The document details a career talk on medical writing, emphasizing the diverse opportunities and educational paths in the field, along with insights on employment trends and income statistics for medical writers in Canada. It highlights the significant demand for medical writers across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, medical publishing, and regulatory affairs. Additionally, it provides resources for further education and professional networking, along with guidelines for building a successful career in medical writing.

1. Medical Writing Presented at GSAN Career Talks McGill University February 22, 2012, Montreal, QC Amanda Strong [email_address] 514-239-2736 www.medicalcommunications.ca Nathalie Ross, PhD, RAC [email_address] 514-912-0026 www.nathalieross.com

2. Outline Introduction Writers’ Experience Medical Writing Courses and Networking Finding Work

3. What is medical writing Professional medical communications Marketing/advertising Public relations (PR) Market research and survey writing White papers Advisory boards and medical meetings Clinical, regulatory, and research Clinical research report writing New drug applications Research reports Journalism Articles (newspaper, magazine, web) Blogging Podcasting Education Consumer-level health education Continuing Health/Medical Education (CHE/CME) Pharma sales rep education Medical publishing Textbooks Journals and proceedings Medical case reviews Hospitals, associations, academia and government SOPs, algorithms and procedures Grant and proposal writing Journal articles Policy papers Presentation materials Examination and assessment papers And much more…

4. Canadian Medical Writers Of the medical writers who responded to the survey: Most worked in the pharmaceutical industry (44% employed, 25% freelance) Next largest employers were medical publishing (13%) and contract research organizations (CROs; 10%) Main areas for freelancers were ‘industry’ (25%), communication and marketing (23%), and medical publishing (15%) 61% resided in Ontario Source: 2008 AMWA Canada Salary Survey Highest Education (%) BSc/BA 21.9 MSc/MA 20.3 MD/PhD 17.2 Other 3.1 Sex (%) Male 20.3 Female 76.6

5. Demand for Science Writers Services Canada Occupational Outlook (2006-2008) states that writing occupations in Quebec continue to benefit from the “strong performance posted by the information and professional, scientific and technical services industries,” including specialty information channels and the Internet. The unemployment rate in all writing fields in Quebec, including creative and translation, is currently less than 3%. It does not break down prospects or unemployment rates into individual writing fields.

6. Demand for Science & Medical Writers In the USA, The Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics says that writing continues to be a strongly employable field, and goes a step further, commenting specifically that demand for writers with expertise in science and medicine will increase in coming years because of the “continuing expansion of scientific and technical information and the need to communicate it to others ,” especially for a general audience.

8. Generation Y (you!) and Work… Change, change, change: E xpected to change jobs and even careers often as they seek out self-fulfillment in the workplace Work-life balance isn't just a buzz word: Work to live, not live to work Outspoken, bold thinkers with a sense of self-worth

9. Education: Multidisciplinary Background Education and continuing education B.Sc.A., M.Sc.A., Food Sciences, Université Laval (Quebec, Canada) Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Environmental Biotechnology), École Polytechnique de Montréal (Montreal, Canada) Certificate, Pharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs and Quality Operations, Seneca College (Toronto, Canada) Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC), Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) Certificate, Writing for Publication, Mohawk College (Hamilton, Canada)

10. Work Experience: Public and Private Sectors Post-doc and Research Scientist: Environmental Biotechnology Assistant Professor: Dept. Chemical Engineering Senior Manager, Regulatory Affairs: US and Canadian submissions: Drug: GI, oncology, central nervous system, paediatrics, dermatology Medical Devices: cardiovascular, gynaecologic and obstetric disorders, skeletal disease, urology, respiratory, immunology

11. Services @ www.nathalieross.com : Regulatory Writing

13. Amanda – Career Path BSc Biochemistry w/ honours thesis in medical genetics Took jobs with writing component to them Leveraged prior writing experience in non-medical fields Corporate newsletters and report writing, brochures and posters for non-profits and community groups Landed a job in a pharma ad agency in 1999 Freelance since 2001 ‘ Marketed’ myself as specialised in science-heavy therapeutic areas (HIV, neurology, oncology, rheumatology) Diversified beyond advertising by collaborating with other writers and small companies (Networking!) Contract in 2008 (Acting Director of Medical Content) with company doing e-detail and multimedia solutions Currently do mostly medical education, e-learning, meetings and ad boards, collaborations with physicians through a medical publisher, multimedia, and some pharma advertising/marketing

14. Medical Writing: Three Main Divisions Research and regulatory Journalism and publishing Pharmaceutical and health info

15. Research Writing Generally requires a strong science or medical background Original research for publication Manuscript writing Journals Conference proceedings, posters, slides Textbooks Technical documents about medical equipment and procedures

16. Regulatory Writing Regulatory writing generally requires an advanced degree (M.Sc. or Ph.D.) Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC): Provides credibility

17. Regulatory Writing (2) Documents: Investigator’s Brochure, Product Monograph Submissions: Clinical trial applications, New Drug Submissions, New Substances Notifications, IND/NDA Annual Reports (USA only), Request for Orphan Drug Designation (US and EU) Communications with Agency: Meeting packages Specific documents and submissions for medical devices

18. Journalism (1) Easiest to break into (doesn’t require specialized knowledge) Consumer health, fitness, diet, wellness, etc. Newspaper health sections; Mags such as Alive, Best Health, Canadian Family, Canadian Health, Chatelaine, Health & Fitness; websites such as AskMen.com, CBC.ca, MedBroadcast.com, etc.

19. Journalism (2) More specialized knowledge or interests Specialty/Custom publications Abilities, Birthing, Diabetes Dialogue, Creating Families, Moods, Occupational Health & Safety, Montreal En Santé, Solutions, Vitality, etc. Trade publications Medical Post, Pharmacy Practice, Drugstore Canada, Canadian Healthcare Manager, Optical Prism, Dental Practice Management, etc. Medical conferences

20. Journalism (3) Sources for inspiration EurekAlert (news releases) Science Daily (news aggregator) New Scientist, Seed, etc. (science blogs) Canadian medical schools (media releases) ScienceBasedMedicine.org Quackometer.net

21. Medical Publishing Qualifications vary immensely Both physician or consumer publications Writers work collaboratively with medical professionals: Text books Handbooks Journal supplements Special interest series

22. Pharmaceutical & Health Info (1) Qualifications vary immensely Pharma industry is a large employer Pharmaceutical companies Advertising and marketing Market research Learning solutions CHE/CME and symposia Sale representative training Multimedia and interactive Corporate and public relations Conference, meeting and event planning Corporate intelligence

23. Pharmaceutical & Health Info (2) Advertising and marketing Lucrative market, especially for freelancers In Canada, many copy writers do not have science background Highly regulated in Canada so hard to break into Most agencies look for experience with PAAB and Rx&D codes Proofreading and editing are good ways to gain experience

24. Pharmaceutical & Health Info (3) Learning solutions Wide variety of companies and opportunities Not generally very lucrative for freelancers Good opportunities in-house Often require an MSc, especially for rep training materials Sometimes BSc + experience is acceptable Growing multimedia component (eLearning)

25. Pharmaceutical & Health Info (4) Associations often do patient & consumer awareness programs Patient advocacy groups Professional association Hospitals In-house and patient newsletters Communications for research institutes Protocols and SOPs Grant writing at research institutes

26. Tools of the Trade

27. General and Background Info A good medical dictionary like Tabers, Stedman’s or Dorlands A good general anatomy and/or physiology textbook Goodman and Gilman’s Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics Current medical diagnosis and treatment (available in print and online at most medical libraries) Harrison’s principles of internal medicine (available online $$) MD Consult The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. Available in print and on-line at: http://merck.com/pubs/mmanual/ Merck Manual of Medical Information Home Edition Published by Pocket Books and available online. Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS) by the Canadian Pharmacy Association Online at pharmacists.ca ($$)

28. Finding Current Information Pubmed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi Index of published research articles in medicine Learn how to use this well; take the tutorials Cochrane Library http://www.thecochranelibrary.com CMA Infobase: Clinical Practice Guidelines http://www.cma.ca/index.php/ci_id/54316/la_id/1.htm National Guideline Clearinghouse http://www.guideline.gov/ NHS Clinical Knowledge Summaries http://www.cks.nhs.uk/clinical_topics Up To Date http://www.utdol.com/

29. Other Sources of Information Google Books World Health Organization Centres for Disease Control Medical Lexicon: http://www.pharma-lexicon.com/ Medical Abbreviations Dictionary: http://www.media4u.com/bbp/BBP-Home.htm Canadian Health Network http://www.canadian-health-network.ca/ Clinical Trials http://clinicaltrials.gov

30. Style Guides and Other Books American Medical Association Manual of Style http://www.amamanualofstyle.com Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals http://www.icmje.org How to Read a Paper by Trisha Greenhalgh Successful Scientific Writing by Matthews and Matthews Complete Guide to Medical Writing edited by Mark Stuart How to report Statistics in Medicine by Lang and Sekic The Pocket Guide to Critical Appraisal by Ian Crombie

31. Courses

32. Programs in Canada Laurentian University, Sudbury Graduate diploma in science communication Full-time, 1-year Tuition $6000; most students eligible for entrance scholarships University of Toronto 2 MSc programs in Biomedical Communications, however they focus on medical artwork Interactive media tools Illustration and animation Tuition about $7500

33. Programs in the USA and EU University of the Sciences in Philadelphia Three medical writing programs (1 MSc, 2 certificates) http://www.gradschool.usciences.edu/programs/biomedical_writing/index.shtml University of Chicago, School of General Studies Certificate in Medical Writing https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/php/medicalwritingandediting MIT Grad program in science writing http://web.mit.edu/sciwrite UofC Santa Cruz Science Communication Program http://scicom.ucsc.edu University of Minnesota, Science and Technical Communications http://writingstudies.umn.edu/grad/msstc.html Boston University College of Communication. http://www.bu.edu/com/academics/journalism

34. Other Programs and Courses American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Several certificates available Council for Continuing Pharmaceutical Educations (CCPE) Concordia University, Montreal 2 introductory stand-alone courses in medical writing (~$300) Manuscript preparation Pharmaceutical marketing Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) CME medical writing training http://www.inquill.com/cme-training-3

35. Scholarships and Awards Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Science Writer Scholarships / Health Research Communications Award $21-26 000 for 2 students enrolled in a post-graduate journalism or communications program Also fund health communications awards / programs I.e., Doctoral Research Award: CHE

36. Finding Work

37. Canadian Medical Writers Yearly Income and Average Hours Worked per Week Source: 2008 AMWA Canada Salary Survey Salary Freelance Income Mean (± SD) $79,524 ± $25,508 $62,482 ± $36,044 Median $75,000 $67,000 Min, Max $40,000, $135,000 $1,000, $150,000 95% CI $67,913 – $91,135 $48,223 – $76,740 Hours worked Mean (± SD) 38.7 ± 3.7 30.0 ± 9.9 (22.5 ± 8.1 billable) Median 39.0 30.0 Min, Max 30, 50 2, 45 95% CI 37.1 – 40.2 26.2 – 33.8

38. Employers Pharmaceutical companies Hospitals Patient advocacy (usually national) Publishers: textbooks, journals… Corporate communications Posters, abstracts, articles PR Conference coverage, journalism

39. Consider specialising Top 10 leading therapeutic classes (2005) Source: 2005 drugstore and hospital purchases audit performed by IMS Health Rank Leading Products Therapeutic Subclass Total Sales ($ Millions) 2005 Growth (%) 1 Lipitor Cholesterol Reducer 625.7 32.5 2 Losec Proton Pump Inhibitor 424.3 1.4 3 Zocor Cholesterol Reducer 291.4 42.3 4 Norvasc Calcium Channel Blocker 250.2 17.1 5 Altace ACE Inhibitor 234.9 40.6 6 Paxil Antidepressant 227.5 8.3 7 Zyprexa Tranquilizer 198.6 17.5 8 Celebrex Systemic Anti-Arthritic 186.1 0.2 9 Eprex Hematopoietic Agent 178.7 17.3 10 Pantoloc Proton Pump Inhibitor 161.1 37.5

40. CV and Portfolio CV Highlight your skills and publications LinkedIn Portfolio Include medical and non-medical writing samples Challenges for electronic portfolios Copyright and confidentiality

43. Network. Network. Network! Best way to get work seems to be through connections Local and national AMWA meetings Workshops and talks Other professional associations PWAC, STC, PMCQ, SACME, RAPS Blogs/forums There are lots of groups on LinkedIn Biotech & Pharma Professionals Network Freelancers in MedComm Science Writers Etc. AMWA has a Facebook page with 500+ members Twitter may be another way to connect

44. Finding Work P.R.N Directory ( www.prnonline.ca ) Directory of pharma companies and suppliers Canadian Health network ( www.publichealth.gc.ca ) Provides a comprehensive list of health orgs in Canada: CharityVillage.ca Occasionally has job postings for hospitals, foundations, academia and advocacy organizations Health Canada (jobs.gc.ca) Workpolis.com / Monster.ca AMWA / CSWA / STC-Canada Biomedcomjobs.ca List your services on AMWA-Canada or writers.ca Emma Hitt’s Hittlist http://www.hittmedicalwriting.com ‘ Headhunters’

45. Questions?