Medical writer vs scientific writer

The differences between medical writers and scientific 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 writer and a scientific writer. Additionally, a scientific writer has an average salary of $99,550, which is higher than the $93,842 average annual salary of a medical writer.

The top three skills for a medical writer include medical writing, patients and clinical research. The most important skills for a scientific writer are IND, NDA, and abstracts.

Medical writer vs scientific writer overview

	Medical Writer	Scientific Writer
Yearly salary	$93,842	$99,550
Hourly rate	$45.12	$47.86
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	59,516	15,960
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	2	2

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.

What does a scientific writer do?

Scientific writers are professionals who are responsible for conducting research and writing articles that are related to scientific topics for many different kinds of publications and scientific journals. These writers are required to conduct interviews with scientists and other important people to ensure accurate information about the essays they are writing. They must adapt and comply with in-house style guides as well as perform copy-editing and proofreading duties. Scientific writers must also build up a network of contacts with other professionals in the industry such as press officers, PR executives, and researchers.

Medical writer vs scientific writer salary

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

	Medical Writer	Scientific Writer
Average salary	$93,842	$99,550
Salary range	Between $63,000 And $137,000	Between $66,000 And $150,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Richmond, VA
Highest paying state	Virginia	Virginia
Best paying company	Biogen	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Best paying industry	-	Pharmaceutical

Differences between medical writer and scientific writer education

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

	Medical Writer	Scientific Writer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 57%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Medical writer vs scientific writer demographics

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

	Medical Writer	Scientific Writer
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 33.6% Female, 66.4%	Male, 39.2% Female, 60.8%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 8.6% White, 72.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between medical writer and scientific writer duties and responsibilities

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 )

Scientific writer example responsibilities.

Manage, and assist in the recruiting activities of, CRO resources preparing regulatory documents on behalf of APGD.
Harmonize USP and EP methods.
Exhibit proficiency in researching, writing, editing, and proofreading.
Create internal LIMS for NIH lab using Drupal, MySQL and git version control.
Organize and consolidate information into standard report formats, preparing and proofreading correspondence and documents in accordance with HIPAA regulations.
Use APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, AMA, and in-house style guides for error-free documents.

Medical writer vs scientific writer skills

Common medical writer skills

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

Common scientific writer skills

IND, 10%
NDA, 10%
Abstracts, 7%
Regulatory Submissions, 6%
Proofreading, 6%
Clinical Study Reports, 6%

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Medical Writer vs Scientific Writer

Updated January 8, 2025

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