To become a successful Medical Writer, a person needs to have certain skills. Writers working in communications agencies essentially emphasize on preparing manuscripts for publication, promotional items for pharmaceutical marketing etc. For a fresh candidate, employment with a company ensures development of the required skills, contacts and experience. The basic skills required by the person in the field are:

Meticulous attention to detail and the ability to analyze both descriptive and numeric data are two main qualities of a medical writer.

The writers should have an ability to write and work across teams (often located in remote areas).

They should possess the ability to work independently.

They should have good communication skills.

Medical writers should have an understanding of science and the ability to write about it. They should also possess a thorough knowledge of good clinical practice, drug development, experience with basic and clinical sciences.

They should have a graduate degree in Science, Medicine, English or Journalism.

Medical writers should be deadline oriented, have logical organization capabilities and clear writing skills.

This involves informal medical training like reading of medical and pharmaceutical journals, subscribing to online newsletters, developing an understanding of basic statistics and most importantly being familiar with style guides and medical dictionaries. Besides all this a person has to keep up-to-date with the latest software skills (MS Word, Powerpoint, Acrobat).