Medical Writing in India

A research analysis conducted by Center Watch has reported that the medical writing market had doubled in size from an estimated $345 million in 2005 to a staggering $694 million in 2008. It has also been reported to be the fourth most frequently outsourced service. Medical writing involves writing scientific documents encompassing a wide range of medium and services. These broadly include;

1. Regulatory and research-related documents
2. Disease or drug related educational and promotional literature
3. Publication articles like journal manuscripts and abstracts
4. Content for healthcare websites, health related magazines or news articles

The Medical Writer should have some attributes and skills which make him competent and well suited to the career of medical writing. Some of the significant characteristics include;
1. Knowledge of scientific information
2. Ability to write to cater to the understanding of the target audience such as patients or general public, physicians or regulators
3. Possess an understanding and knowledge of the medical concepts and terminology, knowledge of relevant guidelines.
4. Good writing skills
5. Familiar with searching medical literature, understanding, analyzing and presenting research data, document review process.
6. Familiar with editing and publishing requirements

Types of medical writing
There are different sub categories in the profession of medical writing and an individual can chose a specific specialization based on his likes, interests and domain knowledge.

1. Medical journalism: Written in simple, non-technical language and mostly comprise of newspaper and magazine articles. Target audience is general public and lay people.
2. Medical education: Includes textbooks, continued medical education programs, slide decks, e-learning modules and patient education materials. Target audiences are nurses, physicians and patients & caregivers.
3. Medical marketing of healthcare products: Comprises of promotional literature such as product monographs, brochures, handouts, sales force training manuals, e-learning modules, internet content. Target audience is inclusive of healthcare professionals, physicians and patients.
4. Publication/presentation: Comprises of journal articles or manuscripts, abstracts, posters and presentations for scientific meetings and conferences.
5. Research documents: Comprises of clinical trial protocols, investigator’s brochure, informed consent documents, study reports, research proposals
6. Regulatory documents: It includes writing of package inserts with prescribing information, patient information leaflets, clinical study reports, web synopsis, subject narratives, regulatory submission documents, clinical technical document modules, aggregate safety reports, annual safety reports and policy papers.
Depending on your technical skill and interests you can choose one specialized field in medical writing. Your aptitude and liking are also strong reasons for choosing a particular specialization.

Where do medical writers get jobs?
Pharmaceutical industry is the primary place offering jobs to the medical writers. Various other settings where here is a requirement of medical writers are;

1. Pharmaceutical/healthcare product companies
2. Medical device companies
3. Contract research organizations and business knowledge process outsourcing companies
4. Scientific content and healthcare communication companies
5. Media and publishing companies, medical journals, academic medical institutions, medical/ scientific societies
6. Healthcare websites

The best part in today’s scenario is that you can practice either independently as a freelancer, or as an employee in an organization. But this choice depends on the level of expertise and liking of the individual.

Can you become a medical writer?
If you are still reading this article, then in most probability you are interested in the career of a medical writer. So, prima facie you should have a basic knowledge of medical concepts and terminology. Then an academic qualification in the field of life sciences including medicine, paramedical sciences such as pharmacy, microbiology, nutrition and dietetics, biochemistry or biotechnology gives you the correct background to become a writer. Another very important requisite is to possess an ability to write. There should be some degree of command over language, should write grammatically correct text and should be able to present information clearly and succinctly.

Training and professional resources
The mainstay of becoming a successful medical writer is motivated ‘self-study.’ On the job ‘mentor-guided’ training also gives ample experience and knowledge of the field. Then there are short courses or workshops by different professional bodies and in-house training from the organizations employing medical writers.

Some certificate or post graduate diploma courses in medical writing are also offered by institutes such as SIRO clinpharm, James Lind Institute, Bioinformatics Institute of India, Institute of computational biology and Infocusrx. Brief details of the courses offered by these institutes are;

1. Infocusrx: Offers a self-paced, 6 months course on consumer writing services, physician writing services, scientific services, marketing writing services, publication and e-learning. A fee for the course is INR 12,000.

2. Bioinformatics Institute of India: Offers a professional designation in medical and scientific writing. The entire course is of 6 months duration divided in 5 modules. The course curriculum is inclusive of introduction to scientific/medical writing, clinical trials documents and reports, regulation of drug process, ethics in medical writing, and tools for medical writing. The course fee is INR 7,700 and INR 500 per module as examination fees.

3. James Lind Institute: It offers advanced post graduate diploma in clinical research and medical writing. The course is self paced and of 6 to 8 months duration with a maximum duration of 24 months. For an Indian resident the course fee is INR 30,000.
It also offers a Professional Diploma in Medical Writing which is again self paced 4 to 6 months with a maximum duration of 18 months. The course is divided in 14 modules giving the student ‘a methodical understanding of the core areas of medical writing’ and helps in enhancing the skills and knowledge of the person aspiring to become a medical writer. The fee for an Indian national residing in India is INR 20,000.

4. Institute of computational biology: Offers professional certificate course in medical writing of 4 months duration. The course involves introduction to drug development and clinical trials, guidelines to good clinical practice, introduction to medical writing, publication writing, regulatory writing, safety writing, and medico marketing writing. The fee for the course is INR 12,500.

5. SIRO clinpharm: Offers 3 months duration program in basic certificate and advanced course in medical writing. The training can be given in classroom or online. Selection is made on the basis of entrance test. Fee is INR 35,000 per course.