Mark DeLeon '17, Jobson Medical Information

Mark DeLeon ’17 is an Associate Editor at Jobson Medical Information. His editing focuses primarily on optometry, the cornea and contact lenses.

What does your work day look like?

In my role as associate editor, most of my day-to-day involves interacting or corresponding with columnists and authors, mostly optometrists. I assist with getting their drafts in, communicating with them what we want from the prompts we give, then helping them through the process and seeing it through print. The editors are also in charge of laying out the features in InDesign, so it’s not just text. Editors get to work with our art department to get the images good for layout and put that in. And then just checking in with the authors that it’s good to go before it goes to print. After it goes to print, we also upload an online edition.

What other skills do you think editors should have?

I’m in a very lucky position to be working for a magazine where they give us the freedom to put together the layout and have a hand in what will come out in the magazine. So definitely basic Adobe [skills] like InDesign and Photoshop. You get an idea of what size images would look good and if they’re too small, asking a doctor, or whoever you’re corresponding with, that we might need bigger images or a screenshot of something. And maybe that won’t work, but just being very communicative about what you’re looking for. Not just what’s good for the texts, but what would help accompany the text and the images that you want in a layout or in a feature.

What did you do at Saint Joseph’s that helped prepare you for your career in medical publishing?

I was a bio major at St. Joe’s, and I was very interested in all the different English classes I was taking. It was the combination of taking the writing center class and then being in the Writing Center, being a writing tutor and then being in an editing class that gave me the confidence to see if I could work for The Hawk. Then I worked for The Hawk and that definitely gave me my training to understand more about what it is to work for a publication and deadlines and interacting with different authors.

How has COVID-19 impacted your industry and job?

Last year we’d always have a foot in the door to see how COVID-19 was affecting optometrists. In terms of coverage, we’d always have stories about how doctors are affected in their practices, and whether or not they can work at the capacity they are. When it comes to asking them [doctors] to write for us, last year it was a lot easier because their schedule was very open. They were able to find the time to write for us. Whereas now, with the vaccination effort going on, and schools having a better sense of doing classes, sometimes with potential doctors we’d like to write for us, their schedules don’t line up, and it can be a bit hard to acquisition our features.

What advice would you give to someone who recently graduated but is not quite where they want to be?

As an undergrad you are taught to brag about yourself and to sell yourself, but that’s definitely a skill. Recognize the strengths that you have and what kind of topics or forms of writing you are good at, or you want to work at, and then also be good at expressing what you are interested in. What about that excites you, and what are you very curious to learn about? Once you lay down those premises, approach that with a sense of eagerness and enthusiasm.

— Sophie Shields '22