Medical Communications agencies

1
Medical Communications agencies uncovered !

• Dr Diane Sutherland
• Editorial Director
• Fishawack Communications

2
Introduction to the Office

• A brief personal history
• Medicom agencies they come in all shapes and
  sizes!
• Small
• Medium
• Large
• Unique mix of skills and personalities

3
Content overview

• Through the agency door the department mix
• A walk through each department
• Stopping in the Editorial department
• Roles and responsibilities
• Teamwork
• Career structure
• Getting started

4
The Department mix
Sales/business development
Editorial
IT/multimedia
Account handling
Conference/events
Finance/HR
Design/layout
5
Bringing in the business
Business development/ Sales dept
6
Sales/business development team

• New business
• Detective work investigating and identifying
  potential opportunities in pharma for medicom
  services
• Making contact establishing introductory
  appointments
• Managing pitches and proposals requested
  selling agency services and skills
• Maintaining database of contacts/therapy areas
  and on-going progress
• Sales budget and target establishment
• Repeat business
• Same product, new project types
• Same company, new products
• Same client, new company

7
Delivering the business

• Editorial
• Conference
• Design
• Multimedia
• Account management

8
Meeting and greeting conference/events
department

• Managing and delivering all meetings-based
  projects
• venue and 3rd party supplier liaison speaker,
  participant and on-site management
• Ensuring that projects are delivered to budget,
  schedule and quality

• Advisory boards
• Stand-alone meetings
• Satellite symposia

9
Visual appeal and that professional look design
and multimedia

• Creative concepts, designs and producing visual
  materials internal (e.g. pitches/presentations)
  and client
• Artwork and layouts for written project outputs
• Scientific and technical illustrations for the
  presentations/project outputs
• Interactive options web-based, animation

10
Keeping us all in line account/project managers

• Project specification and cost estimates
• Schedules
• Monitoring project status according to
  specification
• Tracking hours and budget
• Liaising with client on the above

11
Behind the scenes
Project support
IT
Human resources/personnel
Finance
12
Getting down to business
Editorial dept
13
Editorial team roles/titles

• Writers
• Editors
• Editorial assistants

• Trainee/junior
• Senior
• Principal
• Manager
• Account team leader/account director/editorial
  team leader
• Scientific director
• Director/head of department

14
Key tasks of the writer

• Developing (through research, writing, editing)
  high-quality material for a variety of projects
• according to the brief
• within budget and timelines
• with correct use of English and scientific
  accuracy
• Liaising with clients, authors and colleagues to
  progress projects effectively
• Mentoring, training and managing writers
• Preparing cost estimates for editorial tasks
• Actively participating in account development/
  new business opportunities
• Managing workload (personal/across team)

15
No writer is an island interacting with other
departments
Conference/Events
Design/Multimedia
Sales/BD
Account/Project management
16
Career progression within the editorial team an
example
5 yrs
Experience (time range of projects)
Skill set

• Internal
• training
• procedures

Principal Writer
5 yrs
2.55 yrs
4 yrs
03 yrs
Senior Medical Writer
Editorial Director
Editorial Manager
Medical Writer
Scientific Director

• External
• BD support
• Account dvlp

5 yrs
17
Getting started
18
The Process

• Application
• Covering letter
• CV
• Writing and editing tests
• Interview
• Presentation
• Editorial
• Other departments

19
Boxes to tick

• What the agency is looking for
• Writing skills
• Attention to detail
• Therapy area experience/potential
• Suitability to role
• Team fit
• Creativity
• Enthusiasm!

• Some considerations for a potential new writer
• Do you enjoy writing?
• Are you a good team player?
• Do you have an interest in the pharmaceutical
  industry?
• Are you enthusiastic about learning a wide range
  of areas of medicine?
• Are you able to work flexibly and to tight
  timelines?

20
Never a dull moment!

• Variety
• Project types
• Therapy areas
• Team work
• Ownership
• Job satisfaction