Education and training in medical writing
Medical-writing development can combine formal study, experience and training directed at particular tasks. Their purposes, depth and assessment shape how a writer builds a foundation for work and extends it.
Foundational study and situational training
One academic programme director’s distinction treats education as foundational and training as situational: education supplies understanding of the field, while training prepares a learner for particular circumstances. In 2013, medical-writing education was relatively new and few degree programmes offered a route into the profession. Many writers had learned on the job and could have gaps when their knowledge was compared with professional competency lists.
The programme director argued that accredited formal education provided a more uniform knowledge base than experience alone or experience supplemented by short courses. That argument also held that graduates could offer pharmaceutical and device employers broader understanding and greater flexibility than candidates with some experience but a limited background, and could gain more from subsequent workplace experience and training.
Depth, assessment and accreditation
The 2013 US comparison distinguished education and training in the following ways.
| Aspect | Academic education | Training |
|---|---|---|
| Accreditation | Institutions were usually accredited by regional schools-and-colleges associations or other examining bodies recognised by the US Department of Education. | Providers, where accredited, used independent agencies such as the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education or professional organisations. |
| Extent and depth | A credit hour involved fifteen contact hours plus student preparation over a fifteen-week semester; most courses carried two or three credits. | Most training lasted several hours to one or two days. |
| Assessment | Detailed assessment could include essays and research projects, alongside assessment of programme effectiveness. | Understanding of content was usually assessed through straightforward polling. |
Foundations beyond writing craft
A medical-writing curriculum needs both general writing competence and clinical-research foundations.
| Foundation | Content |
|---|---|
| General professional writing | Organisation of ideas, grammar, usage, syntax, and physical and electronic writing tools. |
| Clinical research for medical writing | Ethical, scientific, clinical, statistical and analytical knowledge needed to report regulatory information and clinical-research results effectively. |
A proposed basis for formal curricula combines the Consortium of Academic Programs in Clinical Research competencies with the DIA medical-writing competency model for general, regulatory, non-regulatory and management roles. These lists identify content but leave teaching approaches and delivery methods to programme design.