The changing face of medical writing in India

Abstract

Economic liberalisation has led to an influx of clinical research and a boom in the medical writing industry in India. Medical writers in India at present contribute mostly to medical communications, health journalism, and academic medical writing. Regulatory writing is fast climbing up the ladder too. Continued medical education (CME) writing is almost non-existent since CME is not mandatory for physicians. Lack of adequate experience as professional medical writers translates into quality issues. Unless we match up to global quality standards, we may soon be facing competition from other Asian countries. However, experienced medical writers who have learnt the hard way are hopeful that, with rigorous training and accumulating experience, those who offer quality are here to stay.

Keywords:

• Medical writing in India
• Medical writing in Asia
• Outsourcing to India
• Cost benefit
• Quality issues in medical writing

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the following for their valuable input: Dr Arun Bhatt, President of Clininvent and honorary editor of Perspectives in Clinical Research; Dr Sanjay A Pai, pathologist and member of the editorial boards of the National Medical Journal of India and the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics; Dr Anand Kiran, Executive Vice President, Global Operations, Indegene Lifesystems Pvt Ltd; Dr Roopa Basrur, Director, Medical Writing Services India, PAREXEL International and President of the All India Medical Writers Association; and Dr Bimal John, Founder and Editorial Head, iLogy Healthcare Solutions.

Conflicts of interest and disclaimers

Dr Natasha Das is a freelance medical writer providing medical writing, editing, and training. She is the Founder Secretary of the All India Medical Writers Association. This is an unpaid position. She runs occasional (paid) courses and workshops on medical writing. She has also co-authored a book on becoming a medical writer in India. It is therefore possible that by publishing this article she may benefit financially by acquiring new customers, running extra courses, or selling more copies of her book.

Dr Saurendra Das has no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Natasha Das

Dr Natasha Das, MBBS, chose medical writing over clinical practice in the 1990s. She is passionate about medical writing and conducted the first ever survey of medical writers in India in 2008. She is the Founder Secretary of the All India Medical Writers Association. Find out more about her at http://www.natashamedicalwriting.com.

Saurendra Das

Dr Saurendra Das, MD, is the Executive Director of Excel Life Sciences. He was responsible for establishing two major site management organisations and one contract research organisation in India, and was in charge of the first two sites in India that were inspected by the US FDA. He has been involved in setting up new sites and training personnel for clinical trials. Dr Das is also an advisor to AIMWA.