Medical writing / medical communications

[User67545490]

Hello, I am currently a Senior Medical Writer and have stayed with the same agency since entering the industry after my PhD. I'm feeling a little disillusioned after a none-existent annual salary increase and bonus this year and wondering whether I should consider moving in-house and into the regulatory side of things. I really don't like medical affairs but love working in pubs so wondering if I would suit regulatory writing. Any one out there with this experience?

Yes. No experience of medical writing but have worked in regulatory writing and editing. It's 'non-existent', BTW.

Lol sorry I am on my phone in blinding sun.

Sorry but I had to given the context.

I went into the regs/compliance/standards by being offered a role. A sideways move in the same organization sounds like a good way of doing it.

You could do freelance writing for medical/pharmaceutical companies, if more money is the issue.

Yes unfortunately there is no edit button. It's not the only error in the post 🤣

Freelancing is something I would maybe consider in the future but not right now I would like something more stable with a guaranteed income. Freelancing worries me that some weeks I might not have any work/income.

I'm having a chat next week with a company with CRO vacancies, so maybe an option. The motivation is purely money, I am comfortable where I am, but I want to buy a house and currently can't afford much where I am. Not sure whether ultimately regulatory writing would prove a more lucrative option that writing for an agency in the long-term.

I've done a lot of contract work and there were lean periods.

It's hard to plan unless you are discliplined, as you could go from not working to a new job within a matter of days, or hours, or it could be weeks before you start.

Contractors tend to be hired for what they already know so it's easy to become out-of-date.

If you are employed by an agency, moving to a private organization that does its own writing would probably be more lucrative.

Not sure if it is relevant but I saved up a deposit for a house when working away from home for a few months on a contract that was well-paid, had paid-for accommodation and paid overtime. That was over 20 years ago and times have changed.

What kind of salary bump are you looking for, if you don't mind me asking?

Have you thought about changing to a different med comms agency? Some specialise in pubs rather than med affairs and you could find a role there that is almost entirely pubs focused. Would you be looking for another SMW role or would you let ok for a PMW opening? It is a great time to be looking for new roles at the moment - great experienced writers are in demand.

I work in medical writing. Have 12 years experience and we’re hiring all the time . Friends who have moved to regulatory writing have definitely got a bump in pay but most find it dull compared with pubs. But if you just fancy doing it for a few years for the money worth looking into.

A move to a new agency usually gets you a bump in salary. Most agencies are hiring all the time and it’s the way you get your best pay increase. I suspect you work at the same agency as I do but if you want to PM me feel free.

Have you had a look at current vacancies? Many CROs offer staff to be embedded in client companies, which has gives you opportunities to be involved in new processes Currently working with a medical writer who is doing meeting briefing packages and paediatric plans, as well as IBs and protocols and CSRs. That the kind of thing you want?

Hi, sorry to hijack the thread but I was wondering whether any medical writers on here could advise whether it is easy to get into this field as a career change in later life? I knew of people doing a PhD with me who went into medical writing (lost contact unfortunately) but I've stayed in the lab. First as a named scientist on university programme grants and then in a start up biotech company with a focus on oncology. Now I'm in my 50's I'd like to move into something with WFH potential as commuting 5 days per week is really affecting my work life balance. Any thoughts?

@justmeand2DC Your background sounds perfect for medical writing. I work completely remotely but have the option of going into the office if I choose. However plenty of people live all over the country and are not aligned to any office and are 100% remote workers. I have been in twice since April 2020.
Salaries start around £30,000 and go up to £60,000+ after 5 years experience and then £70,000-£80,000 when scientific director level (salaries will vary per company though this is just a rough guide). If you want to go freelance after gaining experience you could charge approximately £400-£500 per day and pick your own hours.

@User67545490 thanks so much for replying! How would you recommend I investigate opportunities in this field? Is there anywhere specific these jobs are advertised the way academic jobs are? With no experience in this area, would I just make contact with a company in response to an advertisement or is there some sort of preparation I should do first? I don't have any idea of the different types of jobs in this field, are there any websites that give an overview of the different opportunities? In your current job, what audience are you typically writing for? I've written many scientific papers and also in my last job did a bit on trying to simplify research goals/achievements for a lay audience to justify charity support but I can't visualise what a typical project as a medical writer might be? For me, salary is less important at this stage of my life as my mortgage will soon be paid off and children independent so happy to take a pay cut to ditch my commute and restore my work life balance!

@justmeand2DC You can check here: firstmedcommsjob.com

There are also jobs advertised on LinkedIn and Indeed. Every med comms company is hiring every single day. Some agencies off the top of my head you could look at their job vacancies are:

AMICULUM Ltd, Ashfield Healthcare Communications, Aspire Scientific, Bioscript, Envision Pharma Group, Fishawack Health, Helios Global Group, Lucid Group, McCann Health Medical Communications, Nucleus Global, Oxford PharmaGenesis.

In my role I mostly write manuscripts that are submitted to journals and congress abstracts / poster presentations. There are other writers who do slide decks, advisory boards, and many more things.

I don't know how I've ended up reading this thread but would anyone be so kind as to explain what medical writing is?! It sounds so interesting?!

We write up clinical data in various formats such as manuscripts, abstracts and presentations. We also attend medical congresses and meetings with HCPs to share data or get their insights on data, clinical trial design or clinical practice.

It is interesting but can be very fast paced and stressful.

Argh my long reply got eaten!!! Basically I work with a bunch of medical writers. Industry is desperately hungry for more. If you want more money, talk to a recruiter, they’ll get you a new job tomorrow. If you want to enter the industry, if you have sciencey degree then you’re good to go. Everyone is hiring. Not all agencies are offering fully remote but the clever ones are!

I would add medical writers also write materials for HCPs, patients, and to train people working at pharma companies on new drugs etc. Sooooo much content is needed. You can write serious (pubs, market access), educational, brand (advertising), internal, all sorts. Training manuals, PPT decks for webinars, scripts for videos. The potential is huge

One more question to experienced medical writers please, what is meant by regulatory writing/medical affairs?

Regulatory writing in this context involves documents intended to be submitted to regulatory authorities (eg MHRA, FDA, EMA) to support license applications for clinical trials and/or medicine approvals. As opposed to documents for academic publishing and conferences.

This involves documents such as clinical study protocols and then the study report on completion. Writers tend to work for pharmaceutical companies or CROs running the trials and/or providing writing services to various companies. The science is the same, but the intended readers and outcomes are different. Instead of your peers and people holding the purse strings, it’s persuading government agencies about safety and efficacy of your medicine in people.

Day to day the writing job is the same, once you get your head around the document aims and templates. I’ve only done regulatory writing myself so can’t comment on whether the timelines and pressures are any different between the two. But if you are a medical writer you will be able to do regulatory writing.

Sorry, I only answered one half of your question. Medical Affairs sits between the research and commercial sides of the business, and involves a lot of the activities @HappyMediocreTime discussed in the post above mine. It’s information for patients, clinicians, healthcare payers, conference materials - it’s a diverse and varied area depending on the organisation.

Thank you!
I'm mid way through a biomedical science degree. I don't plan on becoming a medical writer but it sounds really interesting! Do you get given some kind of brief and you have to write according to a template or something? Struggling to imagine how it works!

@GayParis yes, depending on the material either the client or the authors will brief you, usually on a call, and the project will go back and forwards between you to refine it.

I think it’s very interesting. It’s also perfect for those times in your career you want flexibility and the ability to work remotely.

if you want an example then I can tell you about clinical study reports. There is a template that everyone uses - google ICH E3.( database.ich.org/sites/default/files/E3_Guideline.pdf ). As a writer, you should be involved with the study team while the trial is still ongoing and the data is being gathered and interpreted so you get a feel for it and know what the messaging/positioning is. You’ll be given all the data from the study, and sub reports from statistical analysis teams and others, and other documents from the project which will give you most of the background, so you’re not starting from scratch.

There also an element of project management - data coming from different teams at different times. Several rounds of review and comment adjudication. Snagging of formatting and transcription checking of data. Although a large part of the job is quietly working on your own, you need to be able to work with cross-functional teams, usually in many time zones. And be able to be diplomatic and handle scientists expert in their field but not so good at written communication but still wanting to edit your work!

I started off writing much smaller documents (annual reports), got familiar with larger docs through doing editing, QC checking and format fixing. Then was given discrete sections of larger docs to do before eventually being landed with whole responsibility for the larger docs.

Has anyone mentioned the European Medical Writers association yet? I’d strongly recommend to anyone thinking of working in this area. www.emwa.org