Now that you’ve posted a great ad for your medical writing project, and received several promising proposals, you have the task of choosing the right medical writer or medical writing team for the job. What should you look for in the ideal medical writer or medical writing team?

Here are a few things that you should look for:
1. The right education – when it comes to medical writing and the liability issues that could come into play, you don’t want just any professional writer, you need someone who knows the subject matter.

2. Access to medical and scientific journals – you don’t want a writer who will just search the internet to find information, you want someone who has a subscription to medical and scientific journals, thereby providing all of the latest, relevant research for your medical writing project.

3. A large portfolio of samples – a writer’s samples say it all; they can show the depth of their knowledge and their writing skill. To gauge the diversity of their skill, look for a writer who has done several types of writing projects, such as blogs, articles, website content, brochures, sales copy, books and manuscripts to mention a few.

4. Unlimited revisions – let’s face it, every client has a different vision for their project, including you. Therefore, revisions are sometimes inevitable, even when you are using a professional medical writer. However, a professional medical writer will not be afraid to offer free revisions in their price. This will protect you from any unexpected expenses that could come from having to get someone else rewrite or edit the work.

If you keep these four points in mind while reviewing the proposals you have received, you should be able to choose the right medical writer or medical writing team, one that will make any project you throw at them a success.

You are looking for a quality medical writer but how do you tell the difference between a professional medical writer at a great price or an overpriced fake?  With the economic downturn, many out-of-work scientific or health care professionals have gone online to try to pick up some freelance medical writing work. While they may have the medical knowledge, they lack the training, experience and know-how to be the professional medical writer you are looking for.

The professional medical writer and self-proclaimed writer both may have similar degrees and medical experience and charge the same price. But one will do the project just the way you need it done, with minimum hand-holding from you, without countless re-writes and edits and without the bland “blah” of just words on paper that haven’t been brought together in a meaningful way.

Of course you want the professional in order to save yourself the money, time and hassles of dealing with someone who really isn’t a medical writer. Someone’s inexperience shows itself in their work, but it of course, by then it is too late…you’ve already made the wrong decision. Here are two things to help you tell the quality and experience of your potential medical writer.

1. Does he/she have full text access to a wide range of medical and scientific journals?

Professional medical writers that do this for a living cannot get by without full-text access to medical journals. It is necessary to read the details of studies in order to fully explain the results of relevant studies and their impact. Most professional medical writers, like The Med Writers, have access to these via alumni access to a university library online or current university affiliations. This is the best way, since there is no other affordable way to have access to a wide range of high quality articles. Anyone without a university library access, is merely reading the abstracts of articles without being able to see the details. Therefore they may be writing information that is not an accurate portrayal of the results of actual studies.
2. Does he/she have a huge portfolio of past work?

Anyone can pretend to be anything, but what separates the professional from the fake is his/her portfolio. This is the most important criteria, since an inexperienced writer isn’t actually a writer, but a writer-in-training. And even the most experienced writer may not have experience in doing exactly what you need done, so it is best to carefully look through the portfolio of all potential candidates. The Med Writers’ portfolio is available online.

3. Can he/she provide testimonials and references from past clients?

So maybe your “medical writer” lists lots of past projects he or she has done. But if there are no testimonials or references to show that these past clients were happy, then this isn’t good news. All professional medical writers can point you to testimonials or references from past clients that were satisfied with their service. The Med Writers have countless testimonials on the main page of  their website and in a separate document that can be downloaded.

Now you are armed with the ability to find a true professional medical writer to work on your projects. Good luck!