My life as a medical writer Karen Wilson
- Slides: 14
My life as a medical writer Karen Wilson Smith Ph. D
The pursuit of happyness Ph. D: the effect of exercise on blood gas transport in the thoroughbred horse sp Report writer at Animal Pharm: 2 years Freelance writer: 3 years Medical writer…senior medical writer…editorial manager at FSP: 3 years Managing editor at start-up company Genesis…. Editorial director at Parexel MMS: 9 years
Transferable skills l Digesting complicated scientific material l Problem-solving l Liaising with opinion leaders l Presentation skills l Writing and editing skills
How I became a medical writer l Fierce and relentless editing l Learning to pick up the phone and talk to people l Luck l Hard work l Asking for help l Listening to the client (it’s not about “you”) l Mutual peer support
New skills required l Commercial awareness l Multi-tasking l Thick skin l Asking for help
My first three years l Franklin l Small Scientific Projects (now Medicus) agency (6 writers, 1 editorial director, 1 MD, 2 designers, 2 layout technicians, 2 secretaries…and no computers)
The training programme
My first projects l Taking over a monograph on verapamil from my predecessor l Managing a number of translations of a toothpaste newsletter l Developing presentations and a supplement for P&G’s Vicks products
Career development Specialist medical writer Focus on more technical and specialised writing Review copy Pitch and proposal activities Company “expert” Unlikely to have line reports, but may act as a mentor Manager Close liaison with client services Close liaison with client Manage timelines and budgets Review copy Reduced project work Responsible for team of writers Recruitment & appraisals Client services
The next nine years l l l Genesis Pharma Strategies (then PPS, now Parexel MMS) Started as fledgling agency built on consultancy Taken over by huge US company My role grew from managing 4 writers to managing ~40 writers, secretaries and production editors on two sites plus senior management responsibilities Main client was Astra. Zeneca (Galida)
A typical day as an editorial director l Meeting to discuss resourcing for a proposal l Review copy l Speak to client about project timelines and activities l Review cvs l Approve timesheets l Troubleshoot
Typical projects for junior writers l Abstracts l Posters l Congress and journal information for Publication planning l Meeting materials (invitations, abstract books)
Typical projects for experienced writers l Satellite symposia (all meeting materials) l Publication planning l Writing manuscripts l Reviewing copy l Proposals and pitches
Are all agencies the same? l Many different types of agency ¡ ¡ ¡ l Large / medium / small Hierarchical / flat Writers / editors Client services / no client services Independent / owned by large organisation (often CRO, advertising agency or publisher) What makes the difference? ¡ ¡ ¡ The people The creativity The types of project
