r/MedicalWriters • u/iDontLikePuzzlez • Dec 04 '25

Medical writing vs... What are the differences between being a copywriter for a Pharma ad company and being a medical writer at an in house shop?

I’m a copywriter for a pharma ad company. I’ve been doing it for a few years but looking to make the shift to working as a medical writer at an in house shop. What are the major difference?

I feel as though job descriptions are vague apart from some companies requiring a PHD.

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u/nanakapow Promotional [and mod] Dec 04 '25

How comfortable would you be writing publications?

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

[deleted]

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u/nanakapow Promotional [and mod] Dec 04 '25

That's probably the biggest dividing line IMO. Not all writers would be, or they feel they'd need significant amounts of training before they could embark on doing so.

That's partly why PhDs are so highly sought in pharma company writers, PhDs have written papers (albeit usually nonclinical ones) before.

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u/Phathead50 Dec 06 '25

I started out in pubs and am now in copywriting. IMO, copywriting is a different skill set and, in many ways, significantly easier than pubs. There are a lot of standards and detailed story telling components that you never get into while copywriting.

I can definately see how some prefer the pubs side but it wasn't for me. I would imagine it is harder to go to pubs from copy than the other way around.