Medical Writing in India: the 2013 Survey

We are at it again!

In 2008, I had conducted a survey on medical writing in India. Part of the survey was presented that year at the 68th annual conference of AMWA.

It showed that unlike in the West, the medical writers in India were incredibly qualified. Over 90% of them were from the life sciences background...something you do not see in US or UK.

Is the trend changing? Are more and more people with journalism background entering the field? Where do most medical writers in India work? Are most of them on staff jobs or working as freelance? How much does as average medical writer in India earn? Are most medical writers in India males or females? 

Help us find that out. Sauren and I are trying to figure out how the scenario has changed over the last 5 years. Please participate in this 10 min survey to help us understand the medical writing industry in the country better. 

Here's the form. You can fill it up from right here and submit if you haven't yet received an email from us. Please be very careful about not attempting this survey if you are not a medical writer in India.

About a Forthcoming Medical Writing Workshop

I was going through the Scientific Agenda for a medical writing workshop I am attending. Thought you might be interested to hear about it.

This workshop is part of the 28th ICON Meeting conducted by the Indian Cooperative Oncology Network (ICON). The workshop in on Friay, the 5th of April, 2013 at Mumbai. There are several sessions on:

• How to Write an Original Article
• Intricacies of Publishing
• PubMed Tutorial
• Workshop on Reference Management

Click on the link below to read the full agenda.

Scientific Agenda of the Medical Writing Workshop at the 28th ICON Meeting

Tip #1 Use a Citation Manager Software

In April this year, I am speaking to a group of oncologists in Mumbai about using reference software for their articles. Very few people in India currently use a reference software to manage their citations. But the trend is changing.

Last September I attended my first workshop on referencing software. Everyone present really loved the idea of having to do away with manual referencing.

Does working with reference and citations manually give you a headache? 

I use the EndNote library (ENL) citation manager. The price of the current X6 version is around 250 USD. It may sound like too much for a writer in India. But once you use it you will absolutely love it. You will forget manual referencing forever. That's for sure.

Some friends of mine use RefMan. They find that really helpful.

A friend of mine uses the free software Zotero and says it is equally good. I haven't used Zotero. Cannot comment on it.

Here's a tutorial about ENL that I found awesome. This is just a 7 min video. There are longer ones available on YouTube for those interested in the details.

Here's my medical writing tip #1. Use a citation manager and know the difference. If you cannot afford a paid software right away, start with a free software. Once you get the hang of it, you might want to use a paid one for the additional support it provides.

How do you manage your citations? Have you switched to a software or do you find manual referencing comfortable? What software do you use? If you are using a software to manage references, we would love to hear your experiences.

Medical Writing Workshop in Odisha

All India Medical Writers Association (AIMWA) recently conducted its first medical writing workshop in the eastern sector.

It was a two day workshop in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar (IIPH-B) with the support of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). The Indian Institute of Public Health is an initiative started by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). It is a new institute...only about a couple of years into its existence in Bhubaneswar.

Dr Sanghamitra Pati of IIPH-B and I got to meet through the Author AID forum. Soon, we realized that both Dr Pati and I wanted to do something for our state, Odisha in the form of scientific writing workshop. While I was on a personal visit to Odisha last summer, she invited me to speak on "Writing a Scientific Manuscript and Getting Published". This was during a workshop on Research Methodologies at IIPH-B. It was short talk of about half an hour.

Ever since then we had been wanting to conduct a standalone scientific writing workshop at Bhubaneswar or Cuttack. Without a partial funding by ICMR, I am not sure we could have arranged for such a successful workshop.

IIPH-B offered its conference room as the venue. They also managed all the logistics. AIMWA helped in arranging for speakers on various topics.

The topics we touched upon during the 2-day workshop included:

• Medical Writing Basics
• Ethics in Scientific Writing
• Preparing for Publication
• Writing an Original Research Article
• Literature Search
• Referencing Styles and Software (demo)
• Writing a Narrative Review Article
• Writing a Case Report

We wanted to limit the seats to 25. But there was such an overwhelming response that we had to accommodate 40 participants. We hope to come back to Odisha again soon with a more extensive workshop that focuses on limited topics. 

Recorded for the Webinar

The recording for the webinar for the medical writing festival went well last night. Joann was logged in from Pennsylvania, Jonathan from California and I  was logged in from Delhi. We recorded a promotional video for my webinar and also the presentation on Medical Writing in India.

The webinar goes LIVE on 28/9/11 at 7:30 PM Indian time. Jonathan and I shall be there to answer any questions that the participants might have. If you cannot watch it at that time or want to watch it again, you can watch the ON DEMAND REPLAY too.

I am hoping I can attend all the webinars. There are over a dozen of them lined up. There are different webinar packages to choose and there is the a la carta option too.

We will see you at the Medical Writing Festival. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Medical Writing Festival

I am looking forward to the Medical Writing Festival this Sep/Oct where I talk about Medical Writing in India.


This is a first of its kind festival for medical writers across the world. It is a series of 14 webinars with 11 speakers from different continents. People from 25 different countries have shown an interest in the Festival so far.


My webinar interview goes LIVE on 28/9/2011. And it's being recorded too for future REPLAYS on demand. 

The series runs from September 12 – October 7, 2011. There are over a dozen webinars on offer and some early bird discounts if one registers by September 7, 2011. 

You can learn all about it at this website.

When you get there, make sure you enter your name and email to get more information.

https://inquill.infusionsoft.com/go/10nidn11/Iq09mwf11/

Scientific Writing Talk at IIPH, Bhubaneswar

I have been speaking on cancer in different states including my home state, Odisha. But this was a new beginning for me...talking on medical writing to my home crowd.

It's good to know about the new Indian Institute of Public Health at Bhubaneswar. The institute offers PGD course in Public Health Management. IIPH, Bhubaneswar was organizing a workshop on 'Biostatistics and Research Methodology' this June.

I spoke on 'Writing a Scientific Manuscript and Getting in Published.' There was also an introduction to AIMWA and its membership drive. I look forward to more opportunities of spreading the word about Medical Writing in the eastern states of India. Currently, the hubs of medical writing in India are at Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurgaon and Ahmedabad. I do not see much medical writing activity in the east.

Experience - A challenge as well as an opportunity

Earlier this month, I was speaking at the 4th Annual Conference of the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR). I was there as a last minute replacement for the scheduled speaker who could not make it. My topic for the day was 'Opportunities and Challenges in Medical Writing'.

Lack of experienced medical writers in India is a major challenge. However, young medical writers can even look at it as an opportunity.

Medical Writing is relatively new in India. Oh yes, some of the oldest writings in the field of medicine like the Sushrutasamhita and the Charakasamhita are from India. What I mean here, is that Medical Writing as a  profession is a relatively new concept in India. There are very few medical writers in India who have a writing experience of over 5 years.

Data from an online survey I conducted in 2008, part of which was later presented at the 68th Annual Conference of AMWA in Louisville, KY the same year, showed that most medical writers in India had less than 5 years of experience. Nearly 90% of the respondents had less than 10 years of experience in the field.

This becomes a challenge for people deciding to outsource their writing to India. More often than not when I have had to hire writers for my work, I almost had to handhold them and teach them how to maintain uniform quality in their work. This is often more time consuming than doing the project on my own. However, with a little guidance some of the writers have learnt the skill really well. I am glad when I see their work.

And that's why I say that lack of experienced medical writers in India may be a challenge for service buyers. However, for service providers, it is an opportunity that they can cash on. If the young medical writers in this country work with sincerity and discipline, they can develop great skills. In this field, if you can provide the quality a client expects and stick to the deadlines, nobody is going to ask you about the training you have received or the number of years of experience you have in this field.

P.S. The complete report of the results of the first ever Survey of Medical Writers in India is available as a free bonus on ordering the ebook Becoming a Medical Writer (Indian Edition).