quality and standards.
How to Write Patient Education Materials is an approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course, independently accredited with the CPD Certification Service – one of the world’s leading independent CPD accreditation institutions.
As an accredited medical writing course, How to Write Patient Education Materials meets the required standard of CPD at a global level. The course’s learning value and structure conform to global CPD guidelines and principles, complementing the CPD policies of professional institutes and academic bodies.
Your teacher
Who I am, and why I want to help you succeed.
Hi! I’m Michelle Guillemard, founder of Health Writer Hub and long-time patient education writer. For the past 10 years, I’ve written patient education for hospitals and health professionals about virtually every health topic you can think of: cancer, heart disease, rare disease, primary care concerns, medications, treatments, procedures. I’ve studied the craft and learned what works (as well as what doesn’t). I even won an award for my patient education materials!
Quality patient education materials can change lives and improve health outcomes. But many people struggle to write clear patient information. I want to make the patient education writing process easier for everyone, and that’s why I created this course.
In just 12 lessons, I'll teach you a straightforward writing process you can apply to any health topic! So let me break it down for you. In How to Write Patient Education Materials, I'll show you how to write a useful, engaging and readable handout that will help your readers improve their health literacy skills and manage their health. If you're ready to learn effective techniques for writing patient handouts and information, How to Write Patient Education Materials is the course for you!
My teaching method
I teach this course, and all my courses, through a combination of audio lectures (podcast style) and text resources. I also offer a range of video content, including bonus webinars and regular student interviews.
After experimenting with different combinations over the years and listening to student feedback, I am confident that delivering lectures in both audio AND text format is the most effective way for you to learn health writing in an online class environment.
While it’s up to you how you consume the content, you are welcome to:
- listen and read the transcripts at the same time
- listen and take your own notes
- listen away from your computer
- read the transcripts only.
Many students have told me that they like to listen to the lectures while driving, walking, hiking, running or cleaning the house – and, that’s fine as well!
Join a supportive group of like-minded health writers
When you join How to Write Patient Education Materials, you become a member of the Health Writer Hub Alumni – a smart, diverse and friendly community of 1000+ health writers from around the world. Alumni benefits include:
- Loyalty discounts – 30% off any other Health Writer Hub course
- Writing challenges – goals to keep you motivated and accountable
- Global networking – connect with health writers from around the world
- A supportive network of health writers – ask questions and share advice
- Immediate access – join the group as soon as you sign up.
Frequently asked questions
What you need to know.