Many of the skills you already possess as a nonclinical or biomedical researcher are essential to advance in the growing field of medical communication.
What does it take to make the move into this ever-changing and rewarding career?
Start by creating a portfolio to showcase your work, leveraging resources such as relevant courses, and engaging with professional associations like AMWA, which provide valuable learning and networking opportunities.
A successful transition begins by reflecting on what technical and transferable skills you already possess. From there, you can fill in knowledge gaps and steer yourself toward a fulfilling career that leverages your strengths. Researchers may especially benefit from courses in writing, storytelling, and project management.
Before determining what skills you need to make a career move, it’s important to understand the various types of medical writing because past experience may point to a particular niche. Finding your place in the industry is important for crafting your portfolio and resume, not to mention thriving in your new career.
Tania Sultana, PhD, is a medical writer and career coach who transitioned from a research background in immunology, infectious diseases, molecular biology, oncology and virology, and epigenetics. She emphasizes the importance of leveraging transferable skills, sometimes called soft skills. For example, project management is an important soft skill to have in the fast-paced, deadline-driven world of medical writing.
Another piece of advice she gives is to keep learning. As a non-native English speaker, she sought out—and later created—courses in science writing. She recommends Coursera’s free online class Writing in the Sciences.
An AMWA Journal article based on a presentation at the Medical Writing & Communication Conference drives home the importance of soft skills, sharing stories of three regulatory medical writers who transferred skills and knowledge from previous experiences. Soft skills are the qualities that we bring to any position: interpersonal skills, self-confidence, positive attitude, time management, and other skills that make someone a strong candidate, colleague, and leader.
Shengjie Xu, PhD, says soft skills like time management and project management helped her transition from a role in experimental research to a medical writing position. Medical writers often juggle multiple projects and deadlines, and Xu already had the ability to be flexible, set priorities, and work independently.
Likewise, Savannah Mageau, PharmD, brought leadership skills from her previous pharmacy practice to a new career in medical writing, where she needed to facilitate meetings and lead presentations. Amber Carr, PhD, leveraged a background in scientific communication to a medical writing career, using her storytelling abilities to keep audiences engaged.
The technical skills required for medical writing often depend on your focus, as the field includes a number of specializations. For example, the technical skills needed for grant writing positions may be different from those needed for regulatory medical writing.
In her presentation at the AMWA conference, Carr shared that her computational research background and teaching experience helped her make a smooth transition to regulatory medical writing.
Sultana suggests taking an inventory of your soft and technical skills to help put together a portfolio that reflects your value as a medical communicator. Consider your areas of interest as well as your skills and experience. Do you have a research article on a vaccine or a particular diagnosis? Maybe you wrote a blog that can become part of your portfolio to demonstrate that you can write for a lay audience. Even personal knowledge of a particular disease counts when looking at the big picture.
Clear communication, usually via email, with clients, employers, and scientists is a foundation for success. When you know how to organize your thoughts and respond to constructive criticism, it sharpens your thought processes and provides a foundation for success in any workplace.
Once you have determined your area of focus and which skills you would like to add, AMWA’s Essential Skills courses provide a solid foundation, covering basic grammar and usage, punctuation for clarity and style, sentence structure and patterns, medical terminology, tables and graphs, statistics for medical communication, and ethics.
For those looking into a career as a regulatory medical writer, the experts at the AMWA conference presentation recommended:
Although the terms are similar, there is a distinction between earning a certificate in medical writing and certification, which means earning the Medical Writer Certified (MWC®) credential. A certificate results from an educational process, while certification is for more experienced writers and results from an assessment process. Both offer a chance to demonstrate your ability to move into a medical communication position.
Medical writing internships are a great way to learn skills in a structured, hands-on environment. Interns learn soft skills and technical skills and often come away from the experience with valuable connections and positive job recommendations.
Apprenticeships are an alternative pathway for new medical communicators or for those considering a move from one position to another. Some larger companies have established apprenticeship programs.
Some medical communicators find professional guidance and informal mentors by joining professional associations such as AMWA, which provides training, networking, and professional learning opportunities.
Connecting with colleagues and prospective employers, peers, and clients is one of the best ways to launch or advance a career. Professional networking provides opportunities to explore different careers, specialties, workplaces, and resources.
In addition to ENGAGE, a robust online forum, AMWA has regional chapters and national and local events where professional medical communicators come together to build skills and strengthen community ties.
Networking online and in person helps medical writers share information about career resources, training opportunities, and certification.
For freelancers, AMWA’s freelance directory is a great place to begin to market your business.
In an article in the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) journal Medical Writing, Somsuvro Basu, PhD, makes the case that PhD holders should consider careers in medical writing. “The US, the biggest spender in research and development (R&D), produced a staggering 54,070 PhDs in 2014,” Basu writes. “Only a relatively few of these bright minds will receive the laurel wreath of professorship. Hence, this raises the immediate question as to how the rest will earn their bread and butter.”
As Basu puts it, many PhDs will choose to exit from science, while others will “struggle as early career researchers.” Basu calls the skills of a PhD student “indispensable” for medical writing: “[I]magine a typical week of a PhD student or postdoc researcher. It includes data generation, optimisations, troubleshooting, with equal doses of data presentation, literature searching, writing, editing, teaching, and other various forms of scientific communication,” writes Basu. These skills are immediately transferable to a career in medical writing.
Sultana’s perspective is that a PhD can be useful but is not necessary for a transition to medical writing. She wouldn’t recommend entering a PhD program to become a medical writer; your time and money are better spent gaining skills in writing, editing, or regulatory writing.
However, if you already have a PhD and are looking at career options, your understanding of research and science will be an important foundation for medical writing. You’ve been trained to analyze data, notice gaps in data, and ask smart questions.
Now take a hard look at your options and make a choice that is right for you.
Medical communication is a growing field, and employers are always seeking qualified candidates. No matter what your previous academic or professional background is, many of the soft skills you already possess will transfer to a position in medical writing.
And ample opportunities for growth exist at AMWA.
Your next chapter is about to begin.
AMWA acknowledges the contributions of Tania Sultana, PhD, in the development of this AMWA resource and Cyndy Kryder, MS, MWC for providing peer review.