Are you familiar with the medical writing profession? If not, you could be missing out on one of the most flexible and rewarding careers in life sciences.
Are you familiar with the medical writing profession? If not, you could be missing out on one of the most flexible and rewarding careers in life sciences. A few months ago, we spoke with seasoned recruiting professionals and profiled the top 10 non-traditional careers for life science professionals. Medical writing and communication was highlighted as an interesting career option on the list. We recently interviewed Cyndy Kryder, the current President of the American Medical Writers Association, to find out more about the field.
1. Can you tell us a little bit about your background, before becoming a medical communications consultant?
I am an accidental medical communicator. I have a master’s degree in speech-language pathology and enjoyed a 12-year career as a speech-language pathologist before I made the leap to medical communication. The nine years I spent working in a pediatric-rehabilitation hospital developed my passion for writing patient-education materials and cemented my interest in the field of medicine.
2. What is a medical communications consultant?
I am a medical communicator who works with medical communication agencies, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and device manufacturers to create scientific, medical, and health-related content for a variety of audiences. It’s my job to tell the scientific story of new drugs and treatments for diseases in a way that the audience will understand. I might design an infographic to communicate disease risk to a lay audience, create a slide deck for physicians to describe a new therapeutic treatment, or develop a sales-training program to educate pharmaceutical sales representatives.
3. What do you think are the differences between a medical writer and a medical communications consultant?
I refer to myself as a medical communicator rather than a medical writer because it’s a more encompassing term. It demonstrates to colleagues and prospective clients that I recognize in today’s world, medical communication involves more than just words.
4. Have you noticed any new trends related to the medical writing profession?
Medical communicators must continually adapt to a changing professional world that creates new demands and educational needs…We must be aware of emerging social media platforms and their influence and use. Changing reading patterns driven by electronic media have created a need for us to think and communicate visually. The trend for research and publication to take place in an expanding global environment requires us to be ever vigilant for predatory publishers, which are becoming disturbingly prevalent. In the regulatory writing setting, remote work/outsourcing and automation/artificial intelligence are two workforce trends that are affecting medical writing teams.
5. How competitive is it to become a medical writer?
It’s important to understand that medical communicators work in a variety of work settings and create a broad range of content. I like to divide medical communication into 4 broad categories: regulatory, scientific publications, promotional, and educational. The level of competition will depend on the particular work setting. Employers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry have told us that it has become difficult to find qualified employees who can serve the industry. Consequently, if you are experienced and skilled in this particular setting, the competition would likely be minimal. If you don’t know the mechanics of writing and you lack soft skills and emotional intelligence, you will have a difficult time getting a job.
6. What advice would you give to aspiring medical writers?
Learn all you can about the breadth of medical communication, and then decide which particular path you want to pursue. The training one needs to work as a regulatory writer is much different from that needed for the individual working in continuing medical education, for example. Then make a commitment to invest in yourself and learn as much as you can. Be very honest about your strengths and weaknesses and gain the knowledge you need to remediate your weaknesses.
Medical writing is a vast profession that includes the responsibilities of writing articles, manuals, presentations, and creating visual graphics. There are a variety of areas to specialize in including scientific publications, regulatory content, promotional material, and educational writing. Medical communication can be a creative way to incorporate your scientific knowledge and a desire to help people. Joining the American Medical Writers Association and/or the Society for Technical Communication can be a good first step for aspiring medical writers.
Porschia Parker is a Certified Coach, Professional Resume Writer, and Founder of Fly High Coaching. She empowers ambitious professionals and motivated executives to add $10K on average to their salaries.
Cyndy Kryder, a medical communicator for 27 years is the 2018-2019 President of the American Medical Writers Association. Cyndi is the coauthor of The Accidental Medical Writer and the author of Nude Mice and Other Medical Writing Terms You Need to Know.
