Karen Dente: “Practicing” Journalism

Some journalists feel that writing about science and medicine is like writing in a completely different language. But that’s not a problem for Dr. Karen Dente.

Her medical background gives her fluency in the language of science, and her journalism training allows her to translate these complex topics into “plain” English – or “plain” German, French, or Spanish, for that matter. Dente is fluent in all four languages and has used that talent extensively after graduating from New York University’s graduate journalism program in January 2001.

She frequently freelances for German newspapers, writes for European medical journals, and also edits a medical reference website in Spanish. Currently, Dente is translating a textbook on alternative cancer treatments from German into English.

“It’s challenging to know all the specialized medical terms, especially in Spanish,” Dente said. One simple example is the term “AIDS,” which translates as “SIDA” into Spanish. There are many other more complicated terms that similarly do not translate directly from one language to another, and she needs to know them all.

Dente pitches most of her story ideas to German newspapers, whose editors consider her New York City location an advantage for reporting about American medicine. She recently published a piece outlining the U.S. government’s response to doctors’ medical errors in Germany’s daily Die Welt.

After graduating from NYU, Dente, who earned her medical degree in Germany, passed the board certification exams required for international doctors to practice medicine in the United States. Next, she rotated through a series of rigorous internships. Her clinical experience reinforced her original passion – writing about medicine and science.

“I think I knew all along that I wanted to write, even through medical school,” she said.

“My medical training will help me as a journalist because you need to really understand [science/medicine] to write about it, and many medical journalists don’t really understand it. You need to know more than just what’s written in a press release.”

When she’s not writing about fungal diseases, evaluating drug clinical trials, or profiling the chair of Sloan Kettering’s Radiology department, Dente finds time to relax at her apartment in Brooklyn with her two cats. She dreams of winning the lottery and moving into a home with space for a baby grand piano and a sculpting studio, her two artistic passions.

Until that day comes, Dr. Karen Dente will just have to settle for a budding freelancing career in science and medical writing and continue to use her multi-lingual talents to write for an international audience.

–Gretchen Hoffman, G’03