tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38469625115547010372012-02-16T15:08:26.416+08:00Tips to becoming a medical writer and how I am surviving as a freelance medical writer today.Valennoreply@blogger.comBlogger381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-2450965898854771062011-01-17T21:09:00.000+08:002011-01-17T21:09:57.602+08:00

It's a new year. Have you been contemplating of a career change? So, if you are tired of being a medical writer, what else could you be? A medical sales rep, perhaps? I don't see why a medical writer can't try for Medical Sales jobs. Basically, a medical sales rep is involved in promoting and selling pharmaceutical products, e.g. cardiovascular medicines, drugs for diabetes, antibiotics, etc. Or

Valennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-62348779860428596362011-01-16T13:43:00.001+08:002011-01-16T13:44:27.629+08:00

So, this is my first post for a brand new year! Although it's already two weeks into 2011, but better late than never! ;) Anyway, work has been busy with lots of writing assignments in the office, one after another. And amidst my already tight assignment deadlines in the office in the last couple of months of 2010, I had also faced tight deadlines after work - a freelance clinical study report (

Valennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-32421106491259132552010-08-16T19:03:00.000+08:002010-08-16T19:03:08.036+08:00

Okay, my last post was written 4 months ago. As usual, my wrong. Working as a full-time health writer is definitely more hectic than the life of a freelance medical writer. :) I still take in freelance writing projects occasionally, but it's not a necessity anymore for me to make a living. Of course, it's always good to have double income, right? If you think you have the flair and skills for

Valennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-35738869721973429002010-04-03T12:01:00.001+08:002010-04-05T22:11:01.200+08:00

If you ask me how did I find my new job or how fast I got an interview from the company, well, I found it on an online job search website and submitted my application through the website as well. I did that on a Friday night, and received a call on Monday morning to invite me for the job interview. Interviewed on the next day, and was offered the job on the spot. It's partly the wonders of

Valennoreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-73840582739369564582010-03-30T21:20:00.000+08:002010-03-30T21:20:58.901+08:00

After working from home on a freelance basis for more than a year, I've now gone back to a full-time job. Reasons: Enough time spent at home, not enough money to sustain the lifestyle I like. Haha! This post is to update my blog readers about what I'm doing now. I currently work as a health writer in a company that mainly serves as a secretariat for local NGOs that are related to nutrition,

Valennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-43648871662020657932010-01-08T20:46:00.000+08:002010-01-08T20:46:31.620+08:00

Do you need to go through a formal project management training or PMP Exam to be a project manager in a medical communications company? Well, myself and several project managers I know didn't go through any formal education or training to be able to work as a project manager in this industry. It's all 'get your hands dirty' kind of job, and learn through experience. ;) Of course, it will be

Valennoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-24177487349344944022009-07-27T23:55:00.007+08:002009-07-28T21:07:24.435+08:00

This will just be a short post to update readers about this stagnated blog. Haha!As you can see, I have changed the template of this blog, which is the first thing that I did after missing in action for almost 8 months, haha! Actually, I'm hoping that by changing the look of this blog, that I will be able to make a fresh, new start with this blog.One of the reasons that I have not been updating

Valennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-38819448055129535602008-12-09T09:02:00.003+08:002008-12-09T10:28:27.409+08:00

I think I have mentioned in one of my earliest posts that you don’t need to be a medical doctor to be a medical writer. As long as you have a science-related tertiary education qualification, you can be trained to become a medical writer. Even a medical assistant who is interested to write may consider medical writing on a part-time basis, or even turn it into a full-time career later.In case you

Valennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-36814367810174682222008-12-08T23:17:00.002+08:002008-12-08T23:48:17.983+08:00

Oops (a big one)! Looks like I'd been through another long session of hibernation. ;)Just a quick update here. I had been busy with lots of things in the past 6 months, both work and personal affairs. I am still writing on a freelance basis, providing my writing services to researchers who need help on putting together background literature related to certain psychiatric disorders. Interesting,

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-17106493691823260822008-06-18T23:14:00.003+08:002008-07-24T23:52:14.369+08:00

I know I have been ‘hibernating’ for half a year here. Sorry to keep you waiting :)This extremely long hiatus is partly due to a continuous stream of freelance writing assignments that I received over the past 6 months. Although not highly paid, I manage to make a moderate living out of it.That’s one advantage of being a medical writer. You could go on a freelance basis once you acquired the

Valennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-68727060046413043792008-01-23T11:45:00.000+08:002008-01-23T12:23:25.943+08:00

As medical writers, we need to constantly practice and sharpen our writing skills to able us communicate more effectively with our readers.Besides referring to writing guidebooks, reading up some good articles produced from good writers and learn from them definitely helps us to write better.Well, you may also conveniently find some good general writing tips on the internet, such as from the

Valennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-10548430550075494772008-01-06T23:55:00.000+08:002008-01-07T00:26:10.092+08:00

Since it is still the first week of 2008, let's put the seemingly never-ending projects aside for the time being and talk about something more inspiring. ;)What are the career prospects of a medical writer when he or she no longer wishes to work in a medical communications company?Well, pharmaceutical companies and research organizations need medical writers. The type of writing needed in those

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-20967942134763647232007-12-31T09:57:00.000+08:002007-12-31T11:19:22.224+08:00

Again, apologies for my long 'disappearance'! I've been up to many things that got me almost fully occupied. Of course, the year end holiday mood has made me slow down a bit. ;)Anyway, on this last day of 2007, I would like to talk about managing a CD-ROM project. I have explained about the format and purpose of a CD-ROM publication in one of my very early posts. Here, I am going to briefly talk

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-67783975231808451532007-11-30T18:07:00.000+08:002007-11-30T18:48:54.305+08:00

Apologies on this much delayed post. Well, sometimes my time (and mind) is occupied by so many other things, that I forgot there are other stuffs, like this blog, awaiting my action. ;)I believe you will feel this way too in your work as a medical writer-cum-project manager. You may find yourself working on two or three or more projects at the same time. There is no such thing as "let me complete

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-71700027659851162512007-11-13T16:57:00.000+08:002007-11-13T17:01:07.775+08:00

Besides being presented in the conventional booklet form, detail aids can also put on different ‘outfits’.FlipchartsFlipcharts are usually made up of 6-12 pieces of cardboard with information printed on single or both sides of every cardboard. They are normally placed on doctors’ desk. There are calendar flipcharts and patient education flipcharts.Calendar flipchartsObviously dates are printed on

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-49961272214663835042007-11-07T17:07:00.000+08:002007-11-07T17:10:27.469+08:00

Job hunting in modern days no longer limited to reading classifieds in newspapers. You can hunt for jobs online, put up an electronic resume to be browsed by potential employers, or receive job alerts from career service web sites.Locally, we have job search sites like Jobstreet, JobsDB and JobMarket. For job opportunities in foreign countries, there are also a plethora of job search sites to

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-62645747174845617342007-11-04T22:16:00.000+08:002007-11-04T22:24:58.919+08:00

As mentioned in my previous post, a detail aid is a marketing tool that helps your clients to promote their products. Therefore, understanding your clients' needs is the very first step to producing effective detail aids that fit nicely into their product marketing strategies.Getting a clear brief from clientBefore you start the project, most likely you will discuss with your client face-to-face

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-29422207618871311982007-10-27T10:42:00.000+08:002007-10-27T10:55:34.484+08:00

When compared with an event highlight bulletin or patient education brochure, the number of words in a detail aid is much, much fewer. However, the work involved is not. And many times you may need to rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite.What is a detail aid?Detail aid is a marketing tool containing promotional messages incorporated with creative elements. It is a sales aid that pharmaceutical sales

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-67611861682964647222007-10-16T13:12:00.000+08:002007-10-16T13:17:52.500+08:00

The process of developing a newsletter is basically the same as any other projects – writing, editing, obtaining approval on text, designing, and getting final approval from client.The only difference is that you have more preparation work to do.Get a good briefing from the client* Ask questions like – How many issues (bimonthly or quarterly)? How many pages? What kind of format (eg, 6 short

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-26803510131804910032007-10-09T12:57:00.000+08:002007-10-09T13:03:08.296+08:00

The target audience of newsletters is usually the healthcare professionals – primary care doctors, medical specialists, pharmacists and nurses.Briefly, the objectives of having a newsletter are mainly: To provide updates on a specific health area, drug development or clinical studiesExample: A nutritional company may want to use data from recent clinical studies to emphasize the benefits of

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-81551476587012254632007-10-01T13:41:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:38:16.733+08:00

When dealing with medical writing, either targeting the medical professionals or the lay public, you will need technical support for your writing. When I say technical support, I mean resources or information that you will use for:· A background research of the topic you are writing (eg, bipolar disorder)· Finding patient information (eg, for a brochure about heart attack)· Verifying data or

Valennoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-63770080685554355582007-09-25T15:48:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:45:23.112+08:00

Sometimes you may experience a ‘blockage’ while writing. That is what we call a writer’s block.As a medical writer, your brain is constantly operating in a logical way, analyzing, planning and structuring your work. There is so much information transmitting amongst the cells in the grey matters of yours. So it’s understandable that it can sometimes get stuck, because you are thinking too hard.It

Valennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-73038894521450981962007-09-18T15:56:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:43:02.760+08:00

After writing a number of projects for the medical professional audience, you probably would like to take a break from technical writing, and try something new, such as producing an educational reading material for patients or the public in general. Different source of contentUnlike writing an event highlights bulletin, where the content of your writing basically comes from lectures and

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-26055109799333251482007-09-09T22:21:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:43:37.441+08:00

After you’ve submitted your first manuscript to the client and/or speaker, you will probably have to go through several rounds of amendments before it is finally approved. After consent has been obtained from both the client and speaker, the manuscript will be passed on to the designer, whose responsibility is to lay it out in the form of a bulletin.Working with designersThe designer’s work is

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-75696704028160773782007-08-29T19:01:00.000+08:002008-12-11T16:36:25.548+08:00

You bet there are; in fact quite a number of them. You may need to refer to those books from time to time, so it's worth investing in one or two. Check with your local bookstores, or even order through Amazon.com if they are not available in the bookstores.--~~--For reference in medical writing, I’m using Medical Writing – A Prescription for Clarity by Neville W Goodman & Martin B Edwards. This

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-57666499007198830592007-08-22T13:41:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:43:22.216+08:00

In this post, I would like to take you a couple of steps back in the writing process to talk about editing and proofreading.Why edit and proofread?While a senior writer or an editor will edit your work before it is submitted to the client, it is equally important for you to learn and hone editing and proofreading skills. Editing or proofreading in a systematic approach:- Allows you to pick up and

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-21765377003675197452007-08-13T13:09:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:38:16.733+08:00

Besides journals, information and data can come from a myriad of print and non-print resources, including books or chapter(s) from a book, package inserts, electronic media such as online journals, web sites, e-books and CD-ROMs, and others.I’m not going to show examples in this post as you can visit the web sites below for extensive examples on referencing. They are all excerpted from the

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-63439620449192968052007-08-03T23:02:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:38:16.733+08:00

I’ve not mentioned in the last post about citing references in your write-up, but it is definitely an essential part in the manuscript even before you hand it over to your editor for copyediting.Why referencing?When a speaker makes a presentation or delivers a lecture, he is basically presenting a compilation of data and information (e.g. results from clinical studies, statistics from a global

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-66077206980511836182007-07-28T17:27:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:42:23.789+08:00

Once you have a clear idea of the focus of your write up, it’s time to hit the keyboard. Here’s how the flow goes.Get a rough draft out quicklyAs with every project, there is a deadline to meet. So, write as quickly as possible to get your rough draft out by following the outline that you’ve planned. Don’t worry about grammar, punctuation or style yet. What you want is to put it all on the page.

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-21412430678710878312007-07-20T15:33:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:42:23.789+08:00

So, you’re now sitting right in front of your computer, with the relevant materials – an audio recording and a copy of the powerpoint slides (or any other format) from the lecture – to help you write your first event highlights. Can’t wait any longer to hit your keyboard, huh?But wait! Before you start typing the first word, why not spend a few minutes to get a clear idea of what you need to do

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-37133351390481205392007-07-15T16:10:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:42:23.790+08:00

If you’ve read my previous post, I’m sure you now more or less understand what is involved in your job as a medical writer-cum-project manager, and the various responsibilities imparted upon you.Okay, let’s say you have just been assigned your first project – to attend an evening lecture sponsored by a drug company, and to write a summary (so-called event highlights) based on the lecture

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-42469267876628702322007-07-06T15:34:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:40:29.307+08:00

While a big chunk of your time will be spent on writing, writing, and more writing, you’ll get your hands on dealing with all sorts of project-related matters.Depending on how a communications company setup its editorial and project management team, some have a specially assigned person to manage the projects, the so-called project manager or project coordinator, who practically sets project

Valennoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-10653252848850423792007-06-29T14:59:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:40:29.307+08:00

With the advent of cutting-edge technology, many pharmaceutical companies and hospitals are also tapping into the potential of the internet and multimedia platform to achieve multiple objectives, e.g. marketing their products, setting up company training programs, conveying health messages to consumers, or conducting continuing medical education (CME) programs for medical professionals.A medical

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-69398602644910342382007-06-22T12:02:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:40:29.307+08:00

In the last article I said I will touch on the job scope of a medical writer apart from writing. I reckon I should first give you an idea the types of publications or materials you will be producing.First of all, you need to know that a medical or healthcare communications company provides a variety of editorial and non-editorial services for its clientele. The clients are normally companies that

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-43397387154303043412007-06-18T14:59:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:40:29.307+08:00

Neither did I have any relevant writing experience when I first started out as a medical writer. But think carefully, you may not be as “inexperienced” as you think.Say me, for example. I was on the verge of completing my thesis for my post-grad study when I saw a job classified looking for an editor, preferably someone with a pharmacy or pharmacology degree. I should say that I was just trying

Valennoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-59958936057441855662007-06-08T18:53:00.000+08:002007-10-04T16:40:29.308+08:00

The answer is: no. You need not study medicine to be a medical writer.Since there is no medical writing or related professional degree offered in Malaysia yet, the primary prerequisite to be a medical writer is often a biological science related degree. While doctor-turn-medical writer is common in overseas, this won’t be so in Malaysia in the near future because here doctors (more!) are needed

Valennoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-7810028803180180692007-06-01T15:04:00.000+08:002008-12-11T16:36:25.902+08:00

The most fundamental question to ask before you even want to consider giving medical writing a try is: What kind of job is that exactly? What does it involve?My teacher in school never told me such an occupation exists. Neither did the local universities offer any related degree to this field during my varsity days (probably still none by now). People may be aspired to become a journalist or TV

Valennoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3846962511554701037.post-36807989752645899302007-05-29T17:22:00.001+08:002007-10-04T16:40:29.308+08:00

Welcome to Surviving Medical Writing 101!This surely sounds like an opening ceremony of some giant skyscraper, huh. Of course it isn’t. But whoever is reading this now, I thank you for dropping by, whether it’s by chance or by choice.The idea of creating this blog was only conceived very recently, in view of the fact that I will be officially ‘jobless’ from June onwards. I decided to take the

Valennoreply@blogger.com0