Allison Krolikowski | Oct. 1, 2009
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| Photo by Shabrelle Pollock |
| Marsha Dawes Lovejoy, BAJ ‘08, talked about her job at Cook Medical in Bloomington. She hadn’t considered a job in PR, but this one proved to be a good fit, she said. |
“Health care PR wasn’t at the top of my list or my classmates’ lists, either,” Lovejoy told a public relations class Sept. 30. A guest of Ralph Winslow Visiting Professor Jim Bright, Lovejoy talked to J349 Public Relations Writing students.
Several seniors in the class could relate to Lovejoy’s dilemma of starting the job search. She recalled that as graduation day approached in May 2008, she heard Cook Medical was hiring. It offered many of the things that she wanted: a corporate public relations job, based job Bloomington and travel involved. Cook Medical fit the bill.
After more than a year on the job, Lovejoy said she loves it. She writes news releases and fact sheets, works on company publications and coordinates media interviews.
Her biggest challenge: How to take seemingly complex medical terms and turn them into something that will make them easy to understand.
“This is something that takes time to learn to do well,” Lovejoy said.
Lovejoy says it’s also important to make sure you clearly understand basic concepts before starting to give advice on it, she added. She recommends taking biology classes in college to become familiar with scientific terms.
Lovejoy and her colleagues keep up with advancements in the medical world and with electronic communications. She and her Cook Medical teammates have Twitter accounts, enabling them to send and receive breakthrough information as it happens.
While health care can be a challenging field, it has many benefits, she said. PR pros help doctors translate their information to the general public. They also help patients, even if it’s indirectly.
“I have had patients come up to me, hug me and say thank you for your products,” Lovejoy said. “Thank you for what you do.”
Interested in health public relations?
To help IU students prepare for these health public relations opportunities, the IU School of Journalism is offering a new course, J360 Informed Health Reporting, for spring. The course, taught by Riley Visiting Professor Dennis Elliott, will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30-10:45 a.m. 
