title: The value of a writing center at a medical university.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Students often enter graduate healthcare/biomedical schools with insufficient undergraduate instruction in effective writing, yet the ability to write well affects their career opportunities in health care and in scientific research.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted to determine the value and effectiveness of instruction by faculty with expertise in teaching writing at a writing center at an academic health science center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two separate sources of data were collected and analyzed. First, an anonymous campus-wide survey assessed students' satisfaction and utilization of the university's Writing Center. Second, a nonexperimental objective study was conducted comparing a subsample of students who used versus those who did not receive instruction at the Writing Center on quality of writing, as determined by an evaluator who was blind to students' utilization status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From the campus-wide survey, more than 90% of respondents who used the center (which was 26% of the student body) agreed that it was a valuable and effective resource. From the objective study of writing quality, students who used the Writing Center were twice as likely as students who did not to receive an A grade on the written assignment, and the blinded evaluator accurately estimated which students used the Writing Center based on the clarity of writing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The instruction at the Writing Center at our university is highly valued by students, and its value is further supported by objective evidence of efficacy. Such a center offers the opportunity to provide instruction that medical and other healthcare students increasingly need without requiring additions to existing curricula. By developing competency in writing, students prepare for scholarly pursuits, and through the process of writing, they engage critical thinking skills that can make them more attuned to narrative and more reflective and empathetic in the clinical setting.
authors.affiliation: Center for Academic Excellence and Writing Center, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA.
authors.forename: Jennie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ariail
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richards-Slaughter
authors.forename: Darlene
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shaw
mesh_terms: D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003479:Curriculum; D006801:Humans; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013022:South Carolina; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014956:Writing / Q000592:standards*