A career in medical writing does not necessarily require one to have a medical or science background. While, some employers may expect you to have a degree in a life science stream, such as biology, biochemistry or physiology, others may take you into consideration if you have a strong background in language.

Different Specialties in Medical Writing

For people with a language background, Medical Marketing Communication is an excellent career path. It entails creating different types of marketing collateral for hospitals, physicians and other medical practitioners. This includes creating advertising copy, Internet content, magazine articles, newsletters and public relations materials.

Consumer Health Writing is another area where journalism and language graduates can launch their career. This field entails writing medical content for keeping the patients informed about different health aspects, from the symptoms and prognosis of a disease to the side-effects of a drug. Consumer health writers are also expected to interview medical experts and researchers for creating insightful write-ups that expand the knowledge base of the average consumer.

For any drug to be launched in the market, it has to be certified as safe by the official drug approval agency that regulates region. Since new drugs are introduced in the market and the older ones are improved frequently, Regulatory Writing has emerged as a separate field in itself. The key responsibility of a regulatory medical writer is to create high-quality scientific documents to explain the drug to the targeted audience, which includes drug agencies as well as researchers. Regulatory writing requires high-level understanding of the science.

Hospital Policy Writing is another in-demand specialty of medical writing. Delivering high-quality patient care requires consistent policies that are implemented appropriately. A health policy writer is basically employed by a hospital, and is responsible for creating a liability document for it, which outlines to the patients- the background of a diagnosis/treatment, the expected outcomes, the risks and precautions, the qualification of the personnel and the equipment used, to name a few.

To learn more about top universities offering medical writing courses, read Part 2.