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Medical technical writer vs contributing writer

The differences between medical technical writers and contributing 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 medical technical writer and a contributing writer. Additionally, a medical technical writer has an average salary of $74,619, which is higher than the $51,372 average annual salary of a contributing writer.

The top three skills for a medical technical writer include medical writing, FDA and informed consent. The most important skills for a contributing writer are lifestyle, web content, and SEO.

Medical technical writer vs contributing writer overview

Medical Technical WriterContributing Writer
Yearly salary$74,619$51,372
Hourly rate$35.87$24.70
Growth rate6%6%
Number of jobs123,78110,292
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Average age4646
Years of experience22

Medical technical writer vs contributing writer salary

Medical technical writers and contributing writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Medical Technical WriterContributing Writer
Average salary$74,619$51,372
Salary rangeBetween $53,000 And $104,000Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between medical technical writer and contributing writer education

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

Medical Technical WriterContributing Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 46%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorEnglishJournalism
Most common collegeUniversity of HoustonMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Medical technical writer vs contributing writer demographics

Here are the differences between medical technical writers' and contributing writers' demographics:

Medical Technical WriterContributing Writer
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 35.4% Female, 64.6%Male, 44.6% Female, 55.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.4% 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, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between medical technical writer and contributing writer duties and responsibilities

Medical technical writer example responsibilities.

  • Help company achieve ISO registration by determining best practices, writing ISO compliant manufacturing instructions and teaching best manufacturing processes.
  • Create deliverables, and track changes and revision histories in compliance with FDA mandate procedures.
  • Include research, and obtaining information from interviews and PowerPoint presentations.
  • Develop complete design document/storyboard in PowerPoint with suitable animation and audio script.
  • Work on quality assurance software for use in manufacturing and regulatory reporting for FDA regulate cardiovascular products.
  • Perform editing, proofreading, and quality control functions to produce technical training documents and presentations according to specify deadlines.
  • Show more

Contributing writer example responsibilities.

  • Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
  • Pitch, write and photograph audience-aligned content, which are centered on the European-American luxury lifestyle in the greater Chicago area
  • Create SharePoint site for marketing and communications that include project tracking, document governance and collaboration space.

Medical technical writer vs contributing writer skills

Common medical technical writer skills
  • Medical Writing, 16%
  • FDA, 13%
  • Informed Consent, 10%
  • Adobe Acrobat, 9%
  • Clinical Study Reports, 9%
  • Medical Devices, 8%
Common contributing writer skills
  • Lifestyle, 13%
  • Web Content, 7%
  • SEO, 6%
  • Feature Stories, 6%
  • Conduct Interviews, 5%
  • Blog Posts, 5%

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