Moving from academia to freelance medical writing
Moving from academic research to freelance medical writing combines a change of profession with becoming a business owner.
Reasons for the move
Research, technical writing and academic rigour transfer to medical communications, but technical competence alone does not meet the networking, marketing and business-management demands of freelancing.
A tuberculosis researcher in South Africa left academia after more than twelve years when funding was diverted to COVID-19 research just as she sought to extend a soft-funded fellowship on the path to becoming a principal investigator. Frustrated with repeated funding battles, she chose a new career rather than a better-funded research field, first joining a medical communications agency and then freelancing because she loved the work but missed control over her time and schedule.
A UK cancer-research principal investigator left amid dwindling funding, pension cuts, increased teaching, departmental micromanagement, a salary lagging living costs and the financial pressures of a mortgage, children and a car, with Brexit adding uncertainty. Networking with pharmaceutical professionals led her within a year to medical writing, retaining scientific writing, medical education and the possibility of improving patients' lives; she developed her skills in agencies before freelancing.
A neuroscientist with more than twelve years in research became unhappy with bench work after maternity leave, then explored medical-writing opportunities through freelance platforms when the pandemic stopped laboratory activities. She began freelancing alongside laboratory work in 2020 and moved to full-time practice in April 2022. Another researcher with twelve years in academia began freelance scientific writing during the pandemic after reflecting on diminished motivation since her doctorate. Leaving the laboratory was difficult, but more than two years later she valued the use of her scientific expertise, recognition of her work and flexibility with a young family.
A geneticist returning after a career break for childcare and family illness felt that further postdoctoral research no longer made sense after ten years, four countries and three postdoctoral positions in ageing biology. A lack of guidance on alternative careers left her undecided for a year; she considered foreign qualifications, a lack of local work experience and language barriers obstacles to employment in Germany. A medical-writer friend suggested the field, prompting her to join EMWA in December 2018 and study its resources, including its introductory primer. Wanting to remain in Hamburg with her settled family, she chose freelancing because local pharmaceutical employers and medical-writing jobs were limited.
Networks and business ownership
An academic network may offer few contacts outside research, and leaving academia may be poorly discussed, making alternative careers difficult to discover. The former tuberculosis researcher's two entry-level interviews came through referrals, and most of her early freelance contracts also came from her network; contacts and mentors helped consolidate her skills. Acquiring clients was difficult because potential clients needed credibility before trusting a new freelancer.
The former cancer principal investigator questioned whether fifteen years of academic skills would transfer and how employers would view her. Connecting on LinkedIn with pharmaceutical professionals sharing her educational background or institutions introduced her to medical writers. Supportive agency colleagues helped her learn processes, compliance, regulatory approval requirements and client-facing skills that differed from academic writing.
The researcher who had lost motivation after her doctorate found the shift to seeing herself as a business owner difficult and invested in a business coach and time to plan the practice. She also had to abandon the belief that she must already be an expert in every subject, recognising that research experience equipped her to do good work outside her original specialism. The former neuroscientist tackled unfamiliar networking and marketing by speaking with writers and industry professionals, studying marketing and building a brand first on LinkedIn and then through a website showing her work and services.
For scientists uncomfortable with networking, maintaining contacts is especially important at the beginning of freelance practice. Beginners should allow time to develop rather than expect immediate success and recognise that freelancing is a long-term undertaking.
Transferable skills and new demands
Research, writing and following guidelines provide a technical base; agility, collaboration, networking, project management and marketing may require additional development as the researcher becomes a business owner. Organisation, adaptability, problem-solving and time management acquired in academia can help projects run smoothly. Resourcefulness, self-motivation and dedication also matter, while academic public-speaking experience can transfer to training on scientific writing and publication.
The former cancer researcher credited employment in agencies and pharmaceutical companies with exposure to varied project types and a network that brought high-paying clients and sustained freelance work. A strong social-media presence alone is insufficient: coaching, mentoring and previous in-house writing experience also contributed to one former postdoctoral researcher's successful transition.
The geneticist initially chose journal-manuscript writing and editing because scientists learn those skills, but writing for others meant less intimate knowledge of each experiment and additional work on journal selection and publication guidelines such as ICMJE, ISMPP and CONSORT. Doctoral training nevertheless helped her learn new subjects, search literature, extract information and assess papers' merits and limitations; she found new therapeutic areas rewarding while writing and editing preclinical and clinical life-science manuscripts during her first freelance year.
Sales and marketing may be unfamiliar after academic research, and developing them requires openness to industry colleagues and learning through practice. Medical writers need both depth and breadth of expertise.
In-house experience before freelancing
One researcher completed a diabetes-epidemiology doctorate in India in 2017, including work with the International Diabetes Federation on gestational diabetes, followed by nutritional-epidemiology postdoctoral fellowships at McMaster University and Women's College Hospital in Toronto. Limited academic growth and the need for financial stability made another postdoctoral position unattractive. LinkedIn networking, informational interviews and a friend's suggestion led her to medical writing in late 2022, with a senior-consultant role at a global contract research organisation.
After a year of full-time work, she pursued freelancing for greater variety, enrolled in coaching and networked with other freelance writers. Her first client arrived by referral within about three months, and continued networking ended a dry period after that project. Coaching developed cold-email and LinkedIn-marketing skills, while conversations and personal accounts of her expertise, challenges and successes helped her build professional connections and referrals.
Her advice for new writers without portfolios is to gain experience through agency or contract research organisation internships before freelancing, particularly when they have not yet written scientific manuscripts or regulatory documents.