What is medical writing?

Medical (copy)writing

Medical writing is a general term that encompasses a wide range of tasks – from journalistic articles and blogging through to highly technical manuscripts that are published in medical journals.

Other terms for medical writing include medical communications, healthcare journalism, scientific writing, health PR writing, healthcare advertising and medical copywriting.

Target audience

The overarching aim of the medical writer is to communicate complex medical research and information in a clear and accurate manner. The copy written requires careful crafting for it to be appropriate to the target audience – the register can vary widely whether it’s for specialists, general healthcare professionals or patients.

For example, an oncologist might routinely use the term “benign neoplasm”, other healthcare professionals “benign tumour”, and patients “non-cancerous tumour”. Knowing these subtle differences is crucial when writing copy that truly resonates with audiences.

Communication mediators

Medical writers often act as a mediator between pharmaceutical companies and doctors when presenting new clinical trial data at medical congresses and conferences.

Doctors are highly skilled in their particular medical specialty, but can often lack writing and PowerPoint skills – that’s where medical writers come in. We can help communicate exactly what the doctor wants to say, but with no input from the pharmaceutical company, thus maintaining impartiality.