1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"Survive Your Doctor" by Fernanda Moore, additional reporting by Kristen Dold, edited by Sascha de Gersdorff.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
July/August 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Doctors are healers, experts, savvy problem solvers — except when they're not. This story delves into the rising rates of medical misdiagnoses, statistics that come at frightening costs: Up to 40 percent of patients are misdiagnosed every year and, of those, some 100,000 will die as a direct result. In "Survive Your Doctor," Fernanda Moore investigates why young women are at particular risk and examines how a perfect storm of fixable factors — outdated medical school teaching, lazy patients, a focus on specialists, doctor fatigue — is endangering their lives. Through a series of riveting anecdotes and lots of clear analysis, Moore shows readers how to be their own health advocates. A series of four service sidebars hits home the story's overall message: The smartest patients enter the exam room prepared.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Moore poured through many scientific studies and loads of data from resources like the Institute of Medicine, Center for Studying Health System Change, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, and more.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
From Fernanda Moore: "I had a great deal of help from my editor, who pointed me in the direction of my first expert, healthcare expert Jason Maude, who then referred me to other sources and data, including doctors, researchers, and patients. The doctors quoted in the piece were astonishingly helpful."
6. Results (if any).
Public interest in "Survive Your Doctor" was huge in the blogoshere, with many writers and patients weighing in on the article and sharing their own misdiagnosis stories. The feature also became the subject of a national Today Show segment.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
N/a.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
When looking for sources and experts, ask your friends if they've had any of the medical issues you're researching, or if they know anyone else who has. Google like mad. Post on Facebook and Twitter, especially to find younger sources. Cast as wide a net as possible, and follow every lead — the person you call first may not be the perfect contact, but the person he or she recommends may well be.