Breaking Into Medical Writing

This article is a summary of a presentation by Morgan Leafe, MD, MHA, at the 2024 Pacific Coast Conference.

AMWA-PCC conferees gathered on June 7, 202,4 to learn from Morgan Leafe, MD MHA about key strategies for establishing a medical writing career.

Morgan began by describing different categories of medical writing, from publications and grant writing to health communications, CME, regulatory, and promotional writing. We explored the pros and cons of freelance and employed work. Certainly, freelancing can be more flexible. In some cases, companies might be more likely to take a chance on hiring a freelancer rather than an employee, since a smaller commitment is required. “To me, it feels like there is more opportunity for freelancers,” Morgan remarked.

Enjoying learning new things is key to success as a medical communicator, as one tenet of the field is continuous improvement in skills. While the best way to improve as a writer is simply to write a lot, there are also many courses and certificates available. Morgan pointed out that potential clients often do not know anything about the various certifications; therefore, having a certification on your CV may not help you land clients. The main reason for taking these courses should be to learn or improve skills. Audience members discussed the University of Chicago and the UCSD Extension certificates in medical writing. Other courses were mentioned, such as Emma Hitt-Nichols’s 6 Week Course, Michelle Guillemard’s Health Writer Hub courses, Holly Hagan’s Medical Copywriting Training Course, Alex Howson’s WriteCME courses, AMWA Essential Skills and LinkedIn Learning (sometimes available for free through public libraries), and RAPS and Duke ORAQ courses for regulatory writing. Several worthwhile books about the career path are available, including From Clinical Practice to Medical Writing: A Career Transition Guide by Mandy Armitage.

Morgan emphasized the necessity of networking for finding work, as this is how 70-80% of jobs are filled. Of course, the national AMWA organization and regional chapters are excellent places to begin connecting with others. “AMWA is a very welcoming organization,” Morgan said. Joining organizations representing relevant niches within the profession, such as editorial professionals, healthcare journalists, and regulatory writers, is another way to network.

Despite being a good place to network, build your brand, and find work, LinkedIn “is a tricky beast,” Morgan said. She advised us not to take the job ads on LinkedIn at face value and recommended applying for jobs directly on company websites. Following companies on LinkedIn will place your LinkedIn profile higher in recruiters’ search results. Whether you are applying for jobs or wanting to work freelance, having a robust profile on LinkedIn is an absolute must, and freelancers should have a complete profile in the AMWA Freelance Directory. “Use all of the keywords you can think of, so that potential clients can find you,” Morgan advised.

Negotiating salary or pay for freelance projects is tricky. Morgan recommended talking to people in the profession and consulting resources such as the AMWA Salary Survey to have a ballpark figure in mind going into a negotiation. The book What to Charge: Pricing Strategies for Freelancers and Consultants by Laurie Lewis is another excellent resource. “When you ask for more, the worst they can say is ‘no,’” Morgan said.

Finally, Morgan discussed the necessity of having a portfolio of work samples in order to get jobs and clients. You can set up an online portfolio on your own website, LinkedIn, or a website like journoportfolio.com. It is important to get permission from clients to use your work products as samples for other potential clients. It might be possible to allay confidentiality concerns if the sensitive information is redacted, and you should always ask the potential client to treat the sample as confidential.

The session was extremely helpful and left us hopeful and energized with a set of tools and strategies to forge ahead with our careers in medical communications.

About the author: Amy L. Sillman, is a freelance medical writer and editor at Prose Foundry and president and owner of Sillman Consulting, LLC. She earned her PhD in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and BA in biochemical sciences from Harvard University.