MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Beginning: I plan to start by hooking my audience with a thought-provoking question about chemotherapy/Methotrexate. I will then present relevant statistics and data about the cost of prescription of Methotrexate and how often the drug is prescribed today. I will then give a general overview of the drug, including broad information about its dosage and side effects.
Middle: I will walk through the seminal papers that were published starting in 1948 that led to Methotrexate having such clinical prominence in the field today. Of course, to narrow my paper, I will not be able to discuss every single paper that was published in the field, but I hope to have a natural progression for the reader.
End: I will end by discussion how Methotrexate is used today not only in chemotherapy but also in treating other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. I will then conclude by discussing where future research is headed with respect to this drug.
LOGOS: I will use the findings from the peer-reviewed journals in proving how effective Methotrexate is as a chemotherapy drug.
PATHOS: Cancer leads to much human suffering and death

ETHOS: Credibility of the many different authors of these peer-reviewed journals.

STRUCTURE: A. Introduction B. Literature Review C. Conclusion with current clinical uses and future research

GOAL: Historical note on Methotrexate that allows the reader to have a clearer understanding of how exactly Methotrexate came to have such clinical prominence today.

***I thought I had submitted this at the end of class Monday 12/4. My apologies

Many medical schools include medical humanities within the curriculum, which is what your medical seminar paper can be part of.

Can you find cost information? This might be tricky because medical costs are complicated and not really free market. See what you can find. Who manufactures methyltrexate? Do we have a generic version? I would assume the patent is expired, right? That information is a good proxy for cost information.

Hoe is the Wikipedia article on this topic?

Be sure to close with clinical take-aways from your audience: off label uses for auto immune disease, essential to cancer care in emerging economies and developing countries, and use in mixed chemo protocols as an adjuvant therapy.

Any new delivery systems using this drug?