Podcasts for health writers are a great source of useful, relevant, accurate and credible information.

Many of us are also freelance medical writers which means we’re often looking for up-to-date information on running a freelance business, too.

In our increasingly busy lives, podcasts have become a popular medium for writers to consume information. These days, you can find podcasts on just about any topic – and, luckily, there are plenty of interesting and helpful podcasts for health writers. Here are our top picks to get you started.

Episode: 10 Tips on writing better with Amanda VanElderen
Podcast: Hot Copy

This podcast isn’t just for health writers – it’s for anyone who wants to write better. SEO copywriter and consultant Kate Toon speaks with Amanda VanElderen, author of Write Better: How To Cut The Crap And Say What You Mean, about Amanda’s top ten tips to write better. The duo discuss knowing your audience and understanding what you are writing as well as managing time and the importance of including editing and proofreading strategies in your writing process.

Also check out Expert email marketing with Sarah Anderson and What we wish we’d known before we started copywriting for more excellent Hot Copy podcasts!

Episode: Five medical writer productivity hacks
Podcast: Medical Writers Speak

This excellent series of podcasts for health writers, hosted by Dr Emma Hitt Nichols, discusses productivity specifically for medical communicators (her second podcast in a series of three on productivity). Emma talks about how to speed up your writing using text expanders, how to organise your background reading and resources from clients, managing your references, setting ground rules for client calls, and much more. This podcast contains so much useful and time-saving information, and it’s well worth a listen!

Check out Emma’s interview with Amy Tippin, CEO of RTL Digital Media, on SEO and Google rankings – what it takes to get to the top to hear about all things SEO (search engine optimisation), mobile-responsiveness;  the importance of dynamic content on your website; understanding your google analytics and strategies to grow your business through social media – as well as Michelle Guillemard’s chat with Emma about consumer health writing.

Episode: Talking about the many ways we can improve health information
Podcast: The Health Literacy Podcast

Dr Ruth DeSouza, Academic Convenor of The Data, Systems and Society Research Network (DSSRN), talks with the Centre of Culture, Ethnicity and Health about how to unpack health jargon and allow access to health information for all people. In this health literacy podcast, Ruth also discusses her latest projects: a new tool to improve health information and how the way we think about health information is changing through technology.

Episode: Social media and public health protection
Podcast: MJA Podcasts

In this podcast, writer Cate Swannell, the Editor at the Medical Journal of Australia, interviews Dr Catherine Bateman-Steel, deputy director of the Public Health Unit at South Eastern Sydney Local Health District and Keira Glasgow, an epidemiologist with NSW Health. Catherine and Keira discuss using social media to distribute public health protection messages in an immediate and targeted way.

Episode: Prescribing podcasts as a marketing cure
Podcast: Australian Prescriber Podcast

Dr Fiona Mackinnon, producer of the NPS MedicineWise podcast and Deputy Editor of Australian Prescriber Journal, talks about the launch of NPS MedicineWise podcasts and the journey to integrate the podcast feature into the company’s communication strategy.

Episode: How to take your freelance income to $100,000 in 6 Simple Steps
Podcast: High Income Business Writing

If you want a podcast about freelance writing, this won’t disappoint. Jennifer Gregory, a freelance content marketing writer, talks with Ed Gandia from High-Income Business Writing about the strategies she undertook to transform her freelance business. Jennifer’s strategies included reducing her client base, finding her niche as well as implementing steps based on her strengths to optimise her business outcomes.

Also check out Michelle Guillemard’s chat with Cheeky Scientist’s Industry Careers for PhDs Podcast about career pathways for medical copywriters.

Episode: Best SEO research practices for your online content
Podcast: Write Podcast

Michael Stricker, US Marketing Director of SEMrush, gives some interesting advice on strategies to do SEO research without investing large amounts of time. Michael talks about the ‘funnel’ analogy, which is about consumer decision-making behaviour and being able to decipher where in the ‘funnel’ of the decision-making process you are writing content for. (For example, are you writing about a particular issue to increase web traffic to your client’s site, or are you writing content to convert web traffic into sales of a particular good or service for that client?)

Are there any other podcasts for health writers you love? Let us know!