This course covers everything you need to know to start your freelance medical writing business. The course nickname is “the 6-Week Course” because it’s divided into 6 modules that theoretically take one week each, but you actually have lifetime access and so you can take as long as you want.
The curriculum is as follows:
Week 1—Prerequisite Skills and First Steps
- Mistakes Medical Writers Should Avoid
- Medical Writing Style
- A Checklist for Pieces You Really Care About
- Preview of the AMA online Manual of Style
- Potential Medical Writing Markets
- How to Get Your First Freelance Medical Writing Clients
Week 2—Setting Up Shop
- Rules of Website Design for the Freelance Medical Writer
- Useful Software and Equipment for Medical Writers
- Checklist of Questions to Ask Clients When Taking on a New Project
- When to (And When Not to) Network and Help Others 101
- Freelance Integrity–Meeting Deadlines, Plagiarism, and Other Issues
- Part-time Clinician/Part-time Writer
- Getting into Regulatory Medical Writing
Week 3—Writing the Medical News
- Scope of Medical News Writing
- Interview With the Director of Medscape’s Medical News
- How to Write the Medical News
- Review of a couple of news pieces
- Interviewing Tips and Techniques for News Writers
- How to Get Medical News Writing Work
- Covering Medical Conferences
Week 4—Writing Continuing Medical Education (CME)
- Understanding Fair Balance
- Getting the “Ghoul” out of “Ghostwriting”
- Writing Needs Assessments
- Needs Assessment Checklist
- Needs Assessment Examples
Week 5—Feature Article Writing
- Scope of Feature Article Writing
- How to Get Feature Article Writing Work
- How to Write Feature Articles
- Interviewing Tips and Techniques When Writing Feature Articles
- Emma goes over a couple of feature articles that she recently wrote
Week 6—Running Your Freelance Medical Writing Business
- Positioning Yourself
- New Business Trends
- Negotiating and Collecting Your Pay
- Contracts 101 for Freelance Medical Writers
- Invoicing Your Clients
- Organizational Tips for Freelance Medical Writers
- A Few Apps to Improve Productivity
- When to Break Up With a Client
- Freelance Customer Service
BONUS Content
- Several examples of different types of medical writing, including features articles, needs assessments, and news articles
- Contract and NDA examples
Frequently Asked Questions
Who should take the course?
The materials are directed towards people with a PhD, an MD, a PharmD or other advanced degree in a science. The course also assumes that participants have good-to-excellent writing skills and English fluency. People often ask “can I take this course if I only have an undergraduate degree in a science, a master’s degree, or an RN, [or insert whatever degree you want here] etc, etc.” There is no advanced degree prerequisite for taking the course or for being a medical writer. However, just know that people with an advanced science degree are more likely to succeed at a career in freelance medical writing. According to the American Medical Writers Association, about one third of medical writers do have an advanced degree in a science.
Do I get one-on-one coaching with the course?
Given the number of people wanting to go through the course, it is not possible for Dr. Nichols to individually coach participants. However, the 6-week course includes access to a dedicated Slack platform where participants can interact with people who have gone through the 6-week course and now work as freelance medical writers.
Do I get written feedback on my work?
The feedback modules (distinct from the above “6-week course modules”) include 6 opportunities for feedback on the following writing types: medical proofreading and editing, annotations and references, news writing, PowerPoint, needs assessments, and manuscript writing. You can take the 6-week course modules with or without these feedback modules. People who do complete 5 of the 6 the feedback modules successfully can be considered for subcontracting opportunities with Dr. Nichols’ company Nascent Medical, LLC. See learn.6weekcourse.com for more information.
What is the course like?
The 6-week online course modules are separated out into 6 “weekly” sections, but you will have immediate lifetime access, so you can go as quickly or as slowly as you want. The course is completely flexible time wise, but in order to get the most out of the course, you will probably want to dedicate at least 10-15 hours a week to reading, learning, and working on projects over a couple of months. There are no obligatory online meeting times or schedules. That said, if you are in the very last stretch of finishing up your PhD, or you have a demanding full-time job, or you have major family demands, you might want to postpone taking the course until you have more time available.
How often is the course offered?
It’s now available anytime. Please see learn.6weekcourse.com to access the modules.
How do I get work with your company after I have gone through the course?
You have to sign up for both the feedback modules and 6-Week Course modules to be eligible for subcontracting opportunities with Nascent. Once you have completed the course and have passed at least 5 of the 6 feedback modules, you will have the opportunity to subcontract for Nascent Medical. Many people who have been through the 6-week course now subcontract for us and make substantial money on an ongoing basis. Our standards are really high, so to subcontract for Nascent Medical, we require that you have an advanced degree in a science AND fluent English in addition to passing at least 5 of the 6 feedback modules. We reserve the right not to include you in our list of subcontractors for any reason. The course will prepare you to seek out whatever clients you want even if you don’t end up subcontracting for us. To date, everyone who has passed at least 5 of the 6 feedback modules has indeed received work from Nascent Medical, but again, the important thing is to learn to seek out additional clients, not just work from Nascent Medical.
How are the feedback modules graded?
The feedback modules (in medical proofreading and editing, annotations and references, news writing, PowerPoint, needs assessments, and manuscript writing) are pass/fail, with the criteria used for passing being “would a client be satisfied if they received this work.” If the work has many spelling errors, demonstrates a lack of English fluency, and is generally not accurate or carefully done, then that would be a fail. Regardless of if you pass or fail, you will receive detailed feedback on your work and can use these as samples to show prospective clients. You’ll have one opportunity to retake each test free of charge. Once you have turned in a feedback module, you’ll get the marked up version back within a week or so and will know at that time if you have passed it. People who go to all that effort and turn in a reasonable attempt do usually pass the test.
Why should I take your premium 6-week course rather than the AMWA certificate?
This is a copy of my response to someone’s email asking this excellent question. I myself have earned the AMWA writing and freelance educational certificate, as well as the BELS certificate.
First, I would say it’s valuable to earn the AMWA certificate because it shows other members of the profession that you are dedicated to expanding your knowledge of the field. However, when you are done adding up the costs of taking courses, traveling, time lost from work, and paying to attend the AMWA conference–which you have to attend because not all required courses are online as of this writing, earning the AMWA certificate actually costs much more than the 6-week course. I would also say that the information that I learned while attaining the AMWA certificate could have been gleaned from reading and studying a few select books on the topics covered in the courses, for a cost of less than $200 in the price of the books. While some homework is required for the AMWA certificate courses, no mentoring or detailed feedback on samples is given (unlike the 6-Week Course). Finally, I do not believe that I have ever been given any freelance work due to the fact that I have the AMWA certificate listed on my resume. A much more useful certification is the BELS certificate. This requires passing a rigorous editing test and requires experience in the field, and many employers and potential clients in the field know that.
The 6-week course does NOT teach advanced writing skills (you might consider my medical editing course for a rigorous review of medical style and editing). What my course does provide is some insight into medical writing mechanics, the scope of medical writing, and information about starting a freelance medical writing business. Participants are encouraged to take on additional clients, but numerous 6-week “graduates” have received ongoing work from Nascent Medical after the course is over, and they have gone on to earn thousands of dollars through my company. So, the best thing about the 6-week course is that it is more of an internship than a course. I would say that these attributes, namely, feedback on writing and potential for real-world experience, sets the 6-week course apart from any of the above mentioned programs and certificates as well as pretty much every other medical writing course out there.
Please consider joining AMWA.org. They have a platform called AMWA Engage, where people currently working as medical writers will answer any questions you may have.
Should I take this course if I want to be a staff medical writer rather than a freelancer?
When is the next course?
It’s available now.