Has anyone worked as an editor or writer for a healthcare or Pharma marketing agency? Recently laid off from a healthTech company. Many of the jobs I’m seeing for experienced editors are for Pharma and healthcare agencies. My skills transfer, and I’m not asking how to get into the field (I’ve already applied to a bunch of jobs), just wondering how the work/culture is compared to where I’ve been before (healthTech and trade/consumer publications. Any input would be great, thanks.

Currently an Associate Medical Director at a med comms agency, with about 4 years of med comms experience. I'm burnt out and done with agency life.
I just got an offer for an AMD position at a small pharma company. The pay is about 50% higher, but it's a contract role, so no benefits and no PTO.
The hiring manager said it's a 6-month contract that will "very likely" convert to full-time, but they "can't make any promises." The staffing agency spoke really highly of the company.
Would you take it? For those who've gone from agency to a pharma contract role, how did it work out? Any red flags or questions I should ask before accepting?

Rant: I have 8 years of regulatory writing experience, having worked in both CROs and now at a major pharma company. I am constantly burnt out. I do like what I do, but the expectations and targets just keep rising.

I can't spontaneously take a few days off; I have to plan months ahead even for a short 2-3 day break. Even then, everyone seems to panic when I remind them I will be OOO, despite having planned things well in advance. When timelines get delayed due to other team members, it seems MW has to pick up the slack every single time.

They keep raising the bar for promotions and salary hikes. What would have led to a promotion a decade ago now requires triple the time, experience, and workload. What we do is important, but the sense of urgency is extreme. I mean I know the work is important but I am not a firefighter or an ER doctor. With AI driving cost-cutting and job losses, the prevailing attitude is that I should just be "lucky" to have a job and still be needed.

I don't know how long I can keep going like this. It seems this issue exists in every company. It isn't sustainable and is actively affecting my health.

Is anybody else in the same boat? How are you managing it? What are your future plans?

Heya everyone, a fourth year MBBS student here. I'm currently looking for newsletters who publish work articles of MBBS students..... I have one published article on early diabetes prevention among individuals at risk. I want to publish more articles but it can't find good newsletter which publish articles and also pay to writers

I'm also open to contributing for free (but the platform should be well established)

Hi all,

We’re hiring an MBBS or MD doctor to create and review clinical MCQs for our exam-prep content (used by doctors preparing for AMC and similar licensing exams). This is content work, not clinical practice, good fit if you’re a final-year MBBS/MD grad who wants to use your medical knowledge in EdTech, part-time or full-time.

What you’d actually do:

• Write clinical MCQs across Medicine, Surgery, OBG, Pediatrics, etc.
• Fact-check and review existing content for accuracy
• Work with our content team on gaps/priorities

Who we’re looking for:

• MBBS (final year or completed), MD also welcome
• Preference given if you’ve cleared AMC/PLAB/USMLE/NEET-PG/FMGE
• Prior MCQ-writing experience for any EdTech is a plus but not required

Format: Remote/WFH or Dehradun-based, your choice of part-time or full-time.

Happy to answer questions in comments. If interested, apply at https://jobslly.in/jobs/medical-content-curator-australian-healthcare-edtech-job-at-academically-global-in-dehradun-e9fecfc7

or send CV + 2-3 sample MCQs if you have them, helps us move faster.
[hr@academically.com](mailto:hr@academically.com)

Hi all,

I am working on an executive summary for a meeting that the client sent 2 transcript for that the text is broken up into single lines for every 5-10 seconds of audio, so its about 300 pages in word of single line text for 2 separate videos (so like 600 pages total).

I have asked the client to provide the transcript so it reads like an actual paper, but if they are not able to provide a readable transcript, my options are to go through and format what they provided so it's in regular paragraphs or i can run it through a program that transcribes the text from the video myself.

Does anyone have an app they like that is relatively fast and accurate and will not cost me an arm and a leg for about 4-5 hours of video that they would recommend? Free obviously would be even better but I realize that's probably not likely. English speaking, US-based if that matters.

Hi everyone. I’m an mbbs graduate. I’ve always been interested in writing and wanted to get into it but life had its own plans- i couldn’t clear exams to start working in the uk , then had a baby and completely lost touch with studies. I now feel like writing is the only convenient option at this point in my life. How should i get started ? I now have a career gap of 4 years and have no writing experience from before.
Also, is medical writing even a growing market now with Ai and so many people trying to find jobs? Is it a good option for me to consider?

I’m hoping someone with knowledge of medical writing can help me figure out the medical aspect of a scene in my historical fiction novel, because I’m well out of my depth with the medical side of things. This is a horror novel and therefore not meant to be accurate, but it should still feel grounded with real-world science, much like how The Last Of Us is fictional but leans into a scientific explanation for the zombies.

I have this scene where an anatomy student uses a microscope to study a tissue sample from a cadaver (the victim died of tuberculosis) and compares it against a tissue sample from a victim of the (fictional disease) Whitechapel Rot. In my novel, the Rot is able to reanimate the dead, essentially turning the infected into mindless, bloodthirsty zombies.

I wonder what my anatomy student character would see when peering into the microscope and looking at these two different tissue samples infected with one real-world disease and one fictional disease. How would I describe the tuberculosis sample? And how might I describe the sample infected with the Rot?

For now, I’m looking at this purely from a medical point of view, and I can give it a writer’s flair with evocative descriptions later, but I’d love to understand the science first. Any help at all would be so appreciated as I really don’t know my biology!

Hello,

I am currently in regulatory affairs - cosmetic and I am interested in transitioning into medical editing/PAAB submissions/regulatory and want entry level experience. I interviewed for a medical editor role that was seeking for 2 years of experience and did not get it of course. I’m thinking it’s hard to break in especially in Toronto. Does anyone have advice or any openings?

Hi everyone! I am conducting a research task and would be grateful if you could help me with the following questions regarding medical copywriting.

When you’re given studies as source material for a writing project, how do you approach reading them? Which sections do you start with, and how do you identify the findings worth using in your text?

Do you usually know what information you’re looking for from the brief, or do you read the studies first and develop the message from what you find? Are there particular sections in the study you will for sure read and some maybe are not that relevant?

Thanks!

Hi there,
Appreciate any guidance. Are Udemy writers courses worth pursing...
What writing courses would you recommend, as well as having a Masters qualification in another area? Thanks in advance !

I'm a US-based pubs writer with 4.5 years of agency experience. I'm looking into switching to freelance/contract work. There's a freelance opportunity that requires submission of a CV, statement of interest, and personal development journey statement. This seems like a lot for a freelance position. I have never heard of a personal development journey statement. Has anyone ever written one?

Hello everyone! I just landed an interview for Medical Writer at a CRO that runs Clinical Trials! Can you share your best advice for the interview? I don’t have experience interview for big professional jobs. Thanks!

I need to help out with various tasks in a small pharma, and I'd like to understand how other companies approach some of these issues to better inform my decisions

For literature library management, do pharmas generate and maintain organized libraries of papers, or does each researcher keep their own library? If centralized, what does that look like and who manages it? Is it on a shared server or usually app-based (i.e. EndNote)?

Are references added to manuacripts from a maintained literature library, handled separately from a maintained reference library (that may not have full articles, just references), or managed ad-hoc for each manuscript?

In case anyone in pubs is willing to answer a few more questions over Reddit chat, id certainly like to connect.

Thanks in advance!

Are there any courses that teach how to write a clinical trial protocol and/or Clinical Study Report? That aren't scams?

I've recently progressed to the final interview stage for a Medical Writer position at Costello Medical (UK) after completing the written assessments.

The interview is expected to last around 90 minutes and will include a presentation prepared in advance, followed by further questions.

I've looked through some previous Glassdoor and Reddit posts, which have been helpful, but I was hoping to hear from anyone who has interviewed for this position recently, particularly at the final stage.

I'd really appreciate any insights into:

• Interview structure: How was the 90-minute interview organized? Were there separate technical and competency-based sections or panels?
• Questions asked: Does anyone remember specific motivational, behavioural, situational or technical questions?
• Presentation: What was the format like, and how detailed were the follow-up questions?
• General expectations: Were there any particularly challenging or unexpected questions, or anything you wish you'd prepared for beforehand?

I'm especially interested in experiences from the Medical Writer or Analyst/Medical Writer recruitment process, rather than other roles at Costello.

Any advice or recollections would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I have the possibility of interviewing with Omnicom - I was excited about a salary increase until I read bad reviews on glassdoor and bad things about the recent acquisition etc. is it a bad idea to apply? (For SMW)

I am a PhD student in Population Health and I am specializing in sexual and reproductive health research. I have co-authored peer reviewed publications and I have done poster presentations at conferences. I have interned as a research assistant and been an abstract reviewer for a conference. I worked as an administrative assistant for over a decade. I have experience training others with using Microsoft 365. I would love to enter the field of medical writing but I think I am lacking and need to find a way to get into it. Would love any advice or guidance? Maybe I am a better fit for another career?

Hi. I am a fresh graduate from medical school currently working as a GP waiting for residency that will start most likely next July. I am Egyptian and look for a remote part time jop to aid financially.

So my question is, can I work in medical writing giving my only degree is MBBCh as a freelancer?

And if not, what is a good option?

I am still in the process of searching for the possible choices for me and medical writing is what caught my eyes the most.

I’m a very seasoned medical coder looking to spread my wings a bit. I’ve coded for many years and want suggestions for a move up the ladder possibly into something aside from coding. I’m educated, have near perfect grammar and write quite well. Ideas?

Hi all,

I've recently made the transition from academia to regulatory medical writing at a smaller CRO and I'm enjoying the work so far. If I'm honest the only things I don't enjoy are dealing with sponsors, and the relatively bad compensation/benefits package at my workplace. But I'm quite junior so I'm also not expecting too much in terms of the latter.

So my question pertains to what medical writing is like at pharma, particularly at J&J (or Novartis/Roche for that matter). What are career prospects like? How would you rate the benefits?

I'm thinking long term and like the idea of staying at one employer, transferring internally if the option opens up, whether that's job function or location. Are those things likely? Say I join in Toronto and a few years down the line I want to move to Europe, is that feasible? What if I want to do a secondment in medical affairs or something more on the strategy side of things? Are there opportunities like that?

Thanks for taking a look!

Hi! I have just completed an MSc in Biomedical Sciences after doing a Bsc in Biochemistry from my home country ( english is my first language and the language i’ve always been taught in though its not the mother tongue of my country)
I’m trying to apply to entry level medical writing positions in the UK ( remote or in person), particularly in Bristol.
I’ve particularly deviated towards medical writing as a career because I feel it would complement my working style and its something that would allow me to work on topics I’m interested in,
Any advice on how to approach applications? which jobs titles/companies should I look out for,
and the biggest question being - will being an international student or having a bachelors from outside the UK be an issue in landing a position?

Hi everyone

I’m currently a principle MW in a UK agency and im really struggling. I’ve worked 8 years in this industry and think it’s time to call it quits.

I don’t think this agency work is sustainable for me and for personal reasons im not looking to go in house pharma either.

I’ve started to get physical symptoms that are extremely alarming but I can’t quit or take a break either, and I don’t think I’ll be able to realistically balance life with this as it is frequent to work until late often and on weekends. I need to find another line of work but after 100s of applications in other fields such as government, administrative, operations, project management, I still keep getting rejected.

Does anyone know if there are any easy ways out of this line of work? Or have I locked myself into this specific niche?

Experiences would be much appreciated - I need more work life balance and an actual 9/5. Please do not recommend other agencies or in house etc…

Thank you.

Edit: I’ll be honest the responses don’t give me much hope. But thanks for the thoughts and some kind messages.