One of the most common questions I get from my physician-writer clients is, “Should I join the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA)?” The short answer is: yes, with one important exception.
What Is AMWA?
AMWA has over 4,000 members and is the leading professional organization of medical writers in the United States (it has a counterpart in Europe: EMWA, or the European Medical Writers Association).
As noted on AMWA’s website, AMWA helps medical communicators “make meaningful connections, gain knowledge, share ideas, and solve problems.” They are a leading advocacy group on issues affecting medical writers and their businesses, and also provide ongoing education and resources for every level of medical writing experience.
Benefits of AMWA Membership
There are numerous benefits to becoming an AMWA member. Here are just a few of the membership perks:
- Access to AMWA online communities, forums, and newsletters (all very helpful for keeping abreast of current news in the medical writing world as well as asking your own questions of fellow members)
- Discounted meeting rates
- Access to the AMWA jobs board, a valuable employment resource for all levels of medical writers, including part-time and full-time employment opportunities as well as freelance and contract
- Receipt of the quarterly AMWA Journal, by mail and/or online, containing a wealth of practical career advice and insights into the latest trends and research in all areas of medical writing
- Medical Communication Compensation Survey results—a very handy document that AMWA describes as “the only survey focusing solely on compensation for medical writers, editors, and other communicators.”
- Access to the Member Resource Library, containing over 200 resources, such as PDFs, databases, videos, and website links, for medical writers and editors of all backgrounds and in all settings.
Note that AMWA has two levels of membership for MD and DO members, both extremely affordable for what you get with them: Professional Membership (currently $199 per year) and the Professional + Freelance Package (currently $275 per year). There is also a student-level membership for undergraduate and graduate students, priced at $80 per year.
In addition to the benefits listed above, the freelance package comes with a free listing in the AMWA Freelance Directory, access to the Freelance Network Online Community, and special discounts and offers available only to those with the freelance package. I myself, in my second year of membership, elected to renew at the latter level, and have found the freelance package benefits to be an excellent value for the small dues increase.
As a physician member, I have found great value in AMWA’s networking opportunities, ongoing educational opportunities (including on specific issues of interest to freelancers in the medical writing world), and in particular, job opportunities posted on the AMWA job board. A number of industry as well as physician clients have found me through the AMWA membership directory.
AMWA’s annual conference is a highly informative meeting–and one of the best networking opportunities I have ever experienced in my entire career as a physician.
Who Should Join AMWA?
Any physician writer who is a medical writer or communicator, meaning you engage or hope to engage in work such as:
- Regulatory writing
- Medical manuscript writing
- Medical abstracts or posters
- Medical/health blogging
- CME writing
- Medical/CME grant writing
- Other technical medical writing or editing (i.e., not creative writing)
Who Doesn’t Need to Join?
Now here is the one possible exception: the physician writer or author who will be writing creatively and solely on non-medical topics for the general public. For instance, those writing fiction or creative nonfiction, poetry and memoir (although some medical memoirists can also benefit a great deal from the networking opportunities afforded by AMWA).
The focus of AMWA leans heavily and almost exclusively on scientific, technical, and fact-based medical writing, and not on fiction or poetry. Creative physician authors should strongly consider joining the Authors Guild.
Looking for more advice on your next steps as a medical writer? Contact me for a consultation.
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