How scientific results should be communicated orally and in writing. That was the double objective of the freely chosen subject imparted during the last two weeks of September 2007 at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences of the Pompeu Fabra University, in collaboration with the Esteve Foundation.

The originality of this teaching proposal, unprecedented in the university ambit of our country, lies precisely in its double written and oral approach. From the desk to the raised platform: written and oral presentations in biomedicine offers, on the one hand, basic techniques and skills to write and publish scientific articles in Spanish and Catalan; on the other hand, it reviews and puts into practice the basics for a good oral presentation to scientific audiences, relating to both strictly scientific content aspects and formal aspects such as verbal expression, voice modulation or body language, among others. While these two facets are indispensable in any scientist’s daily life, they are not found in the training offer of university careers.

This subject was imparted as follows:

Scientific writing block

– Style and formats in scientific writing – The original article: structure and contents – The review article: structure and contents – Ethical principles of publication – Journal selection – Formal preparation of the manuscript – The publishing process

Oral presentation block

– The keys to language – Planning and deciding the strategy of an oral presentation – Constructing and conducting a presentation – Practical exercises on communication techniques – Practical exercises on presentation making

The course was coordinated by Fèlix Bosch and Josep-Eladi Baños and included the presence of guest teachers. Thus, scientific writing and oral communication experts, ranging from scientific reviewers and writers to theater professionals, among others, undertook to combine theory and practical exercises. Participation in the form of discussions, written assays and individual presentations was precisely one of the fundamental axes of this subject.