Getting into the Medical Writing world

Have you ever thought of giving up your current job and radically changing your career field? How would you feel if someone gave you the chance of a new challenging job to get started with? If your answer is that you are sick of your current working life right now and you need a new career direction, here you might find a place for you. 

This is my case and fortunately by doing a bit of searching I found this Medical Writing organisation which holds two annual conferences about it. So I thought “Why don’t I have a go?” so I could do what I like most: writing and speaking one of my favourite languages, English, by improving my skills with a new potential future job I could enjoy as well. 

Conference info: https://www.emwa.org/conferences/future-conferences/ 

The First Step 

I decided to attend the autumn conference in Cascais (2017) to take my first step in getting involved with the profession as a Medical Writer and finding out a little more about it. I was a bit nervous at the beginning but surprisingly I got a lot of encouragement and good advice from senior Medical writers I met by attending the networking session, which is held on one of the evenings at the conference. They were welcoming, helpful, and supportive…I would never have imagined that. 

The networking is a very good event to get to know potential colleagues or even newbies like me to support each other…and who knows…On top of that you might make future friends. 

Conference

One of the advantages of attending these conferences is that it gives you the opportunity to do workshops about different areas of expertise like drug development, Professional Techniques or Medical Science. You will develop your knowledge in the area you are interested in. Once you have done eight of these workshops you can get a certificate from EMWA and this increases your chances of applying for an internship. Personally, I found some of the workshops that I went to highly interesting, as they were so enriching that I really enjoyed them. 

Workshop info: http://filemaker.emwa.org/workshops/EPDP%20Brochure.php 

Another advantage is that for the last two years there has been an internship forum where companies are looking for future talents. They look at your CV and if you are successful, they will train you for three months under the supervision of your assigned mentor, so you will have a good chance of getting a work placement in a company to learn and see how it works and more importantly to decide if you like it. 

Forum info: https://www.emwa.org/training/internship-forum/ 

It seems to me that this is my new path to follow I can feel it…After this wonderful experience full of support from my new future colleagues, I came back home motivated and excited about this new profession, and ready to start this stimulating adventure which I hope will lead me to get a rewarding new job, interesting goals and lovely people to learn with.  

I can’t wait for the next conference!

Amadora Díaz-Palacios