What is Medical Writing?

Medical writing is the ever-growing genre of content writing and it involves writing scientific documents of different types like research-related documents, disease related educational and promotional literature, drug related literature, and publication articles of various kinds like journal manuscripts and abstracts, content for healthcare websites, health-related magazines or news articles.

Who are Medical Writers?

Medical Writers are those content writers who are adept in understanding the medical concepts and terminology, have knowledge of relevant guidelines as regards the structure and contents of specific documents, and last but not the least, good writing skills.

Scope of Medical Writing in India

For professional writers in India medical writing course has come up as the most lucrative field as there is a huge demand for individuals who possess marketable skills in the relevant field.  Due to lower costs and good infrastructure equivalents that meet the required standards, India has come out as a preferred destination for international outsourcing of medical writing.

Who Hires Medical Writers?

The biggest demand of medical writers comes from the pharmaceutical companies as right from the preclinical testing of drugs to clinical trials, drug approval and post marketing stage, they are required to prepare clinical and preclinical dossiers. Then they have to submit it to the regulatory agencies for their review and approval to get an approval of a drug to market. Apart from these, medical institutions and research organizations hire medical writers in great numbers and not to forget, in the age of the internet there are numerous websites who need to publish contents related to the medical field.

  • Pharmaceutical / Healthcare Product / Medical Device Companies
  • Contract Research Organizations / Business Process Outsourcing Companies
  • Media and Publishing Companies / Medical Journals /Academic, Medical Institutions / Medical, Scientific Societies
  • Healthcare Websites

Different types of Medical Writing

  • Newspaper & magazine articles for the general public and laymen  
  • Textbooks, slide decks, e-learning modules for Physicians
  • Promotional literature, product monographs, brochures, handouts targeted at healthcare professionals
  • Internet content for consumers (patients)
  • Salesforce training manuals, e-learning modules
  • Research articles, case reports, review articles
  • Research Documents- Clinical trial protocols, Investigator’s Brochure, Study reports, Research proposals
  • Regulatory Documents- Clinical study reports, web synopses, Subject narratives Regulatory submission documents

As each of the above mentioned types of medical writing is meant for a distinct set of target audience, hence, a medical writer must cater to the level of understanding of the respective audience and subsequently, the language used and the level of technical information has to be appropriate.  

“To be successful in medical writing, one must have the knowledge and skills required for writing different types of medical documents.”

6 Essential Skills for Medical Writers

As the salaries and compensation is much higher than other genres of content writing, more and more writers are inclined towards medical writing but they need to have the required skills. Companies generally prefer hiring a medical writer who is experienced, multifaceted, well-versed with the pharma industry, and can adhere to stiff deadlines. If you are looking to become a medical writer, you must develop these skills before applying anywhere.

#1. In-depth knowledge of life sciences and medical field

#2. Highly developed analytical skills

#3. Understanding of basics of journalism 

#4. Good command over language

#5. Consistently deliver high-quality work

#6. Ensure highest degree of accuracy 

The job of a medical writer is not a child’s play, it’s serious business as he is expected to remain accountable for each and every fact presented in the work, irrespective of the format in which it is presented.

“To make a profitable career as a medical writer, a formal training from a reputed service provider is quintessential, as it adds vital credentials to a medical writer’s profile.”

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