This week, on what is likely the finale of this season of the “First Opinion Podcast,” I hosted a very special guest: Sarah Mupo, STAT’s director of editorial operations and our secret weapon. Sarah and I talked about her recent decision for STAT to keep the space in “health care” despite the Associated Press Stylebook’s recent change. We also discussed what copy editors do and why it’s so important for publications to have a style guide.

Be sure to read Sarah’s roundup of great reader responses to our poll about whether to stick with “health care” or nix the space. My personal favorite: “I’ve been a copy editor for almost 30 years, and I’m tired of having to learn new things. Please let my brain have this one small thing, as a treat.”

I know that feeling so well.

While we’re talkin’ style, here are a couple of other things I’m constantly changing in pieces:

• STAT doesn’t uppercase titles unless they appear before a person’s name (so it’s “President Washington,” but “George Washington, the first president”). Sometimes even titles before someone’s name aren’t capitalized, but we won’t go into that.
• We only use a very short list of credentials that the average reader would recognize, such as M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., etc.
• We don’t italicize scientific names or court cases (or anything, really).

Got questions or thougths about STAT style? Email me!

Recommendation of the week: The New Yorker’s March article on the rise of the doodle was fascinating — and it reminded me of a vet I know who likes to describe such designer dogs as “mutts” in paperwork, much to the annoyance of her patients’ owners.