Career as a Medical Writer | Medical Writing

A career as a medical writer can be very profitable and exhilarating. Medical writing is the creation of scientific documents by specialized writers. A medical writer usually closely works with scientists, doctors and other subject matter experts to create effective documentation that vividly defines research results and product’s usage. Medical writing has swiftly carved a niche for itself in the Pharmaceutical industry as the industry has realized the need for specialist writers who can create well written and well structured documents, that present the information in a clear, concise manner in compliance with applicable regulations. Each year, as more and more drugs and medical devices go through the complex processes of clinical trials and regulatory procedures that lead to market approval there is an increased demand for well written documents compliant to regulations, standards and formats. Medical writers combine their knowledge of science and research skills with an understanding of how to present information in a written format and produce right documents for the targeted audience. Not only do medical writers find employment in pharmaceutical companies but they can also work with healthcare journals, healthcare online portals, hospitals, newspapers etc for providing medical and scientific writing support.

Some common responsibilities of medical and scientific writers are:

– Development of common clinical trial related documents
– Extracting data from statistical analysis reports and presenting it in a readable and understandable format within the clinical trial report
– Creating monographs
– Contributing towards development of product dossiers for regulatory authority submissions
– Developing promotional materials and package inserts for products available in the market
– Writing medical case reports and articles

Competencies & Skills:

A number of competencies and skills are required to make a career as a medical writer. Some of them are:

– Thorough understanding of the drug development process with sound knowledge of ICH-GCP
– Comprehensive writing skills with good command over written and spoken English
– High Confidence
– Multi-tasking ability
– Self-motivation and ability to work independently
– Knowledge of basic word and data processing software’s like MS Word and Excel

Education:

– Bachelors or Masters degree in any life science related field is recommended but not mandatory. A Bachelors or Masters degree in English language is also acceptable provided the candidate has basic knowledge and understanding of human anatomy, disease pathology and medical terminology.

RECOMMENDED PROGRAM

For a career in the pharmacovigilance department in any position we suggest you consider the following online program(s):

– Advanced PG Diploma in Clinical Research & Medical Writing
– Advanced PG Diploma in Pharmacovigilance & Medical Writing
– Advanced PG Diploma in Scientific Writing & Medical Journalism
– Professional Diploma in Medical Writing