Presentation<\/a><\/p>\n Transition from research to medical writing<\/a><\/p>\n Recruitment process<\/a><\/p>\n Mobility<\/a><\/p>\n Advice<\/a><\/p>\n \nMy name is Elodie Pauwels<\/a> and I am a medical\/scientific writer\u00a0at\u00a04Clinics<\/a>. After completing a technical degree in biochemistry at the\u00a0ENCPB<\/a> and the Magist\u00e8re de\u00a0 G\u00e9n\u00e9tique de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 Paris VII<\/a>, I completed my doctorate in the United States where I defended my thesis in December 2012, and came back\u00a0to France shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n I now have 5 years of experience as a medical\/scientific writer in CRO<\/a> (contract research organization): my job consists in writing or controling the quality of medical-scientific documents mainly for the pharmaceutical or biotechnological industry.<\/p>\n I may have to translate or review<\/strong> the translation of these documents.<\/p>\n For example, I am\u00a0in charge of writing clinical study reports, which are then submitted to the health authorities. For this, I am in direct contact with:<\/p>\n \nWhat I like about writing such reports is the overall perspective on\u00a0the clinical study, having the first opportunity to describe and exploit its results. I also like the opportunity to move from one subject to another, from one therapeutic area to another; I am constantly learning.<\/p>\n What I like least about my job is perhaps the rigidity of regulatory documents – there is no room for creativity, and sometimes you need to have a sharp\u00a0eye to detect the slightest detail or inconsistency in substance\u00a0and form, and a certain administrative burden because the review of any document must be documented.<\/p>\n \nIn order to be a good medical\/scientific writer, it is first of all essential to enjoy writing, writing and communicating in English, and to be very rigorous<\/strong>: customers’ expectations can be quite high (for example, on the wording of sentences, and the rules for using capital letters, spaces, commas or abbreviations).<\/p>\n The experience of academic research has helped me because during the years spent in the laboratory, researchers\u00a0develop\u00a0several skills:<\/p>\n The main reason why I left academic research is the desire to have a stable job; I saw researchers around me doing a series of post-docs and short contracts… Having two days off per week (on weekends!) is not negligible either.<\/p>\n Finding my first position as a medical writer\u00a0was not easy. Right after defending the\u00a0thesis, I had no idea that this profession existed. When I returned to France, I contacted former professors and colleagues so as to\u00a0study the possibilities\u00a0in the field of\u00a0science communication<\/strong>, since I didn’t want to get too far away from science. I have been on specialized job boards, such as ABG <\/a>or Leem<\/a>. After identifying the profession of medical\/scientific writer, I contacted former Magist\u00e8re alumni in this type of position to get a better idea of their profession and how the transition to it had gone.<\/p>\n
\nPrEsentation<\/h2>\n
\n
\nWhat does research experience bring to your responsibilities?<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nTRANSITION FROM RESEARCH TO MEDICAL\/SCIENTIFIC WRITING<\/h2>\n