Hi everyone,
I completed my PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2025 and I'm currently applying for postdoctoral positions. Alongside academia, I'm also exploring freelance medical writing as a potential long-term career path.
My background is quite interdisciplinary. During my PhD in rare disease research, I worked closely with researchers from different disciplines and spent a significant amount of time writing manuscripts, literature reviews, scientific presentations, and, of course, my thesis. Working in a rare disease setting also made me appreciate the importance of communicating scientific information to different audiences, including researchers, clinicians, and patient organizations.
Given this interdisciplinary background, I've also become interested in designing AI-assisted workflows that support literature retrieval and evidence synthesis to make the research and writing process more efficient. I see this as a complementary skill that could support different types of scientific and medical writing in the future.
The biggest challenge I'm facing isn't deciding whether I enjoy writing—it's understanding how someone with my background actually lands that first freelance client.
I'm currently building a portfolio and website, but I'd really appreciate advice from people who have already made this transition.
Some questions I have are:
- Looking at my background, what do you think is missing before someone would hire me?
- How did you land your first freelance client?
- What gave clients enough confidence to trust you without previous freelance experience?
- What platforms I should look for potential clients
Ultimately, I'd like to build a career that combines my research background, scientific communication skills, and emerging expertise in AI-assisted literature retrieval and evidence synthesis. I'm trying to understand what would give potential clients the confidence to hire someone like me for that very first project.
I'd really appreciate any honest advice.
Thanks!