How I Stumbled Into Medical Writing

I did not expect to get into medical writing as a career. I knew I wanted to write from a young age. My high school biology classes fascinated me. But I didn’t think of combining the two. Also, my interest in biology was mostly technical, not practical. I entered college planning to study both English and biology, but had no career plans.

This started to change one day when I was out at a used bookstore. I planned to go out to eat after I finished browsing. Then I remembered that I had finished the book I had brought with me on the train. I had nothing to read at the restaurant itself. So I went looking for something cheap I could read. The biography section revealed a book with an interesting-sounding title. Besides, it was only eighty-five cents.

While I waited for my food, I began the book. It was about a child waiting for a kidney transplant. I knew how kidneys worked, but seeing it in a clinical context – showing exactly what happened when they worked and when they didn’t – brought it to life in a new way.

That was the beginning of my interest in medical writing. I read every book about medicine I could get my hands on, and looked at many websites devoted to medicine. By the time I was done with school, I knew it was something I loved. But it still didn’t occur to me as a career.

Flash forward ten years. I was floating between jobs and started looking for at home work. My searches brought me to Carol Tice’s Freelance Writer’s Den. Why not try to freelance? I joined the board and mentioned I wasn’t sure what to specialize in. Members of the board suggested I list my interests and work history. When I mentioned medicine, several of them told me it was a good field with a lot of potential clients. Later that year, a company devoted to diabetic retinopathy screening offered me money to make a few blog posts for them, and I was on my way.

Almost ten years later, it still seems to me that so many things could have gone differently and I wouldn’t have wound up here. But I’m glad I did, and even more glad I can make a career out of two things I love.