Becoming a Medical Writer (Indian Edition) – What’s in There?

By Natasha Das (Guest blogger)

The medical writing market in India has certain unique features. Here’s just one example. Many of the medical writers in the US and other countries have their highest educational qualifications in the humanities. However, it is hard to find a medical writer in India who is not a science graduate. Almost three quarters of the medical writers here are physicians or dentists, according to an online survey I conducted in October 2008. Part of the results was presented during AMWA’s Open session 32 – Medical Writing outside the US: Challenges and Opportunities on Sat, Oct 25th, 2008.

Each week, I receive several queries from people wanting to know more about the medical writing field. Many of these inquiries come from people who usually fall into one of the following categories:

• People wondering what medical writing is all about
• Medical doctors wanting to become writers
• Non-medicos knowing they have a flair for writing and wanting to break into health or medical writing
• People looking for medical writing courses, and graduates and certificate programs
• Graduates looking for medical writing jobs
• Medical writers wanting to start freelancing and are wondering what they should charge
• Experienced medical writers planning to move to India but are unsure of their career prospects here

If you think you fall into any of these categories, then the ebook Becoming a Medical Writer (Indian Edition) coauthored by Diego Pineda and me is just the one for you.

The Indian edition of the book answers these and many more questions. Like the How to become a Medical Writer Self-Study Guide I wrote and the earlier edition of the ebook Becoming a Medical Writer that Diego wrote, this book also talks about what medical writing encompasses, its different types, the qualification and skills needed, and the training available. It also tells you where and how to look for jobs and how to kick-start your freelance medical writing career. In addition, Becoming a Medical Writer (Indian Edition) is prepared keeping the medical writer in India in mind. The Indian edition brings you:

• Excerpts from the results of the first ever documented survey of Indian medical writers
• Experiences of several medical writers (many of whom are from India) in their own words
• Best training, and graduate and certificate courses available in India and abroad
• Online training courses and whom to contact
• Recruiters in India that look for medical writers
• List of companies in India which hire medical writers
• Salaries of medical writers in India
• Rates that freelance medical writers in India charge
• 24 professional organizations around the world ( 4 of them Indian) that offer networking, educational and career advancement opportunities
• An introduction to All India Medical Writers Association (AIMWA) and its activities
• Online communities of medical writers on orkut and ning where you can interact directly with other medical writers from India

We hope you will enjoy reading the book and it will guide you during your first steps into the exciting and lucrative career of medical writing in India!

Click here to order Becoming a Medical Writer Indian Edition.