The Definitive Guide on How to Hire a Medical Content Writer

Looking to consult a medical content writer? Here’s an exhaustive guide on everything you need to know to start hiring.

The pandemic might have disrupted hundreds of traditional industries with its constant lockdowns and drying up of passive consumer consumption. But, the medical device, biotech and pharma industries, amongst others, have been actively involved in research, development and manufacture as they look to innovate and fight back against the virus. 

The role of a medical writer is not just growing in significance, but rapidly evolving due to the rise of remote working trends. It’s not just consumers that perceive businesses differently due to a dynamic shift in demand and supply. Businesses themselves are adapting to this trend, and changing the way they see employees. Assembling internal teams has given way to tapping into the best on-demand talent around the globe.

Within this new ecosystem, medical writers are probably the most crucial piece in the jigsaw, taking on a wide and varied number of tasks crucial to getting a medical device product across the breadth of its assembly, right from conception to market launch.  This includes research, compliance, product development, and pre and post-launch marketing.

What does a medical content writer do?

Medical content writers can develop a wide range of material for businesses, such as marketing, promotional and authoritative, educational content. They are also extensively involved in research and conception, documenting cutting-edge developments for life science research that have a direct impact on global health and safety. They also pen grant research documents that help companies receive funding in order to kickstart important and innovative research across multiple medicinal domains. 

On a day to day basis, medical content writers take up a variety of tasks. Some might work exclusively on documentation, ensuring that your medical device’s documents are detailed and up-to-date. Others, such as medical copywriters, might work in a more promotional capacity, crafting content that resonates with your target audience and positions your product perfectly in a crowded market. This includes detailing the unique intricacies of the device features, life-saving treatments and countless other things that need to be communicated to the general populace. 

Why do you need a medical content writer?

With the exponential degree of advancement across myriad domains in medicine, healthcare and biotechnology, medical content writers are highly sought after to fill the role of the communicator – someone who can combine the knowledge of medicine and science with a flair for storytelling in order to communicate these advancements to both the general public as well as other professionals within the industry that this research might benefit.

The growth of the gig economy and its development into an ‘expert’ economy has seen more academics, particularly PhD-qualified medical writers, turn to freelancing in order to branch out more and take control of their schedules. These experts are now available on-demand on platforms such as Kolabtree, providing a great degree of flexibility to the way businesses can approach them and hire them for projects such as,

• Product and compliance documentation
• Developing material for secondary product research and development
• Blogs and other marketing content and copy
• Grant and proposal writing
• Educational material aimed at simplifying complex topics 

How much does it cost to hire a medical content writer?

According to the U.S BLS, the salary of medical writers varies according to certain factors, such as type of writer, location and educational qualifications.

While technical writers typically earn an average salary of up to $70K per year, those involved in marketing or promotions took home somewhere between $62K and $79K per year, based on years of experience. Location also matters, with BLS reporting that those based in New York or California tended to earn somewhere between 33 to 40% more than average. 

With these types of wages beyond what most start-ups and medium sized companies can afford, tapping into a vast global network of highly qualified freelance experts might represent more value for money. Medical content writers on Kolabtree, for instance, charge anywhere between $200 to $500 for a short term project. This might be more attractive for companies that need this expertise only on a short term consulting basis, hiring and re-hiring them on a project basis for affordable fees.

Getting your job post or project description right means you’re halfway done in terms of hiring the right freelance expert for your requirements. Inconsistent and irregular project descriptions attract irrelevant proposals from experts either not matching your desired credentials, or those outside your price range or scope of work.

Here are the key things to consider whilst posting a project,

• Get your requirements right – Make sure you list your priority requirements, right from educational qualifications, skills and specialties required, industry experience and scope of the project. Narrowing down on these specifics will help you filter out profiles and only focus on the ones that match these unique criteria.
• Allocate budgets and deadlines – Deciding upon your budget and timelines are crucial, especially if you’re someone who is bound to hire and rehire frequently. Tailor your profile narrowing down within these parameters in order to ensure a streamlined process in terms of negotiations once you find the right freelance expert. Clearly spell out your project budget, project duration and how soon you’re looking to hire.

Here’s what your sample project might look like,

That’s it, you’re now ready to hire. Post a free project here and get quotes from top-rated medical content writers within 24 hours.