Medical Copywriter Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a medical copywriter job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a medical copywriter. Feel free to use our medical copywriter job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a medical copywriter.
Who is a Medical Copywriter?
Medical copywriters research medical data, convert complex language into plain English and create effective marketing campaigns. Medical copywriters are trained to use SEO to improve search results and adhere to ethical guidelines. A Medical Copywriter is basically a mix of a Medical Writer, and a Creative Copywriter.
Copywriting is part of the larger category of marketing writing or promotional writing. Medical communicators create a range of documents and web materials to promote particular interventions, drugs, medical devices, and even medical institutions. Medical copywriters may also create press releases, informational material, or promotional communications for corporations or healthcare organizations.
Medical copywriters may create content that educates, empowers, or convinces consumers to act. Medical copywriters may also create documents that encourage readers to become a donor or members of an organization.
Copywriting for medical purposes involves using words to convey a compelling message to different audiences. Television and print advertising for pharmaceuticals are obvious examples, but there are other types of medical copywriting that is targeted at doctors and other healthcare professionals. In the sense that scientists are often boring, uncreative, and dull, medical copywriters fit an interesting niche. A medical copywriter, on the other hand, blends his or her scientific knowledge with an artistic flair around words to educate or promote a particular audience.
Medical Copywriter Job Description
Below are the medical copywriter job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a medical copywriter job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a medical copywriter include the following:
- Researching medical data, converting complex language into plain English, and creating effective marketing campaigns.
- Using SEO skills to improve search results and adhering to ethical guidelines.
- Communicating with clients and creating creative content to sell medical products and services.
- Researching reliable medical data, extracting relevant information, and creating coherent, on-brand articles.
- Understanding complicated scientific data in order to be a successful medical copywriter.
- Conducting extensive research using high-authority sources and writing with creativity.
- Adhering to medical ethics.
- Analyzing clinical data reports from high-authority sources and extracting relevant information.
- Combining scientific knowledge with exceptional writing skills to create medical marketing campaigns.
- Writing copy for blogs, websites, and other social media platforms to connect with doctors and the public.
- Converting technical information into easily understood articles.
- Positioning the product/service as trustworthy, by researching the subject matter.
- Developing a strong advertising campaign that targets your audience.
- Writing in a way that stimulates the reader to act.
- Respecting ethical medical principles, including patient confidentiality.
- Optimizing search results by creating content using SEO skills
- Learning about the requirements and researching them.
- Collaborating with clients and clinical teams to understand the nature and scope of scientific work you will be covering.
- Using medical expertise to assess data and products, and quickly acquiring new expertise in the process of writing.
- Engaging in an extensive literature search to improve the understanding of the subject matter and then evaluating and analyzing it.
- Creating abstracts, posters, scientific exhibits, and oral presentations.
- Creating and editing pharmaceutical training materials, eLearning content, and video scripts.
- Editing, revising, and proofreading marketing medical writing
- Keeping up-to-date with the latest medical literature to be successful in their job.
- Ensuring that all deliverables comply with regulations, standards, and guidelines
- Drafting and editing of high-quality conference abstracts and posters
- Sending articles to peer-reviewed journals.
- Creating materials for Medical Affairs including slides and information letters
- Performing background research
- Ensuring that publications are timely.
- Communicating with stakeholders
- Searching for documents and information to include in reports on clinical studies
- Formatting and drafting all documents in the clinical study report in accordance with the statistical report
- Writing scientific publications (posters and summaries, articles, etc.)
- Translating clinical study reports, scientific publications (if relevant)
- Managing subcontracting activities in relation to the production of clinical study reports. Identifying the issues and analyzing results of the clinical trial
- Writing clinical study reports and scientific papers
- Synthesizing data from clinical trials
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in life sciences such as biology and chemistry or in English or journalism.
- D is highly preferred
- Expertise in writing and editing scientific papers
- Familiarity with AMA Style
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Organizational skills
- Preferential certification by the American Medical Writer’s Association is available.
Essential Skills
- Accurate domain knowledge
The European Medical Writing Association (EMWA), points out that medical writing can be divided into regulatory writing and medical communications. Medical communication “med communications” writers are geared towards hospitals, digital healthcare companies, and medical device companies. However, regulatory writers have to break down scientific research documents and present them to international regulatory agencies. A medical writer must have a deep understanding of medical topics and life sciences. Many companies prefer to hire specialists in medical writing or freelance PhD-qualified professionals. Medical writers need to have a solid foundation in order to communicate critical medical information with patients, caregivers, and medical device marketers. Certification is a very important trait that recruiters look for. A formal training program at internationally reputable organizations is essential for a successful career as a medical journalist. The American Medical Writing Association (AMWA), or the European Medical Writers Association, are the best-respected certifications. These are not the only reputable universities around the world that offer Medical Writing training and certification courses.
- Analytical skills
Medical writers are responsible for assisting scientists with publishing their research and ensuring that regulatory decision-makers are aware of it. Medical documents are often read by many people, including doctors and other medical staff. Writers should be able to perform frequent data analysis, documentation analysis, and product analysis. A sharp focus on accuracy and crisp use of global languages are essential for medical writing. Medical communication specialists are employed to create brochures, flyers, and patient questionnaires. They also prepare newsletters, magazines abstracts, posters, product manuals, and newsletters. They’re expected to be well versed with all activities involved in pipeline projects, regulatory approvals, and product development/manufacturing. Medical writers must have excellent domain knowledge and strong analytical skills. This makes their deliverables more engaging. You should evaluate the analytical skills of medical writers you are considering hiring based on the previous job experience or software they might be familiar with.
Writers who are able to read and comprehend multiple documents clearly are the best. This translates into concise, intelligent, quick readings. We live in an age where attention spans are shorter and content is expanding simultaneously, so it’s becoming more difficult to communicate healthcare’s most complex know-hows clearly. The best medical writers are able to demonstrate sharp analytical skills and good time management.
- Multitasking
The global industry for biopharmaceuticals is growing at an incredible pace. The regulatory conditions are changing by the minute and new discoveries/treatments are hitting the markets in record time. A medical writer is a highly sought-after profession that requires flexibility and adaptability. Look for a professional who is up-to-date in the rapidly changing pharmaceutical industry when you are looking to hire a medical author.
When choosing freelance medical writers, recruiters, project managers, and clinical research coordinators think in multifaceted, multi-disciplinary, and multitasking. Medical writers can pursue a degree in biomedicine without being restricted from clinical pathology or sports medicine. Medical writers are becoming more competitive as a result of their ability to improve their skillsets and expand their domain authority to include allied medical disciplines like health economics and outcome research (HEOR), biostatistics, and clinical programming languages R and SAS. PhD-qualified scientists can explore more while still being able to do deep research due to the growth of areas like oncology and epidemiology.
No matter if they are in medical communications or regulatory affairs it is important that medical writers have the ability to manage their time efficiently so that each project gets the attention it deserves. You might want to find a medical writer who has not only worked under tight deadlines but has also managed a team. Most often, medical writers are skilled at developing teams that align and assign work according to their individual strengths and skill-based processes. Each project is given a standard process that ensures the right amount of time and effort is spent on each component. Even though Ph.D.-qualified scientists are familiar with the yearly and semi-annual timelines of medical writing, they must also learn project management skills in order to be successful in this field.
- Journalistic skills
Medical writers need to improve their skills and talents at a faster rate than ever before. Today’s medical writers include life science graduates, allied medicine graduates, Ph.D.-qualified scientists, literature, and mass communication graduates, as well as marketing professionals. There are many opportunities in the medical and healthcare industry. It is crucial to be able to communicate medical terminology to a wider audience. Life science graduates and Ph.D.-qualified scientists need to be open to learning basic journalism skills in order to become medical writers and editors of high quality. They must have a better grasp of English, be able to communicate effectively with a minimal amount of words, and practice editing, standardizing, and formatting textual material. This will help them become more intelligent readers. Companies value a medical content writer who is able to distinguish fact from fiction and find the answers to their most important questions.
While medical writing is technically a field, freelance medical content writers have a lot of potentials. Sometimes the deliverables include posters, abstracts, and presentations. This gives writers an opportunity to demonstrate their visualization skills using facts and logic.
- Consistency
Any professional who is serious about growth will tell you that a long-lasting business relationship depends on consistently delivering high-quality work. The medical writing industry is no exception. Medical media companies, pharmaceutical companies, and medical media companies are seeking medical and scientific writers who have strong medical knowledge and can produce error-free publications. A freelance medical writer’s honesty and consistency are key to their success, whether it is news articles, blog posts, FDA dossiers or abstracts, posters, conference presentations, or patient information leaflets.
- Self-motivation
Medical writers must speak with principal investigators, clinical research coordinators, and clinical data managers to fully understand the clinical study. These processes require a lot of energy and effort. They must be self-motivators and self-starters. They will need to be able to communicate with a range of healthcare professionals in order to publish the documents at the highest accuracy.
How to Become a Medical Copywriter
Each organization has its own requirements and expectations for hiring medical writers. While some companies expect applicants to have a degree or more in science, such as biology, biochemistry, physiology, pharmacy, or chemistry, others prefer candidates who have a Ph.D. While companies may have different preferences, many medical writers are drawn to their knowledge of English and science. Although it is not necessary to have a background in medicine to be a medical writer. However, having a basic understanding of medical terminology is an advantage. A medical writing program is a good way to show that you have formal training and are committed to this career. Knowledge about the disease and the common treatments is a plus. All of these can be learned by anyone who starts a medical writing project.
Where to Work as a Medical Copywriter
Medical copywriters can work in many different settings. These are just a few examples of employers who hire medical copywriters.
- Pharmacies
- Biotechnology or medical device companies.
- Medical communications marketing agencies
- Hospitals
- Specialized practices and institutions for Medical education
- Medical publishing houses
- Ministry of health, welfare, and sport
- Associations and professional healthcare societies
- Companies in biotechnology
- Advertising, marketing, and communications agencies
- Providers and health care organizations
- Companies that make medical devices
- Universities and medical schools
- Companies that manufacture pharmaceuticals and healthcare products
- Contract Research Organizations (CROs), and Business/Knowledge Process Outsourcing Companies (BPOs/KPOs).
- Companies that provide healthcare communication services (Functional Service Providers), and scientific content.
- Media & Publishing companies, Medical Journals Academic medical establishments, Medical/scientific societies
- Healthcare Websites
- Medical institutions
- Medical production companies
Medical Copywriter Salary Scale
Senior Medical Copywriters’ salaries in the US range between $72,000 and $108,000, with a median of $90,000. The median salary of Senior Medical Copywriters in the US is $90,000. The top 67% earn $108,000.The estimated total pay for a Medical Copywriter is $86,803 per year in most parts of the United States.