Medical writing is the term used for a field that can include journalists who specialize in writing in healthcare and medicine as well as doctors, nurses and other health professionals who go into the areas of writing and editing.

Medical writing is a small profession, with the peak body, the Australasian Medical Writers Association having about 300 members from around Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.

Check out the profiles from the Australasian Medical Writers Association to get ideas on what sort of opportunities there are for medical writers based on what these writers are doing right now.

You can also follow the story of American doctor Mandy Armitage, who left a career in clinical medicine to start a company which provides medical writing, communications and consulting. Ryan Woodrow, a UK based medical writer has shared his tips for people considering this career path.

So what are some of the tools of the trade? Michelle Guillemard, founder and editor of Health Writer Hub, has a collection of blogs for people who are thinking about becoming a health writer.

Other recent articles on My Health Career:

• Our latest articles
• Shortage of addiction medicine specialists in Australia
• Dietitians take to Twitter following Catalyst episode spruiking the high fat, low car diet
• Why becoming a nurse purely to help people might be a bad idea