Breaking into medical writing, is a masters in science journalism necessary?

[Julia]

Hi all,
Upon researching the degrees relating to medical journalism, Ive found only 3 institutions in the United States that offer the specific degree, and are competitive in that they only accept 10 students per year. For those of you that are in the field of medical writing, is it possible to enter without a graduate degree?

[Rosaletta]

If I were you, I would not trust AMWA. From my experience, they do not practice what they preach (ethics). I would not recomment ANWA to anyone.

[Alta Davoudi]

What is your experience. By the way I found a number of universities that offer degrees and certifications both in class and online. Go to the society for technical writing website.

[Rosaletta]

Years ago, I worked in the customer service quality assurance department. One customer told me that a business representative treated her like she was a criminal. Now, that statement was escalated to the company executive so the employee would be dealt with. That is a way to describe it when there was an issue to be solved with this organization. Instead of trying to solve the issue, they tried to find a way to blame (and bill) the customer for their shortcomings. I am taking an ethics class right now and that is the worst thing a business can do. They also told my bank some inaccurate information to steal my money (that is exactly what they did here). You asked so I am telling you. I would not expect this type of unethical behavior from a professional organization, but it happened. One thing I always asked customers is if they would recommend the company.

[Alta Davoudi]

Thank you. Yes, and people who work for the company are the best sources of info. I know from my work in the hospital which ones I'd have family members go to if necessary.

[Rod Franklin]

Julia:

I started out in the early 1980s as a mainstream print journalist with a bachelor's degree. By the mid-1990s, I had moved into technical editing at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory west of Denver. When that long contract ended I did a variety of technical work, some related to energy and other assignments focusing on software documentation and so forth. In 2001 American City Business Journals started up a new specialty newspaper in Denver called Front Range TechBiz. It focused on Rocky Mountain area startups in all high tech areas. Because I had worked with scientists and engineers at the laboratory years earlier, I was hired to cover biotechnology, medical devices, drug discovery and a few other beats. It was probably the best and most fulfilling job I've ever had, and quite challenging. But even though the newspaper was wildly popular and distributed mostly for free, it became a victim of the 2002 tech recession and folded. After that I got my American Medical Writer's Association certificate and started doing some of the more serious med writing. You can get into medical journalism without a science degree, but it takes some luck!