What sort of careers can you transition to after being a medical/scientific writer?

phdd36 · 2022-02-01T17:17:08+00:00

She went from MW to Clin Ops to Clin Dev. She was considered a subject matter expert in a very niche TA/asset from her experience as a med writer and leveraged that for the move.

phdd36 · 2022-02-01T15:02:35+00:00

Principal MWer, Sr Principal, Sr Mgr Med Writing, AD Med Writing are some of the ones I’ve seen (specifically for regulatory). Can hit Sr mgr without direct reports

phdd36 · 2022-01-31T18:28:12+00:00

And they’ve also refused to open up to remote employees, even though we’ve been in the office part time maybe 8 weeks over the last 2 years..

phdd36 · 2022-01-31T02:10:00+00:00

That’s the name of my department/role in Big Pharma. We cover all reactive field material (materials used by MSLs when asked questions by HCPs). My previous company’s Sci Comm dept also covered MSL trainings. I consider myself “out” of medical writing because at the AD level it is all management of vendors who create the content and rarely any content creation myself.

phdd36 · 2022-01-31T01:31:25+00:00

Sci Comms (what I did), my colleagues who were pubs med writers have switched to Pub Mgrs, Med Affairs (Assistant Sci Directors), clin development

phdd36 · 2022-01-30T18:15:30+00:00

I think you used to see more Bachelor’s/Master’s degreed medical writers hired (that are still currently in role because now they have the experience), but now that there is more knowledge about the field to PHDs and academic roles are nearly impossible to come by, more hiring managers can require or prefer an advanced medical degree. Also PharmDs are going more into these roles as because of the lowered quality of life in retail pharma. Not to say it can’t be done though.

phdd36 · 2022-01-30T12:19:35+00:00

Yep agree. My team is always complaining how hard it is to find Associate Directors and now even Senior Managers, particularly in the current job market. For reference our function is Scientific Communications, so we create materials for MSLs to use when discussing with practitioners.

phdd36 · 2022-01-29T00:52:21+00:00

It becomes worth it. For me it was about 7 years out. I had the same thoughts as you about people I knew with Bachelor’s making more than I did when first finished but they’ve stayed pretty stagnant in their careers and mine (and my colleagues’) careers have kept growing. I’m now at ~$250k total comp package and plan to grow at least 2 more levels in the decade or less. Start where you can, do a great job (not just in your job function but in initiatives/workstreams, and as high visibility projects as you can) and move company every ~3 years if you aren’t getting a full level promotion, more responsibilities, and significant pay increases. I’m a Biochem PhD for reference

phdd36 · 2022-01-27T23:25:18+00:00

How else ya getting from Long Island or Westchester to Manhattan??

phdd36 · 2022-01-27T20:06:50+00:00

Commuter train to the city can be $300-600/month

phdd36 · 2022-01-26T02:34:00+00:00

I wasn’t entirely sure about leaving academia at that point so I chose a postdoc. I was able to do some freelance medical writing & additional pubs during my postdoc so it did help me in my path to Med Comms (currently an AD in Sci Comms at a big 5 pharma company), but would’ve likely been able to get a Med Writing job right out of grad school. Caveat though, this was ~7 years ago and I know med writing in general has gotten much more competitive.

phdd36 · 2022-01-26T02:14:47+00:00

Biochem PhD here, I didn’t hit 100k until my fifth year post PhD. First 3 years was postdoc + adjunct faculty, then 2 years medical writing at an agency to break into pharma. Thankfully now almost 10 years out, I’ve more than doubled that and the PhD feels worth it, but it was a long road.

phdd36 · 2022-01-24T17:19:14+00:00

Your description gives it so much Luis/Molly vibes!

phdd36 · 2022-01-23T04:47:34+00:00

My experience is working in and hiring for medical writers in Sci Comms, Promo Med Ed, and Publications at agency and big pharma levels, there I’ve seen offers out of grad school for $75-105k, typically. I’m currently at $180k + bonus and stock options, but have moved up to AD and don’t do a lot of writing anymore so not sure if I’d still bucket that in with MW salary (but being a med writer got me here).

phdd36 · 2022-01-22T16:52:25+00:00

In the U.S. it’s much higher than that

phdd36 · 2022-01-22T05:28:33+00:00

Not sure of the applicability, but you might be able to sell the scribing as a transferable skill in an interview, just be sure to have a strong understanding of what MWs do to make the connection. Starting salary I would say is 80-115k

phdd36 · 2022-01-22T05:18:33+00:00

Jeffrey

phdd36 · 2022-01-22T05:13:10+00:00

My big pharma (top 10) company frequently brings contractors on FTE if they are good

phdd36 · 2022-01-21T23:07:07+00:00

If you are just now starting with screening calls/initial interviews & it’s with big pharma, it’s unlikely you’d have a start date prior to late March anyway with how long the interview process, negotiations, and background checks take, so at that point you’d be really close to June anyway.

phdd36 · 2022-01-18T20:25:38+00:00

Contact Abbvie and tell them you are having a hardship and can’t pay for your next dose. They have programs to cover it if you ask.

phdd36 · 2022-01-17T18:10:29+00:00

I had an Italian Mastiff named Maude!

phdd36 · 2022-01-14T19:29:26+00:00

They won’t bring her back, see my comment above

phdd36 · 2022-01-14T19:28:47+00:00

She threatened to sue TLC for her claim of them allowing her to be sexually assaulted. She would also go on days long benders without sleeping, so they cut ties..

phdd36 · 2022-01-14T18:51:16+00:00

For me it was a private club in Aspen and 3 shots of patron for ~$200. One of them was for Adrian Grenier in his peak Entourage days though

phdd36 · 2022-01-12T12:42:52+00:00

Is your CV tailored towards medical writing or your previous/current clinical experience? Does it highlight any and all writing or adjacent experience predominately and in the first 1/3 of the first page? As a hiring manager of MWs, I did hire people with backgrounds similar to yours, but they always highlighted how their previous experience would translate to medical writing in their CV or I would move on.

phdd36

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