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Make sense health

Giving you the tools to make better sense of health information — for anyone who ever wondered if Dr. Google was giving them a legitimate answer

Make Sense Health is a Substack project for anyone who wants to make better sense of the health information they encounter every day. Between social media, search results, and WhatsApp forwards, it’s harder than ever to know what’s true, what’s exaggerated, and what’s simply wrong when it comes to our health. 

Make Sense Health exists to cut through that noise. It explores how health information is created, understood and acted upon, from the perspective of an experienced health and medical writer. 

Who it’s for Anyone who has ever Googled a symptom, forwarded a health article, or wondered whether to trust what they just read on socials. No medical background needed

What it includes Make Sense Health currently lives on Substack, with books and courses in development.

The free strand covers how health information is made, shaped, and communicated. For readers who want to go deeper, two paid series explore the craft and ethics of medical writing — and medical writing as a career.

Make Sense: For Writers

Are you a journalist, content creator, or health writer? This five-part series on the medical writing market, essential skills for medical writers, and what it takes to build a career in medical and health writing grounded in quality and genuine professional judgement is for you.

Think like a medical writer (TLAMW)

A monthly paid series exploring the craft, decision-making, and ethics of medical writing — from both the writer’s and the reader’s perspectives. 

Each month asks a different question: How would a medical writer read a clinical study? How do we think about storytelling when the subject is evidence? What does it mean to represent uncertainty honestly? 

Think Like a Medical Writer is for anyone who produces health information, anyone who reads it, and anyone who wants to understand what is really happening between the evidence and the person who reads it and has to take action.

start your make sense journey today

Make Sense books: coming soon

For the Public

How to Make Sense of Health Information

A practical guide to understanding health information using the SENSE framework — what to trust, what to question, and how to use it to make genuinely informed decisions about your own health.

For Professionals

Make Sense of Medical Writing 

A practical guide to the health and medical writing profession — the full range of what medical writers do and who they do it for, what the work requires, and how to build a career within it — written by someone who has spent fifteen years doing it.
 
Get on the book waitlist!

What Substack Readers say

"I, too, have been frustrated by the Google overview of my medical conditions personally. But wow, was this an eye opening read."
"Rachel, this is so useful. I need to shift mental gears, from academic reading/writing to writing for health/med comms. Glad I found you and am subscribed."
"Rachel, thank you for thinking ‘out of the box’ and developing this program! I eagerly upgraded my subscription."
"Thanks again for this fantastic article!"
"Brilliant! 🙂 You’re one of few people that realise how much effort it takes to write simply… and actually makes the effort. Good on you."

Let’s talk.

Drop me a line to find out more about me, my rates and availability, and how we could work together. 

You can find me on:
A note from me:

I work flexibly around my family, and I will aim to get back to you within 48 hours during the working week.