Back in October we posted a blog post that discussed some of the basics about medical writing and for those who haven’t heard about this rewarding industry. Allow us to wet your appetite. A competent medical writer can make $100,000 to $200,000 dollars a year!

Working as a freelance medical or science writer is a great career! The work is interesting and often lucrative, and the demand for medical writers is high, but if you are apprehensive about starting your own freelancing career we recommend checking out the guys over at CMI Interactive. They can help make your venture successful by offering you the right tools for your medical writing business.

There are many different types of work for scientific writers especially due to the internet there has been a proliferation of work. These would include:

• Advertising copy for pharmaceuticals and other products
• Editing
• Internet content
• Journal abstracts and articles
• Medical education materials
• Multimedia projects
• Pharmaceutical marketing and advertising
• Physician speeches and presentations
• Posters
• Sales training manuals
• Slide kits
• White papers
  (list via AMWA)

Science Writer Newbie?

Make sure you have strong confidence in your writing skills. Specifically your technical writing skills. Medical writing is a branch of technical writing, which is a subset of nonfiction writing. It’s a different kind of writing that requires a lot of clear, easily understood communication. A logical approach to each topic is a must.

Also, consider joining networks focused on writers. For example the National Association of Science Writers or American Medical Writers Association. These organizations provide a forum where medical writers meet and share knowledge and experience. They promote professional development and standards of documentation excellence, and help writers find career opportunities. These organizations offer fundamental medical writing training.

A successful medical writer will have knowledge of medicine or an aptitude for understanding it, an ability to write, an education: College degree in science, pharmacy, medicine, journalism, or English, and they are deadline orientated.

Check out this video of Emma Hitt (an accomplished medical writer) after the jump.

Medical writing

A medical writer, working with doctors, scientists, and other subject matter experts, creates documents that effectively and clearly describe research results, product use, and other medical information. The medical writer also makes sure the documents comply with regulatory, journal, or other guidelines in terms of content, format and structure.

In order to be a good medical writer you must be able to work very efficiently with data, science, and of course be a good writer. Medical writing skills is mainly the ability to convert large amounts of data into a form that can be easily understood. An especially enticing aspect of the medical writing position is the freedom to be able to work at home and of course the fact that a competent medical writer can make $100,000 to $200,000 dollars a year!

The controversy surrounding medical writing is the lack of transparency. When a team of professionals work together to write a medical paper there have been instances in the past where random authors have been given authorship of the medical paper even though they have nothing to do with its creation. That is at the heart of the dishonesty surrounding medical writing.

We’ll be discussing the controversy surrounding medical writing more in the future, but the best rule of thumb is that if you, as a medical writer, are ever approached to do some writing that is unethical you should just walk away. Advertising agencies in the medical field would benefit from more medical writers. Adding professionals that are focused on data review and communication rather than marketing will lead to more honesty in medical ads.

If you are a medical writer or considering a career in the field of medical writing, consider using the professional tools available from CMI Interactive. There science professionals can find a toolbox full of resources to help sharpen their skills in the industry.