Freelance musculoskeletal writer shares opportunities
Imagine what would happen if beverage giants Coke and Pepsi merged.
In the medical device world, that’s the kind of shake-up that’s going on now in Warsaw, Indiana, the self-proclaimed Orthopedic Capital of the World, where artificial hips, knees and other devices are manufactured.
Zimmer and Biomet are merging to become the second largest orthopedics manufacturer in the world to be called Zimmer-Biomet, valued at $13.35 billion. Who’s the largest? DePuy Synthes, part of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.
William S. “Bill” Pietrzak, Ph.D., worked for Biomet for 26 years until he retired early this year and started his own freelance medical writing business. At our American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Indiana Chapter Conference April 10-11, 2015 at the Columbia Club, Bill will share how freelancers can find work in the medical device industry.
Bill told me in the past, orthopedic companies haven’t had a big budget to hire freelancers, but more are now outsourcing work. And although they may not hire as many as the pharmaceutical industry, times are changing.
Aging Baby Boomers are creating a need for new musculoskeletal technology. Cha-ching for orthopedic companies!
Today, most implants going in joints today are still made out of metal and plastic. But manufacturers are coming out with various biologics to try to treat musculoskeletal conditions. Some of these devices include a drug with the device that stays intact in a patient’s body long enough for healing to take place, then it dissolves.
As medical device manufacturers get busier trying to meet this increasing need, freelance medical writers who specialize in clinical evaluation reports and journal manuscripts should grab the moment. It's big business in Indiana, where 300 medical device companies employ 20,000 people and another 28,000 employees can thank the industry for supply chain support.
A medical device manufacturer could hire and pay a surgeon $500 an hour to write a journal manuscript. Or they could find a freelance medical writer with a proven track record of publishing journal articles to save money and publish on schedule. It can be hard to get time to run something past a surgeon.
Bill can tell you more Friday at 6:30 p.m. when he leads a medical device roundtable discussion and on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. in his session “Orthopedic Implant and Device Basics: What Medical Writers Need to Know.”
Can’t make the conference?
Check out Bill’s freelance medical writing business, Musculoskeletal Publication and Analysis, Inc., at www.pietrzakmusculoskeletal.com.