GUIDE 2024

6 Best Medical Writing Certification Courses

Looking for the best medical writing certification courses? You’re at the right place then.

Medical writing is a profession that involves the creation of scientific research documents, and a writer with a medical writing certification creates these documents. The demand for qualified medical and health writers who can interpret complex research, statistical, and clinical data and alter the information for investors, regulators, the medical community, and the general public is increasing at a rapid pace.

Healthcare domains like government agencies, medical device companies, education institutions, clinical research organizations, and publishers offer a lucrative career path for aspiring post-doctoral students, researchers, and scientists. Proficiency in medical writing is now a prerequisite for writers, which you can achieve through different programs. They help you stay informed about the latest tools and techniques that make medical writing efficient.

Following are the six best medical writing certification courses available online, along with their key features and reviews:

1. TWHQ Medical Writing Certification Course

technical writer hq medical writer certification

Technical Writer HQ is one of the top learning platforms for technical writers. It offers a Medical Writing Certification Course for those who are on their way to becoming a certified medical writing professional. Its comprehensive curriculum enables you to master medical content writing.

Below is what you learn by taking this Technical Writer HQ course:

  • Understanding of medical writing and various medical documentation types
  • Knowledge of ethical considerations in medical writing
  • Integrating AI tools for medical content creation
  • Detailed knowledge of medical publishing
  • Making an impact in the healthcare industry

Key Features

The key features of the Medical Writing Certification Course are as follows:

  • The course is self-paced, and students can go through lectures at their convenience.
  • Students can complete this course in four weeks by taking lectures for 3 hours per week.
  • The course offers 55+ video lessons, demos, various medical writing activities, and a capstone project.
  • Students gain exclusive access to the TWHQ community and live events.
  • Students gain lifetime access to the course content.
  • Students receive access to bonus lectures that the experts of Technical Writer HQ will add over time.
  • This course is hosted on a comprehensive and interactive learning platform.
  • Course instructors offer constructive feedback on the capstone project.
  • Students receive an official certificate on successful completion of the course.

Pricing

Technical Writer HQ offers this course for $299. They offer a 100% 30-day money-back guarantee if the course doesn’t meet your expectations. You can access the 8 certificate programs of Technical Writer HQ for $599.

Key Takeaway

Technical Writer HQ offers a comprehensive Medical Writing Certification Course that enables you to master medical content writing. It covers all the essential topics related to healthcare publishing, and its interactive platform makes it easier for you to learn at your own pace. The experts offer helpful feedback on activities and projects. You can get this certification at a reasonable price and benefit from the money-back guarantee.

2. Udemy Regulatory Affairs & Medical Writing Course

Created in 2010, Udemy is a global online platform offering several courses and certifications to help individuals grow their professional careers in a number of fields or acquire a new interesting skill. Udemy offers an incredible Regulatory Affairs & Medical Writing course to help regulatory affairs professionals and medical writers expand their work opportunities in the competitive medical writing field. This certificate program is for health students, medical writers, and regulatory affairs specialists.

Below is what you will learn from this Udemy course:

  • Good Clinical Practice (GCP) principles
  • Registration dossier
  • Regulatory writing tips and tricks
  • Assessment of clinical documents
  • The parallel structure of writing
  • Language fundamentals and style-guide conventions
  • Clinical study report strategy and action plan

Key Features

The key features of this Udemy course are as follows:

  • The program includes over half an hour of on-demand video, one article, and thirteen downloadable resources.
  • It has six sections, comprising ten lectures which are three-fourths of an hour in total length.
  • Its instructor is a Regulatory Affairs professional.
  • It has full lifetime access.
  • Students can access lectures and course materials on mobile and TV.
  • The program language is English.
  • There are options available to play lectures at different speeds.
  • It offers a certificate of completion once you complete the course.

Pricing

Udemy offers this course at the cost of $24.99. You can also get a 30-day money-back guarantee. Plus, students can use the coupon code to avail discount on the total cost of this program.

Key Takeaways

This course by Udemy provides a possibility to learn techniques, tricks, and action plans to become confident working together within a clinical and regulated environment to create accurate regulatory documents. You will learn in detail about regulatory affairs and examples to help in dossier development. This course teaches you the right way of communicating medical information in a simple and effective manner to the target audiences.

Visit this course here.

3. Coursera Writing in the Sciences Course

Writing in the Sciences certification course

Created in 2012, Coursera is an online education platform where you can find numerous courses and degrees from world-class universities and organizations on an array of subjects. The platform offers a Writing in the Sciences course for medical writers. The course objective is to teach scientists how to become great medical writers using practical examples and exercises.

Below is what you will learn in this Coursera course:

  • Principles of good writing
  • Tricks for better writing
  • Grant writing
  • The peer-review process
  • Ethical issues in scientific publishing
  • Writing for general audiences

Key Features

The key features of this program are as follows:

  • The program is 100% online.
  • It is a beginner-level program.
  • Stanford University, an American private research university, offers this course.
  • An associate professor in the Health and Research Policy industry teaches this course.
  • They offer flexible deadlines, enabling you to reset the due date in accordance with your schedule.
  • You can complete this course in around 30 hours.
  • The main language is English. Subtitles in multiple languages are also available.

Pricing

Coursera offers this program at the cost of $79. To access the course materials, including graded assignments, you must purchase the certificate. Students can also avail financial aid for this course. To just read and view the content, you can audit the course for free.

Key Takeaways

When it comes to medical writing, it is one of the best online courses available. You can schedule your hours at your ease. The many different units of this program cover all aspects of science and medical writing. When you complete this program, the certification will help you win great medical writing jobs.

Visit this course here.

4. Udemy Freelance Medical Writing Course

Udemy offers another great course for medical writers at an affordable cost. The Freelance Medical Writing as a Career Choice program helps you decide whether medical writing is the right profession to pursue. It is for anybody who wants to learn a lot about a career in freelance medical writing. When you complete this online medical writing course, you can use your knowledge and writing abilities to make good money right from your home.

This is what you will learn from this Udemy course:

  • Medical writing and how to get into this field
  • Various types of science and medical writing and clients
  • Importance of medical background and good writing abilities
  • Tools and equipment essential for your promotion
  • Steps to get started and succeed as a freelance medical writer
  • How much a medical writer can earn

Key Features

The key features of this Udemy course are as follows:

  • This course includes an hour of on-demand video and two downloadable resources.
  • It has five sections and seventeen lectures, less than an hour in total length.
  • Students get the opportunity of learning medical writing from a Medical Communications expert.
  • The course is available in the English language.
  • You can get full lifetime access to the course materials.
  • Course material is available on mobile and TV.
  • You get multiple options to play lectures at varying speeds.
  • After completing this program, you will get a completion certification.

Pricing

Udemy offers this course at the cost of $19.99. In case of dissatisfaction, they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee also. In addition, you can apply the coupon code to enjoy a discount on the total cost of this course.

Key Takeaways

A lot of people are familiar with medical writing as a great career choice. If you are a person with a strong medical background and effective writing, you can make great progress in this field and earn a lot of money working from the comfort of your home. All you need to take this program are an MD or Ph.D., English fluency, and medical communication skills.

Visit this course here.

5. Health Writer Hub Course

Created in 2014, Health Writer Hub is an online educational platform for medical writers. It offers best-practice, comprehensive science and medical writing courses to teach medical writers how to produce high-quality, life-changing content and grow their writing profession. The Principles of Health & Medical Editing course teaches powerful health and medical writing and editing processes, methods, and strategies. It is an approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course, accredited with one of the world’s top independent CPD accreditation institutions, the CPD Certification Service.

Below is what you will learn from this Health Writer Hub course:

  • Editing process
  • Editing techniques for research and evidence
  • Consumer health referencing techniques
  • Health and medical writing best practices
  • Grammar and punctuation rules
  • Essential editing efficiency strategies

Key Features

Here are the key features of this Health Writer Hub course:

  • The instructor of this course is the founder of Health Writer Hub, Michelle Guillemard.
  • The course is 100% geared to editing consumer health and medical content.
  • You can expect 12 engaging lessons, 24 handouts, 12 quizzes and assessments, and over 14 free health writing webinars.
  • You can access course content on any device.
  • Lifetime access is available for the course materials.
  • They also provide personalized feedback to answer your questions.
  • They have a Facebook group for students with over 1000 writers.
  • You receive a completion certificate for this course.

Pricing

The total cost for this course is $199. You can avail 30% loyal discount on this medical writing course if you took a course from this platform before.

Key Takeaways

This Health Writer Hub course helps students learn effective editing techniques and edit scientific documents with confidence. It is for new and experienced medical writers, editors, and professionals who want to learn foundational medical editing strategies and aspire to write better, easy-to-understand content from complex scientific information.

Visit this course here.

6. The University of Chicago Certificate

medical writing and editing university of chicago course

The University of Chicago is an institution in Chicago, ranked among the biggest and best universities worldwide. The university offers a professional development certificate in Medical Writing and Editing. It builds the foundation of the students for mastering the fundamentals and best practices of medical writing, editing, and communication.

Below is what you will learn from this University of Chicago certificate:

  • The profession of medical writing and its unique characteristics
  • Use of AMA Manual of Style as the writing and editing tool
  • How to understand the context of medical communication
  • Role of proofreaders and medical editors
  • Organization and presentation of medical information to different audiences

Key Features

The key features of this University of Chicago certificate are:

  • Its format is online.
  • The enrollment is part-time.
  • The program duration is from nine months to three years.
  • Focus areas include a specialization track in freelancing.
  • Students can have access to networking events and webinars hosted by the platform.

Pricing

The tuition fee per course is $1,440 and the specialization track course in freelancing is $1,800. The total tuition fee for the certificate is $8,640. Members of related professional associations, like the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), Editorial Freelancers Association, National Association of Science Writers, etc., qualify for a 10% discount.

Key Takeaways

It is a part-time certificate program by the University of Chicago. Professionals with backgrounds in writing or science who want to acquire writing skills and those with a background in an English degree wanting to understand medical terminology can take this course. This online program with synchronous sessions has a comprehensive curriculum focused on making medical communicators with great writing, editing, data reporting, and analytical skills.

Visit this course here.

7. The University of Central Florida Course

The University of Central Florida Medical Writing Course

The University of Central Florida is a US public academic institution with its main campus in Orange County, Florida, and nine smaller regional campuses throughout Central Florida. The UCF Continuing Education, a unit within UCF connect, offers credit and non-credit programs for re-education, professional growth, and personal advancement.

One of their popular courses is Explore a Career in Medical Writing certificate program. Its aim is to give you the foundation and confidence important to work as a medical or health writer, whether your goal is to find a permanent medical writing job or to work as a freelancer from your house.

Below is what you will learn from this University of Central Florida course:

  • Medical and science writing and its types
  • Main career paths to take as a medical writer and their benefits and drawbacks
  • The language used in medical literature, medical abbreviations, and medical terminology
  • How to add visual elements to enhance the readability
  • Ethical issues surrounding medical writing
  • Freelance writing
  • Strategies to get an interview
  • Technology solutions for medical writing

Key Features

The key features of this University of Central Florida course are as follows:

  • There are two enrollment options for this medical writing course: Instructor-led and Self-paced.
  • Students get six weeks of access in the instructor-led course and three months in the self-paced course.
  • Materials for this certificate program are available online.
  • No time limit to access course materials.
  • You can take this course on either a PC or Mac.
  • Lessons include quizzes, assignments, and supplementary links.
  • You can connect with expert instructors to get answers and valuable feedback.
  • After completing this certificate program, you get a completion certificate from UCF Continuing Education.

Pricing

No matter which enrollment option you choose, the cost is $129. On the total cost, sales tax may also apply.

Key Takeaways

This course by CFU Continuing Education is a step toward a lucrative profession as a medical writer. For this course, there is no requirement to hold a specialized or advanced degree. This certification program will teach you science and medical writing and its types and how to succeed as a medical writer. Also, you will learn how to keep your writing free of errors while ensuring the integrity of your work. Whether you are writing for patients, practitioners, or regulatory agencies, this program teaches you the right way of preparing documents.

Visit this course here.

Enhance Your Medical Writing Skills

In these times, winning a job is quite hard, no matter what the industry is. It is a must to have the ability to evolve in a professional way and keep up with the progressing technology, in addition to having work experience. The medical and science writing field is no different. So, you need to take online medical writing courses to stay relevant in the field.

Both entry-level and professional writers can find several courses online suiting their skills and career interests. Various academic institutes and learning platforms offer online courses to help you acquire new skills and set you apart from the rest.

To make the maximum of these programs, pick one which is related to your industry and teaches something new or useful. Because courses that fail to offer something new would add nothing to your skills. Also, make sure to check the authenticity of the course you are choosing by checking its reviews, affiliations, and accreditations. Choosing a suitable course will help you in moving forward in your health writing career.

FAQs

Following are some most common questions asked about medical writing certifications:

Do you need a certificate to become a medical writer?

In most cases, there is no requirement to have a certificate to become a medical writer. However, becoming certified as a medical writer is great for showing that you care about professional standards and have certain skills, knowledge, and experience in the medical or science writing field.

Is a medical writing certificate worth it?

Having a certificate shows the prospective hiring managers that you hold medical writing qualifications, whether you are starting to gain on-the-job experience. The certificate listed on your resume makes it different from those of other candidates and gives prospective recruiters confidence in your abilities.

How to become a certified medical writer?

While certifications may seem challenging at intervals, you can get started with online medical writing certifications with ease. Just start with any of the courses listed above.