On May 6, I was honored to be a panelist at the AMWA New England Chapter meeting along with Tom Gegeny of Envision Pharma and Michelle Horan of Pfizer. We were asked to discuss three areas of medical writing and answer audience questions on career advice and the future of medical writing in our areas.
The topic was timely given the overall business climate. Nearly 30 people attended, packing the restaurant.
One thing that stood out for me was the overall passion for medical writing. While everyone was a least a bit anxious about the immediate future, no one mentioned changing careers. In fact, several new writers attended hoping to start careers in medical writing. Others were interested in switching from one area of medical writing to another.
I asked Tom (the President-elect of AMWA) about numbers of new members. He told me that AMWA is indeed continuing to grow steadily and there are now nearly 6,000 members. I’ve been observing this upward trend for some years. This trend underscores the fact that medical writing continues to be an attractive career option.
As I’ve always recommended to new medical writers, at the meeting I suggested starting off working at a company (either medical communications or pharmaceutical or other related company) before trying to begin a consulting business. It makes sense to learn the ropes first.
For those already in medical writing or considering starting a career, the more you can network and continue learning about the field, the more successful you will be. This applies to all areas of medical writing. The one point made by all the panelists, and some of the attendees as well, is that medical writing is a constantly changing discipline since the regulations that guide our work are always changing. So you need to keep on top of changes and trends.
To learn more about what was discussed during this productive meeting, look for my upcoming article in the fall AMWA Journal.
