Concise Medical Writing: Free Insider’s Insight

What you will learn

Six things you will be able to do after reading this guide.

Calibrate style to the document
Regulatory documents, lay summaries and manuscripts each need a different kind of concision.
Cut words without cutting meaning
Nominalisations, habitual passives and filler phrases, with before-and-after examples.
Read your own work as a stranger
A five-step self-review process, from the cooling-off break to the checklist audit.
Know when short is wrong
What must never be cut: stopping rules, safety narratives and rare but serious adverse reactions.
Use AI without losing control
Where language models help, where they fabricate or exaggerate, and how to verify their output.
Plan for layered documents
How lay summaries, structured protocols and full reports link together without repetition.

How concise is your writing?

Three quick questions taken from the guide. Test what you already know.

0of 3 correct so far

Question 1 of 3

What is the longest sentence the UK Health Research Authority recommends for a lay summary?

20 words, with paragraphs of up to three sentences. The guide shows how each document type sets its own rules.

You scored 0 out of 3

The guide covers each of these in depth, from sentence-level editing to the use of AI.

Download the free guide

Look inside

A few of the 14 pages, so you know exactly what you are getting.

Sample page: Key insights — **Key insights**Two checklists to get you started

Sample page: Style by document type — **Style by document type**Regulatory documents, lay summaries and manuscripts

Sample page: Before and after — **Before and after**How to make a sentence shorter without losing meaning

Sample page: Self-review — **Self-review**Five steps to read your own work as a stranger

Sample page: Key questions answered — **Key questions answered**Templates, plain language, AI and working alone

Frequently asked questions

Our template must be followed exactly, even where sections repeat. How can we be concise?

The apparent tension between concision and compliance is usually a failure of analysis. Regulatory templates prescribe content, not word count, ensuring required information is complete and consistently presented. Look for redundancy within sections, using cross-references such as “see Section 5.2” or “as summarised in Table 7” to avoid unnecessary repetition.

Where is the line between simplification and loss of accuracy?

The line is where simplification changes meaning. Explain essential technical terms at first use and replace jargon with familiar language where possible, for example, “efficacy” with “how well the treatment worked”. Readability checkers can flag potentially difficult sentences, but asking a colleague to explain the text in their own words remains the most reliable test.

Can I use ChatGPT or a similar tool to shorten my drafts?

LLMs can help identify repetition, suggest alternative phrasing and shorten text, but the shortened version must preserve the original meaning. They can overgeneralise, and verification may consume much of the time saved. Use them for low-risk, easily checked tasks such as identifying long sentences, suggesting active-voice alternatives or flagging redundant phrases. The writer must retain control and responsibility for the final text, while also protecting intellectual property.

How do I review my own work when I am the only writer on a document?

Build structure into your own review process by separating writing from reviewing. Write the document, do something else for at least 30 minutes, then return and ask: “What is this sentence doing?” If the answer is not immediately clear, revise it. A checklist based on the document requirements can replace the questions an external editor might ask.