As a medical communications company, the team at CTC is skilled in medical writing. But how does someone get into the medical writing field and what careers are available to skilled medical writers? To answer those questions, we have a step-by-step breakdown of how you can get started in this field. We hope that this will inspire prospective writers to jump into this job and our industry, as it is not only a rewarding pursuit, but also a very necessary one in this world of medical breakthroughs and ever-changing science.
What is medical writing?
Medical writing is much more than simply writing about medical sciences and healthcare. This is a highly specialized profession, and it requires writers to be well-versed in medicine and healthcare. Medical writing includes drafting, editing and finalizing medical or scientific documents that summarize research, educational literature, and more into articles, abstracts, website content, health policy documents, medical or pharmaceutical marketing content, and other documents. Because the breadth of a medical writer’s work is so large, they are a hot commodity in the medical field, with countless job opportunities available to them.
Now that you know a bit more about what a medical writer is, let’s move on to how you can become one.
Get a degree
Medical writers must have a Bachelor’s Degree, at a minimum, but most have a Master’s Degree or even a PhD. It will help if your degree is in a scientific field (i.e. biology, biochemistry, statistics), but English, journalism and other linguistic degrees may also be suitable as it will give you a great understanding of how to best communicate to different audiences. No matter your degree, try to educate yourself in both science and communications as it will bolster your chances of being noticed and selected for a medical writing job, and it will all help you be the best, most informed medical writer that you can be.
A medical writer’s education doesn’t stop after graduation, as there is constant change in healthcare. It is a medical writer’s job to stay up to date on all that is going on in the healthcare landscape and to boil down the must-know information into easily digestible articles for healthcare professionals and the general public.
Pick a niche as a medical writer
It can be helpful to pick a specific topic or a focus to concentrate on when in school or working on potential jobs that will bolster your resume. For example, you may want to be a medical writer who works exclusively on pharmaceutical marketing materials because you have a passion for advertising, or you may want to focus on grant writing because you like research.
You won’t be stuck in whichever area you choose, but zeroing in on a particular corner of the medical writing world will help you identify a route to the start of your career and will help build your resume and demonstrate that you're a subject matter expert. When choosing your focus, you need to find something that matches your skillset. This isn’t a point-and-hope situation — you need to be intentional in your choice.
Read, read, read
You’re not going to be a good medical writer if you don’t know what good medical content looks like. You need to read as much medical writing as possible, preferably in the avenue you’ve chosen to take. This will not only help you recognize the traits of a well-crafted piece of medical writing, but it will help keep you informed on what’s up in medicine. Looking for examples? Check out our website.
Practice makes perfect: write!
When starting your career, it is beneficial to create and build a portfolio of your writing samples. Even if you’re not being paid for it, take advantage of any free time you have to write samples for potential employers to review. The more writing you do, the more you’ll impress prospective employers with your constantly growing portfolio. Plus, you’ll improve as a writer if you make yourself write often.
Get on the job hunt
You have your degree, you have a knowledge of medical sciences, and you have a portfolio. All that’s left is finding the right job for you. You might be able to land a job at an organization (a medical communications company, a marketing firm, etc.), or you might need to freelance, but if you follow these steps, your resume and portfolio will be sure to impress any employers, and you’ll find work in no time. Organizations that hire medical writers are typically medical device or medical education companies, government agencies, healthcare providers, medical universities or colleges and pharmaceutical companies.
Medical writer career paths
Here’s a few typical careers paths and job titles that successful medical writers tend to be drawn to:
- Promotional writer: The role of these medical writers is to promote the health product of an organization through creating compelling advertising copy.
- Regulatory writer: These medical writers create copy for regulatory agencies in relation to a medical device or a drug.
- Scientific writer: This type of writing would include manuscript or abstract creation for a scientific (i.e. clinical) study.
The best way to learn about good writing is to read it, so be sure to sign up for CTC’s newsletter so you can read the latest news in the medical world!
