What an association certificate adds to pay
Association certificate holders have reported higher earnings than non-holders in medical-writing salary surveys. The difference may reflect experience and responsibility alongside training, rather than a pay increase caused by the certificate.
Salary differences among employees
In the 2007 survey by the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), full-time employees without an AMWA certificate earned a mean of $79,917, compared with $85,432 for core-certificate holders and $99,897 for advanced-certificate holders. The certificate versus no-certificate comparison was statistically significant at P<.01.
In the 2011 AMWA survey, 27% of respondents held a certificate: 11% a core certificate and 16% an advanced certificate, compared with 21% and 6% respectively in 2007. Certificate holders had significantly higher mean salaries in the unadjusted comparison (Wilcoxon test, P<.0001), but certificate status did not reach significance as a contributing factor in the regression (P>.05).
The 2012 survey by the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) collected full-time-equivalent annual income, with 220 respondents in the comparison by EMWA Professional Development Programme (EPDP) certificate status.
| Certificate status | n (%) | Mean gross annual income (€) | Standard deviation (€) | Median (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No EPDP certificate | 153 (70) | 59,632 | 35,849 | 49,534 |
| EPDP certificate | 67 (30) | 65,443 | 26,973 | 60,606 |
| Total | 220 (100) | — | — | — |
In the 2017 EMWA survey, approximately one-third of employed respondents held an EPDP certificate; their mean annual income was €70,596, versus €59,131 for those without one. Across the employee and freelance analysis sets together, 32% held an EPDP certificate. The employee analysis included part-time writers, who made up 16% of that group.
Freelance hourly rates
Freelances with an EPDP certificate in the 2017 EMWA survey charged a mean €91 an hour, compared with €77 among those without one. Higher freelance rates were linked with more than five years' experience or an EPDP certificate.
Experience and responsibility
In the 2012 EMWA survey, the higher earnings of EPDP certificate holders might have been confounded by years of experience or responsibility, because employees with only a few years' experience probably had not yet had the opportunity to complete a certificate. The interpretation was that income appeared more closely linked to technical expertise, experience and expanding professional skills, including EPDP training, than to formal qualifications alone.