While I always knew that I wanted to pursue a career in science, during my PhD work I found that the parts of working as a researcher that I enjoyed the most were the communication aspects: analyzing, writing and presenting. I also knew that while I love learning, teaching and speaking about science, I did not enjoy hands-on lab work. I began to research career options and discovered many articles about medical writing. I tried my hand at a few freelance gigs during graduate school, and I enjoyed the work so much that I decided to become a full-time freelancer after graduation this past August. This was also a perfect opportunity for me to relocate back to my home state of Michigan, since I only work from home.
My job consists of writing and editing various types of media for medical communication companies, academic medical centers and researchers and publication companies. I help my clients to create slide decks, manuscripts, needs assessments, continuing medical education (CME) materials, sales force training modules, patient information materials and posters. I love the variety of not only the different projects that I work on, but also the many different subject areas that I get to write about. One day I may be writing about cancer therapies, and the next day I am writing about autoimmune disorder treatment strategies. The other great aspect of this job is that I get to work from home, according to my own schedule. This career is a perfect fit for me and I am happy to say that I finally am working my dream job!