On Careers in Research Communication

Greetings once more. This weekend I went to Dallas (about 3 hours’ drive) for a regional meeting of the American Medical Writers Association.

The meeting was titled “Becoming a Medical Writer: Why? How?” At this meeting, four of us briefly described our careers. We then answered many questions from the audience.

Why careers in medical writing? Or, more generally, why careers in the communication of research?

Although researchers themselves do much of the communication about research, professional communicators can add much to this process. And some of us enjoy communication of research so much that we decide to focus on it in our careers.

What kinds of careers exist in research communication? The answers differ among countries, but here are a few types of research-communication work in the United States:

• Reporting on research for newspapers, television, and other media
• Doing public-information work for universities and other research institutions
• Preparing reports for companies where research is done
• Editing research journals
• Editing research articles directly for the researchers who write them

How does one learn to do so work? Much such learning has been from supervisors and colleagues. Now, however, courses and degree programs exist in technical communication, science journalism, and related fields. Also, organizations such as the American Medical Writers Association offer workshops and other education. And internships in this field now exist.

As was clear from the meeting this weekend, some of us find research communication a very satisfying career. If you’d like to know more about this field, please feel free to ask.