Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How to Return as a Medical Writer After a Career Gap
Transcript
- Lucas: Let's talk about medical writing — specifically how one parent used it to return after a seven-year gap. Luna: Seven years. That's a long stretch. What was her background before? Lucas: She had a PhD in pharmacology, but she'd been doing academic research — never worked in pharma. She left her postdoc when her first child was born, and by the time she wanted to go back, her publications were six years old and her lab techniques were outdated. Luna: So the traditional research track was basically closed. But medical writing — that's a different story. Lucas: Totally. Medical writing is one of those fields where what you write matters more than when you last ran a gel. The key for her was that she didn't try to jump straight into a senior role. She targeted contract medical writing, specifically for clinical trial documents — things like informed consent forms, clinical study reports, investigator brochures. Luna: And she had zero experience writing those. How did she bridge that gap? Lucas: She took a free online course — the American Medical Writers Association offers a self-paced intro to regulatory writing, cost her about fifty dollars. She also found a template for a clinical study report online and spent two weeks writing a mock document based on a published trial. That became her portfolio piece. Luna: Smart. So she could show an employer, 'I can produce this exact deliverable.' Lucas: Exactly. She applied to about twenty contract roles and heard back from two. One was a mid-sized CRO — clinical research organization — that needed a writer for a six-month project. They gave her a writing test: take a four-page clinical protocol summary and draft the patient-facing informed consent form. Luna: That's a great test. It's specific, it's real-world, and it tests exactly the skill they need. Lucas: She passed, got the contract, and within a year she was hired full-time. The CRO told her later that her portfolio piece was what got her the test — they'd never seen a candidate bring a mock clinical study report to an interview. Luna: That's a lesson in itself. Don't wait for someone to ask for proof. Bring it. Lucas: And the other thing she did — she reframed her gap on her resume. Instead of saying 'career break,' she listed 'Independent Research and Writing' with a bullet: 'Authored scientific summaries for personal education during family leave.' That turned a blank stretch into something that sounded active. Luna: It's honest, but it frames the time as productive. I love that. Lucas: The medical writing field is also very contract-heavy, which works well for re-entry parents. You can start with a three-month project, prove yourself, and then either extend or move to another contract. It's low-risk for the employer and flexible for you. Luna: And the pay is decent — even entry-level contract writers can make fifty to seventy dollars an hour, right? Lucas: Yes. She started at sixty dollars an hour on that first contract. For someone coming from academia, that was a raise. And she worked mostly from home, which helped with school pickup. Luna: So what's the one takeaway for someone listening who has a science background and is thinking about this path? Lucas: Don't underestimate the power of a mock document. Create one piece of real-looking, high-quality work that proves you can do the job. That single file can open a door that a resume alone never will. Luna: It's also worth noting that the AMWA course is a small investment — fifty bucks, a few weekends — and it gives you the vocabulary to talk about regulatory writing in an interview. Lucas: Exactly. And if you're a listener who finds these concrete breakdowns useful, I'll mention — we keep the show ad-free, and that's thanks to a small group of listeners who chip in on Buy Me a Coffee. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, but if the episodes help you think through a career move, that's the way to keep them coming. Luna: Yeah, it's a simple way to support the work we put into each episode. Lucas: So back to medical writing — another thing she did was network specifically with other medical writers, not just recruiters. She joined the AMWA job board and a LinkedIn group for regulatory writers. She posted her mock document in the group and asked for feedback. Luna: That's brave. Putting your work out there for critique. Lucas: It was. But she got three pieces of feedback that made her document much better, and one senior writer later referred her for a contract she wouldn't have found otherwise. Luna: So the networking wasn't just about who you know — it was about improving the work itself. Lucas: Right. And that referral led to a second contract before her first one even ended. By the time she was ready to go full-time, she had two years of steady contract work to list on her resume. Luna: That's the ideal ramp. You don't need to land the perfect job on day one — you just need one small win to start the momentum. Lucas: One thing I want to emphasize — she didn't have any connections in pharma. Her entire network was academic. But she built a new network from scratch, focused on the writing side of clinical research. Luna: And that network was more valuable than any course she took. Lucas: Absolutely. The course gave her the vocabulary. The network gave her the opportunities. Luna: Final thought — if someone is listening and thinking, 'I have a PhD in biology but I've been out for five years,' what's the first step you'd recommend? Lucas: Go to the AMWA website, sign up for the introductory medical writing course, and while you're taking it, pick a published clinical trial and write a one-page summary in plain language. That's your first portfolio piece. Then join a medical writing group on LinkedIn and offer to share it for feedback. You'll be surprised how quickly that leads somewhere. Luna: And if it doesn't lead somewhere immediately, you've still built a skill and a sample you can use later. Lucas: Exactly. The gap doesn't define you. The work you produce does.