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Physician NonClinical Careers with John Jurica


Oct 16, 2018

Freelance medical writing can be a great nonclinical career for several reasons:

  1. It can be started part-time.
  2. There is a lot of flexibility.
  3. The demand for writers continues to grow.
  4. It does not require a big cash investment to get started.

But it’s probably best-suited for physicians with a certain personality. My guest, Dr. Emma Nichols, addresses all of these issues in today’s interview. 

She has a doctorate in molecular biology.  And, she’s a seasoned medical communications professional specializing in continuing medical education and news writing.  Her company, Nascent Medical, provides expert medical writing services through its team of experienced MD- and PhD-level writers.

As she was building her company, she needed to vet and train capable writers. That led to developing a course to train freelance writers in all aspects of the business. Dozens of physicians have launched their own writing careers as a result of the training provided by Dr. Nichols. 

I’ve personally spoken with several writers who have recommended her course. So, I thought she'd be an excellent guest for the PNC podcast.

If you’ve considered a career in medical writing, Emma provided some great advice during our interview. 

She described the benefits of a career as a freelance medical writer. And she outlined the personality traits that best fit such a career. 

She suggested that writers start out by writing part-time to see how well they like it.

She mentioned the American Medical Writers Association (aka “AMWA”) as a good resource for physicians considering a writing career. It’s next big annual meeting – the 2018 Medical Writing & Communication Conference – is being held in Washington, DC from November 1st through the 3rd. 

She also told us about a free webinar she’s hosting called “Freelance Medical Writing -- A Lucrative Work-From-Home Career Choice.” 

The webinar is being held on Thursday, October 25th, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. It’s a very good way to learn more about freelance writing. She’ll be going into more details about some of the topics we covered, including the potential salary expectations. To sign up for the webinar, just go to 6weekcourse.com.

You can download a transcript and links to resources mentioned in today's episode by going to the show notes at vitalpe.net/episode056.