Documentation writer vs medical writer

The differences between documentation writers and medical writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a documentation writer and a medical writer. Additionally, a medical writer has an average salary of $93,842, which is higher than the $69,677 average annual salary of a documentation writer.

The top three skills for a documentation writer include technical documentation, subject matter experts and sharepoint. The most important skills for a medical writer are medical writing, patients, and clinical research.

Documentation writer vs medical writer overview

	Documentation Writer	Medical Writer
Yearly salary	$69,677	$93,842
Hourly rate	$33.50	$45.12
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	16,019	59,516
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	2

What does a documentation writer do?

A documentation writer helps organizations with documentation tasks for their services/products. These professionals mostly handle factual and highly technical writing for companies like electronics manufacturers, technology corporations, and software companies. Documentation writers produce factual information relating to products in various formats from technical specifications to reference manuals, fact sheets, frequently asked questions, how-to's, and instructions manuals. They can describe complex processes like functions, setup, and installation in clear English. Moreover, these professionals produce the required documents on time and with zero errors.

What does a medical writer do?

As the name entails, medical writers produce technical, educational, promotional, and technical content. They typically work with physicians, scientists, and subject matter experts to produce documentation that defines product usage and research results. Their duties and responsibilities may vary, but they perform some common tasks, including developing documentation related to clinical trials, creating monographs, and developing promotional materials. Medical writers are also responsible for creating grant proposals, writing newspaper and magazine articles, and creating presentations for conferences.

Documentation writer vs medical writer salary

Documentation writers and medical writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Documentation Writer	Medical Writer
Average salary	$69,677	$93,842
Salary range	Between $53,000 And $90,000	Between $63,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	Virginia
Best paying company	-	Biogen
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between documentation writer and medical writer education

There are a few differences between a documentation writer and a medical writer in terms of educational background:

	Documentation Writer	Medical Writer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 63%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common major	English	Biology
Most common college	Northwestern University	University of Southern California

Documentation writer vs medical writer demographics

Here are the differences between documentation writers' and medical writers' demographics:

	Documentation Writer	Medical Writer
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 48.3% Female, 51.7%	Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 8.8% White, 71.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between documentation writer and medical writer duties and responsibilities

Documentation writer example responsibilities.

Manage content uploads through SharePoint.
Manage the EDMS system as a super user for the organization.
Manage, and perform administrative QC of electronic clinical submission modules within the Documentum document management system.
Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.
Update and QC collateral file inventory.
Analyze technical design documents and work closely with SMEs.

Medical writer example responsibilities.

Develop network of science contacts at NASA to inform stories and generate new leads.
Manage, and assist in the recruiting activities of, CRO resources preparing regulatory documents on behalf of APGD.
Create and maintain account profiles for contributors, including writing of biographies, gathering headshots, and creating and managing accounts.
Create manuscripts, abstracts, and PowerPoint slide decks for a prominent pharmaceutical client.
Prepare CSRs, IB updates, protocols, protocol amendments, and statistical analysis plans.
Draft scientific content for abstracts, posters, manuscripts, and slide presentations (CNS )

Documentation writer vs medical writer skills

Common documentation writer skills

Technical Documentation, 15%
Subject Matter Experts, 10%
SharePoint, 9%
Software Development, 6%
User Manuals, 6%
GMP, 6%

Common medical writer skills

Medical Writing, 11%
Patients, 8%
Clinical Research, 6%
Clinical Study Reports, 6%
Literature Searches, 5%
FDA, 5%

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Documentation Writer vs Medical Writer

Updated January 8, 2025

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