Dear techdeb,
A medical or a pharmaceutical writer is a person, who is responsible
for communication in medical or pharmaceutical environments. In other
words, it is first and foremost a writer, but she must posses the
ability to analyse medical/pharmaceutical information, summarise it
and write clearly about it.
For example, in one of the job description, it says "As a
pharmaceutical writer, you will mainly produce documents that are
included in submissions to regulatory authorities, like the Food and
Drug Administration, worldwide" (see
www.techcomcareers.org/Pharmaceutical.htm).
Usually, there is no official formal education required. Rather, one
must demonstrate writing and editing skills and the knowledge in the
field, whereas most entry-level jobs are in editing what other have
written. However, most places require education in the scientific or
medical field, such as pre-med, BSc, MSc, etc - sometimes the clients
require a PhD with proven research skills.
Except for writing skills, one must have computer skills,
organizational and analytical skills, and of course, to be familiar
with the field. Moreover, the writer must work according to government
and company's guidelines.
Many medical or pharmaceutical writers are free-lancers, and in that
aspect, there might be no guarantee for safe and steady job place.
Some work in medical communication agencies, or for the
companies/hospitals/agencies themselves.
Read more job descriptions:
http://www.current-drugs.com/ABOUTUS/jobs.htm
www.amwancal.org/fr_areyou.html
http://www.hum-molgen.de/positions/non_academic_positions/0768.html
Good places to search for a job:
http://www.amwa.org/jobs.html (must be a member)
http://www.medicalworkers.com/
http://www.poewar.com/index.html
http://www.medzilla.com/alljobs-medfocus.html
www.shsinc.com/jobs_cme.htm
http://www.drugdev123.com/jobs/home.php?cat_id=8&cat_name=Medical
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=alt.medical.sales.jobs.offered
Jobs in Massachusetts:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=ma.jobs
(and also check out newspapers and other "regular" sources)
I think that answered your question. I add my search strategy, that
would help you in further searches, and thank you for your question.
If you need any clarifications, don't hesitate to ask!
My search terms:
"medical Writer" jobs
"medical Writer"
"medical Writer" "career description" (no interesting results)
"Pharmaceutical Writer" "career description" (no results)
"Pharmaceutical Writer"
"Pharmaceutical Medical Writer"
PS - I know that some Google Researchers work in that area, and I hope
that they'll contribute more in the comments. |
