Toronto’s Dr. Raj Waghmare garners accolades for emergency medicine columns

Toronto’s Dr. Raj Waghmare, whose column appears in the Medical Post magazine, has nabbed some recognition for his writing. In the spring, Dr. Waghmare’s column won silver for best column in the Canadian National Magazine Awards: B2B and this fall his column won honorable mention in the North America-wide Eddie Awards in the B2B healthcare category. Q: What was the inspiration behind these columns? Emergency medicine is so fascinating. So many times I come home and think, “Wow that was interesting,” or “That was cool,” and sometimes, I just need to get something off my chest. There are so many good stories every day that come into the ER and I love writing, so it was natural to write about these stories. Read: Dr. Raj Waghmare: Query iGAS Q: Can you describe your writing style? Tom Blackwell of the National Post wrote a nice feature about my column in 2017, which was great. In the story, he said, “Waghmare’s tales from the ER are a rarity—composed like short stories, jargon kept to a minimum, the suspense building until readers discover the diagnosis—and the patient’s fate.” I thought that was an accurate description of what I’m trying to accomplish as a writer. Q: What topics do you enjoy writing about the most? I often write about things that annoy me in the ER, such as patients who are unnecessarily demanding, or other specialists who aren’t easy to get along with. Many years ago when Reader’s Digest used to come to my parents’ mailbox, I used to love the “That’s Outrageous” page with similar absurdities. Q: Winning a magazine writing award is a significant achievement. How do you think this recognition will impact your future work or writing career? Although it’s a great honour to win an award for writing, I’m not sure it will impact my future as a writer. I’ve always wanted to write a book about my most interesting ER cases (I’m saving those for my masterpiece) so regardless of recognition, I’ll continue with my plan – write about cases on a regular basis, and then write a book. Maybe this will help me find a publisher, but getting a book published in 2023 isn’t the easiest thing to do. Q: What advice would you give to aspiring writers? I’ve always wanted to be a writer, more than I wanted to be a doctor. I’d discussed both in high school, and when I told my father I’d decided to be a writer, he said, “that’s amazing, and medicine will give you great stories to write about.” When I decided to take writing seriously after finishing residency, my goal was to have a book published. I read countless books on writing, connected with some great mentors, and even took several courses in writing. I completed a year-long novel-writing workshop during which I was lucky enough to be paired with Lawrence Hill. Here I am, decades later, still writing, and no book. Fortunately, I have a job that allows me to write and not worry about making a living with pen and paper (or, I’d probably starve). So, the first thing I’d say is that making a living writing is tough. Make sure you have a back-up plan. Secondly, I’d tell writers to write because they love to write; writing is an art, and if you write without passion and love for your art, it’s not only frustrating, but it will show in your work.

Toronto’s Dr. Raj Waghmare garners accolades for emergency medicine columns

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