Media Award Win for Pathology Coverage

Media Award Win for Pathology Coverage

A series of articles about evidence based research in pathology has won medical journalist Megan Howe the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) 2011 media award. The award, which is presented annually, recognises excellence in journalism relating to pathology.

Ms Howe, who writes for Australian Doctor, was presented with a $2000 cheque and certificate at a media gathering hosted by S2i Communications and CEO of the RCPA, Dr Debra Graves.

The award judges said Megan's -Testing Update' series of articles, published in Australian Doctor, gave the medical and broader community the latest evidence-based information on a range of new and increasingly popular tests requested by doctors.

President of the RCPA, Associate Professor Paul McKenzie, said the judges were impressed with the depth of research in the four articles submitted by Megan.

"Not only did we see thorough journalistic research, we were also impressed by the usefulness of these articles for General Practitioners," he said.

Megan Howe's four award-winning articles focused on Cystic fibrosis carrier screening for prospective parents, testing for early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, the role of anti-mullerian hormone testing and multi-gene assays to decide on appropriate treatment of breast cancer.

'Megan's articles have highlighted the link between pathology and every individual's health.
'Pathologists are indispensable to medicine and without effective pathology a modern health system simply would not exist," said Prof. McKenzie.

The 2011 media awards coincide with the public awareness campaign by the RCPA about the vital role that pathologists play in medicine.

Previous winners of the RCPA Media Awards have come from Australian and New Zealand media. They include last year's winners Kirrilly Burton from the Medical Observer for -Who Owns Your Genes' and Karen Brown from Radio NZ for -Testing Time'. Winners in other years include: Julie Robotham (Sydney Morning Herald); Jill Margo (Australian Financial Review); Adam Cresswell (The Australian); Sophie Scott (ABC TV); Janelle Miles (Courier Mail); Martin Johnston (New Zealand Herald); Louise Hall (Sun Herald) and Gabrielle Boyle (Network Ten).