Julia Walton at Media Contacts has chatted with Petra Roberts, Medical Editor and Owner at Swanford Editorial Services

What attracted you to this career in the first place?

I was headhunted from journal publishing, which can be repetitive, and attracted by the variety of work in medcomms.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

The feeling of flow when I am focused on an edit gives me joy.

What is the most challenging experience you have faced?

Learning to run a business solo is challenging but worthwhile.

What’s the funniest memory of your career?

I turned up soaking wet to an interview and still got the job.

Who would play you in the movie of your life?

I’d like Julia Roberts in ‘finding out the truth’ mode to play me.

What are the key tasks in a typical day?

Scheduling work from various clients in my trusty paper diary, editing and proofreading, and finance admin are the main tasks

Thanks, Petra. Have a great day!

Steve Scott at Media Contacts has chatted with David Jenkins, Principal Medical Writer, AXON Communications.

What attracted you to this career in the first place?

I’ve always had an interest in writing and was looking for a way to do that instead of bench science. After completing my PhD I attended a life sciences careers day and a talk given by a medical writer made the career sound appealing so I investigated more. Also, he showed a photograph of the glider he owns, and I thought ‘yes, I cou

What’s your favourite part of your job?

I enjoy the onsite activities, advisory boards in particular. It’s a buzz to see experts present slides that I’ve helped with at symposia and stand-alone meetings; and you’ll never hear a group of doctors talk like they do at an ad board!

What is the most challenging experience you have faced?

At a standalone meeting a speaker was taken ill at the last minute and couldn’t deliver their talk. We managed to brief and rehearse one of the chairs as a replacement in record time!

What’s the highlight of your career so far?

We had just handed a project over to the client; we had written our section and they were going to take on the next part for budget reasons. The next day they sent it back to us to complete (with more budget) because we had done it so well that they wanted us to continue

Who would play you in the movie of your life?

I’d like to say Mark Ruffalo – I think he did a good Bruce Banner in the Avengers films. As an ex-scientist I’d like to promote a positive image for scientists in the movies!

What’s a typical day look like for you?

Check email, check Outlook calendar, check to-do list, get urgent client request, throw the lot up in the air and do the rest of the day on the fly

What would your key tasks in a typical day be?

As well as my writing work and reviewing work from other writers I may also have catch-up meetings with account teams or line reports. We schedule regular client calls, so they crop up every couple of days or so. I also support recruitment for our department, so it’s not uncommon for me to interview a candidate for a medical writer role, either on the phone or in person. If I’m supporting a new business proposal I’ll fit in some research or catch up with other writers on the RFP team to make sure we’re aligned and not duplicating work

Thanks, David. Have a great day!

Julia Walton at Media Contacts has chatted with Krys Dylewska, freelance medical writer.

What attracted you to this career in the first place?

I fell into freelancing as a medical writer from in-house project management. It suits my lifestyle because as a freelancer I am able to work from home and take care of my extensive menagerie of pets.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Getting paid! There’s a much more direct relationship between work and payment when you’re freelance so it’s a good feeling to reap the rewards for one’s hard graft.

What is the most challenging experience you have faced?

Being asked to do something completely wrong (be that impossible, unethical or unwise for the client’s business). An example was when a client wanted a set of slides that had been created for internal ‘cheerleading’ purposes to be adapted for KOLs, which is like asking to mix oil and water. Luckily, things like this have happened to me fewer than six times in 20 years and I am not afraid to say, ‘No’.

What’s a highlight of your career so far?

A recent highlight arose from working on a project for a big, global agency with one of their US divisions. Unusually for a freelancer, I was very heavily involved with being on calls and emails directly with the client. At the end of the project to deliver a slide deck she sent an email saying how pleased she was with the results. It was lovely to hear directly from the end-client that my insights and advice were so much appreciated.

Who would play you in the movie of your life?

Cher, because she has played a lot of feisty women who speak their minds and aren’t afraid to say controversial things, by being honest.

What would your key tasks in a typical day be?

It depends on what I am working on at the time, but they may involve responding to emails, making sure the brief is optimal for the end-client’s commercial objectives, researching, finding ways to add value, reading minds, and, of course, writing.

Thanks, Krys. Have a great day!