How To Become A Senior Medical Writer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior medical writer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A senior medical writer is an individual who creates and develops medical content for various audiences, including healthcare professionals, patients, and regulatory agencies. They are responsible for producing clear, concise, and accurate documents that communicate complex scientific information. Senior medical writers work in a variety of settings, including pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations, and academic institutions. Their responsibilities may include writing clinical study reports, manuscripts, regulatory documents, and medical education materials.

ScoreSenior Medical WriterUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $99,453

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.35%

Asian 8.57%

Black or African American 6.43%

Hispanic or Latino 7.62%

Unknown 4.95%

White 72.08%

Gender

female 62.07%

male 37.93%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a senior medical writer?

Pros

High earning potential
Intellectual stimulation
Flexible schedule
Ability to work on a variety of projects and therapeutic areas
Chance to make a meaningful impact on patient care

Cons

High workload and tight deadlines
Pressure to produce high-quality work under time constraints
May require long hours, including evenings and weekends
May be required to work on projects that conflict with personal beliefs or values
Continual need to stay up-to-date on new research and developments in the field

Key steps to become a senior medical writer

Explore senior medical writer education requirements

Most common senior medical writer degrees

Bachelor's

55.1 %

Master's

15.5 %

Doctorate

13.8 %

Start to develop specific senior medical writer skills

Skills	Percentages
Medical Writing	9.64%
Clinical Data	6.75%
Clinical Study Reports	6.26%
Clinical Research	5.19%
FDA	5.19%

Complete relevant senior medical writer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior medical writers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior medical writer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior medical writer resumes.

Research senior medical writer duties and responsibilities

Manage the contractor for the eCTD compilation and submission.
Prepare CSRs and manage the writing of CSRs by contract writers.
Manage the quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) review and response processes for these documents.
Create and maintain account profiles for contributors, including writing of biographies, gathering headshots, and creating and managing accounts.

Get senior medical writer experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior medical writer. The most common roles before becoming a senior medical writer include medical writer, research assistant team lead and medic.

Prepare your senior medical writer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior medical writer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior medical writer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior medical writer resume templates

Build a professional senior medical writer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior medical writer resume.

Apply for senior medical writer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior medical writer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first senior medical writer job

John Russo

Senior Medical Writer, The Medical Communications Resource, Inc.

My exposure to medical writing began during the first week of my academic career as an
Associate Professor at the College of Pharmacy and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the
Division of Surgery, School of Medicine, University of Utah.
As I was setting up my office, the administrative assistant for the Dean collected all the new
faculty members and led us into the Dean’s office. I don’t remember much, but there are two
things I remember to this day. First, one of the main reasons, I was told, that faculty stay at the
University of Utah was skiing! Therefore, we were assigned to take every Wednesday afternoon
off and learn to ski at Alta. Second, we were reminded that the University of Utah is a research
institution. We were expected to write research proposals, get them funded, and publish the
results in reputable medical or pharmacology journals.
So, as directed, the first thing I did after Wednesday afternoon was to start researching and
writing proposals. I found I was good at it, and the funding came in. Besides writing proposals, I
liked analyzing the data and writing manuscripts for publication in, as the Dean expected,
reputable scientific journals. The only part of clinical research I didn’t enjoy was the midnight
call from nurses telling me it was time to draw blood or collect urine. I learned quickly that all
proposals must include funding for research assistants.
After five years, with seven textbook chapters and 15 original research articles published, it was
time to decide if I wanted to spend the rest of my career as a tenured professor. The answer
was no. It was time to move on. My first job as a medical writer was with Adis Press out of New
Zealand, where I wrote and published reviews of newly FDA-approved drugs. I did that for a
while and then started my company, Advanced Therapeutic Communication, Inc., which
eventually became Churchill Communication, North America, a division of Pearson PLC. I still
work as a freelance managing editor for two online journals, Telehealth and Medicine Today
and Blockchain in Healthcare Today. Today, my company is called the Medical Communications
Resource, Inc.
Looking back, I’ve had the good fortune of editing two textbooks and serving as a ghostwriter
for countless experts in the healthcare field. I’ve conceptualized and implemented domestic
and international educational programs, prepared slides and posters, written script