Alberta Innovates- Health Solutions

Successful Summer for Media Fellows - AHFMR Magazine Sept/Oct 1998

Melanie Bodnar

As a doctor, Melanie Bodnar knows she'll be in regular contact with two very different populations-other doctors, and her patients. The second-year medical student at the University of Alberta thinks her recent experience working as a CBC Edmonton radio reporter/researcher has taught her better ways to communicate with each of these groups. "When you talk to medical colleagues you use 'medical speak,' the 25-year-old explains. "When you communicate with the general public, the language you use needs to be very simple and understandable. You have to break down certain barriers so people can understand science."

Melanie and her CBC Calgary counterpart, Thiloma Fernando, were part of the AHFMR's 1998 Media Fellowship program. The 12-week summer program gives two medical, science, and engineering students the chance to improve their communications skills and gain an understanding of how the media works by interning with a newspaper, radio or television station.

Thiloma Fernando

Thiloma, a fifth-year University of Calgary science student who also worked for CBC Radio, says she made several discoveries outside of the lab this summer. "I discovered 'the other side'," the 21 year-old says with a laugh. "I learned a lot about how the media works. I think now I have a more balanced perspective of the news and how it is produced." One of her most memorable stories was one that didn't make it to air. Solid research by the Media Fellow proved another reporter's hunch wrong. "That incident showed me how similar science and reporting can be-in both you must draw conclusions based on concrete evidence."

Melanie says one of the best skills she gained on the job was "learning how to listen. It's going to be the key to my success in medicine."

From AIDS research and antibiotic resistance, to fossil fish and poplar trees, Thiloma and Melanie initiated stories with a scientific focus that might not otherwise have aired. Together the two enterprising women collaborated on a series that ran in both cities which featured stories on researchers at the U of C and U of A.

The contributions made by this year's Fellows to the organizations for which they worked enhanced news coverage and impressed media colleagues. "Thiloma brought an incredible number of science stories to us locally, and many of those stories were picked up nationally," Program Manager Helen Henderson says. CBC Edmonton Program Manager Donna Cunnin concurs. "Melanie brought a lot of stories to us that we wouldn't have had without her," she says. "It certainly was good to have someone here who had such a keen interest and focus on science."

For more information on the AHFMR Media Fellowship program, please check our website at: http://www.ahfmr.ab.ca/communications/fellowship.php

Quick Reference of Contents:
The Power of Science | Animal Instincts | Judging Quality of Live | Gene Dreams
Human Genome Organization | The Price of Research | Towards a Shared Vision
Reporting on Research | Successful Summer for Media Fellows
1998 McLeod Scholarship Winner | Mentoring Young Minds | Ask Jacques
WISEST | AHFMR in the Community | SEARCH Profiles