“No, Mom, eating 15 bananas a day is not a good idea, even if you did read about it on the Internet,” you’ve said before, or something like it. Does Mom come to you with stuff like that? Do your friends? Do they understand that your health and medicine editorial  background allows you to look at a study and instantly ascertain that the sample size was just too small or that researchers failed to control for an obvious variable? Or that simply disclosing a conflict of interest does not make it go away? If that’s you, then we suspect you have a gift for turning medical journal jargon into into plain English. We also suspect that you’d really, really like this gig.

Nitty Gritty

You’ll spend an awful large amount of your time reading medical journals and aggregators, mining them for hot or buried content that health-minded consumers would find interesting. Did we say “interesting?” We meant irresistible. Weighing the merits of ideas pitched by writers, pitching a few yourself, and ensuring that the writing is not just factual, but also juicy.

Hired Gun Profile

Maybe you come from medical publishing, or maybe you have consumer health experience or have done a lot of pretty serious health journalism. Point is, you’ve got a head for statistics have nevery been confused by the difference between percentage and percent change, let alone probability and odds. You have a good medical vocabulary, and you’re familiar with the common pitfalls lurking in wait for overzealous health editors who can’t wait to shout something groundbreaking from the rooftops.

You write clearly and effectively, even charmingly. (You would never, for example, write so inelegantly as to combine “pitfalls,” “groundbreaking,” and “rooftops” in a single sentence.) You have a strong sense for what the inexpert masses find interesting and enlightening, and you’re eager to share that stuff. Finally, you need precious little handholding and you’re collaborative and easy to work with.

Inside Skinny

Give us a couple examples of recent studies you’ve found interesting and that you think would make good content for a general audience.

Net Net

Seriously, brother or sister, if you’re passionate about helping people make smarter health decisions and pride yourself on your ability to translate jargon into clear, valuable information, this is work that you’ll find endlessly satisfying and mentally stimulating.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, creed, age, sexual orientation, veteran status, marital status, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law.