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Hire Medical Writers for up to 42% less

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7500/month 
Average US Salary
4350/month 
All-In Monthly Rate
42%
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Ariadna M.
Medical Writer
Medical Writing Associate
Junior
Middle
Senior
Venezuela
3
years exp.
Microsoft Word
EndNote
Zotero
Google Docs
CMS platforms
Monthly Salary
$
2
k - $
2.5
k
Francisco S.
Medical Writer
Medical Writer
Junior
Middle
Senior
Mexico
5
years exp.
MS Word
EndNote
Mendeley
AMWA
eCTD systems
Veeva Vault
Monthly Salary
$
3
k - $
3.5
k
Jennifer P.
Medical Writer
Scientific Publications Manager
Junior
Middle
Senior
Argentina
7
years exp.
Veeva Vault
Datavision
ScholarOne
Editorial Manager
Smartsheet
Monday.com
MS Project
Monthly Salary
$
4
k - $
4.5
k
Our talent has worked at top startups and Fortune 500 companies

Medical Writer Tasks:

  • Research and gather scientific and medical information from reliable sources.
  • Write, edit, and proofread medical documents such as clinical study reports, manuscripts, and regulatory submissions.
  • Create content for medical journals, healthcare websites, and educational materials.
  • Translate complex medical information into clear, concise language.
  • Ensure all written content adheres to regulatory and ethical guidelines.
  • Collaborate with scientists, doctors, and subject matter experts.
  • Prepare presentations and abstracts for medical conferences.
  • Develop marketing and promotional materials for pharmaceutical products.
  • Stay updated on industry trends, medical advances, and regulatory changes.
  • Review and summarize clinical trial data and research findings.
  • Follow client or publication-specific style guides and formatting requirements.
  • Manage multiple writing projects and meet tight deadlines.

Medical Writer Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, medicine, pharmacy, or a related field.
  • Advanced degree (e.g., MS, PhD, MD) is preferred for scientific and regulatory writing.
  • Strong understanding of medical terminology and scientific concepts.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Proficiency in writing, editing, and formatting technical documents.
  • Familiarity with regulatory guidelines such as ICH, GCP, and FDA requirements.
  • Experience with literature research and data interpretation.
  • Attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
  • Ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines.
  • Proficiency in Microsoft Office and reference management tools.

What Kind of Medical Writer Does Your Organization Need?

A Medical Writer turns scientific and health information into documents people can understand, evaluate, and use. The assignment might involve a clinical study report, journal manuscript, healthcare professional education, patient guide, or evidence-based website content.

Those projects require different experience. A writer who produces patient education may need additional preparation before leading a regulatory document. Someone experienced in clinical study reports may need a different approach when explaining a condition to a general audience.

Choose the document types and audiences before choosing the candidate. A clear scope helps you assess scientific judgment, writing ability, subject knowledge, and the level of review your team will provide.

These profiles describe common hiring needs. Responsibilities can overlap when the writer has relevant experience, suitable support, and enough capacity for the assignment.

Medical Writer Profile Best Fit Main Responsibilities
Regulatory Medical Writer Life sciences teams developing assigned clinical or regulatory documents Drafting specified documents, organizing approved study information, maintaining consistency with source materials, and coordinating cross-functional review
Scientific Publications Writer Research teams preparing manuscripts, abstracts, posters, and conference materials Developing publication drafts, interpreting supplied results with authors and specialists, managing references, and coordinating revisions and submission requirements
Medical Education Writer Teams producing scientific education and healthcare professional materials Researching assigned topics, organizing learning content, developing presentations or educational documents, and incorporating expert review
Patient and Plain Language Writer Organizations explaining health information or research to patients and the public Translating approved information into clear language, explaining relevant concepts and risks, organizing useful next steps, and supporting audience review
Healthcare Content and Medical Marketing Writer Healthcare businesses publishing evidence-based website, campaign, or editorial content Researching topics, drafting audience-focused content, supporting accurate claims and references, and coordinating medical, editorial, and other required approvals

Match experience to the actual work. Ask about therapeutic areas, document types, intended readers, source materials, review processes, and the candidate's own contribution.

Clarify the balance of writing, editing, research, project coordination, and quality control. A developing writer may need a defined brief and close review. A senior writer may lead an outline discussion, coordinate several reviewers, and identify missing inputs before drafting begins.

Specify any team management, publication planning, or regulatory strategy duties, with the authority and capacity to perform them.

How Should a Remote Medical Writer Fit Into Your Team?

Connect the writer with the people who own the evidence, document purpose, scientific interpretation, review, and final approval. Depending on the assignment, those partners may include clinicians, researchers, statisticians, regulatory colleagues, medical affairs, authors, designers, and editors.

Your organization provides relevant training, approved systems, source access, templates, and decision routes. Agree on working-hour overlap, review availability, confidentiality requirements, and the point at which a draft can move to publication or submission.

Define the Audience, Document, and Review Requirements

Begin each project with a brief that explains who will read the material, why it is needed, and what it should help them understand. Include the format, intended channel, scope, length, deadline, and people responsible for decisions.

A manuscript reporting trial results, an internal scientific presentation, and a patient webpage can discuss the same study while serving different purposes. The writer needs to understand the expected depth, terminology, supporting evidence, and limits of each assignment.

Identify the current templates, style requirements, reporting guidance, and organizational procedures that apply. A familiar format from another employer can provide context, while your document needs its own confirmed requirements.

Agree on an outline or document plan where useful. This gives reviewers an early opportunity to identify missing information, unclear messages, or a mismatch between the requested conclusion and the evidence available.

Resolve the purpose and approval route before drafting at length. The writer should know which questions they can answer from approved sources and which require a clinical, statistical, regulatory, or editorial decision. This makes the review process easier to plan and helps your team avoid extensive revisions caused by an unclear starting brief.

Build a Dependable Evidence and Literature Workflow

Define the research question and sources appropriate to the document. The writer may need supplied study documents, product information, original research, relevant guidance, or other approved references. Give them access to the full materials needed for the assignment.

For literature work, agree on the search purpose, databases, date range where relevant, and how the approach will be recorded. A focused background search and a systematic review have different methods, resources, and documentation needs.

Ask the writer to evaluate whether a source supports the specific statement being made. A paper can be relevant to a topic without establishing a claim about another population, intervention, comparison, or outcome.

Check the status of important sources, including corrections, retractions, and updates. Keep enough bibliographic detail for another reviewer to locate the material and understand which version was used.

Maintain a practical reference library and a record of unresolved evidence questions. If the available information is incomplete, inconsistent, or inaccessible, the writer should raise the gap. During hiring, ask how they handled a situation where a widely repeated claim couldn't be supported by the underlying research.

Interpret Clinical Data With the Right Specialists

Give the writer the approved protocol information, analysis outputs, definitions, and expert contacts relevant to the work. They need to understand the study design, population, comparisons, endpoints, timing, and limitations before explaining the results.

Assess whether they check denominators, units, analysis populations, and the context of reported findings. A percentage without its population or time frame can lead readers toward a conclusion the data doesn't support.

The writer should distinguish an observed association from a causal conclusion, a planned analysis from an exploratory result, and statistical findings from broader claims about clinical importance. Questions about interpretation should reach the responsible clinician, statistician, or scientific owner.

Clear writing preserves uncertainty and limitations. A confident sentence still needs to reflect what the study actually established. Avoid treating a preferred narrative or headline as the starting point for selecting results.

Use a fictional table in the assessment to test this judgment. Ask the candidate what they would verify before drafting a conclusion, which details need to accompany the result, and where specialist input is required. If independent statistical analysis is part of the position, assess that capability and its review arrangements separately from writing.

Draft Regulatory Documents Within a Defined Assignment

Specify the documents involved: protocols, clinical study reports, investigator brochures, clinical summaries, or another clearly defined output. Require experience relevant to the assigned document and development stage.

For a clinical study report, the writer may need to apply relevant ICH E3 guidance alongside the sponsor's current template and requirements. Other document types have their own purposes and applicable guidance. Familiarity with one report doesn't establish readiness to lead an entire submission.

Describe the inputs and reviewers available. Clinical, statistical, safety, and regulatory colleagues may need to confirm interpretation, resolve inconsistencies, and approve the final content. The writer can organize questions and coordinate revisions while those experts retain their assigned decisions.

Clarify whether the position includes document authoring, quality control, publishing, or submission support. Preparing content and assembling a technically valid electronic submission involve different capabilities and handoffs.

Ask candidates to explain the sections they personally developed and how they resolved a source discrepancy or review issue. Use synthetic examples when confidentiality prevents sharing actual work. Define the experience and review support needed before expanding into a new document type. A useful hiring brief also identifies whether the writer will lead the document or contribute specified sections under another lead.

Prepare Scientific Publications With Clear Contributions

For manuscripts, abstracts, posters, and congress materials, establish the study question, available results, intended audience, publication plan, and responsible authors. Confirm the target journal or conference requirements before setting the document schedule.

Select reporting guidance suited to the study design and publication. Use it to identify information readers need and questions that require clarification. A completed checklist helps review reporting completeness; it doesn't establish that the underlying research is well designed or that every conclusion is justified.

Define how authors review drafts, resolve scientific questions, and approve the final version. The writer can support structure, evidence, interpretation discussions, and revisions without taking over decisions assigned to the author group.

Where ICMJE recommendations apply, authorship depends on meeting all four criteria. Writing assistance alone doesn't establish authorship. Agree on appropriate contributor acknowledgment, funding information, and other disclosures under the applicable journal or publication requirements.

Keep a record of substantive comments and decisions. If authors disagree about interpretation, the writer should present the issue clearly and request a resolution from the appropriate people. Assess whether the candidate can coordinate this process and maintain scientific accuracy while working toward a submission deadline.

Develop Healthcare Professional Education and Medical Content

Explain whether the assignment supports medical education, medical affairs, a professional resource, or promotional communication. Confirm the intended audience, purpose, product context, and review route with the responsible team.

The writer should be able to organize complex information around the reader's questions. Useful materials explain the relevant evidence, context, limitations, and practical meaning at an appropriate level of detail.

For prescription drug promotion, claims and presentation need the applicable review for truthful, balanced, and accurate communication. A supporting citation doesn't by itself resolve every question about how a claim can be used in a particular channel or product context.

Identify who handles medical, legal, regulatory, educational, or commercial questions. If accredited education is included, confirm the provider's requirements and the responsibilities assigned to the writer and reviewers.

Evaluate how the candidate adapts source material into slides, an article, or another requested format. Ask why they chose the structure and what needs expert clarification. Plan time for references, review, revision, and any assigned expert interviews or presentations.

Explain Health Information Clearly for Patients and the Public

Begin with the audience's information needs, likely questions, and context. A patient learning about a condition may need a different explanation from someone reviewing a research results summary or preparing for a discussion with a clinician.

Use familiar words, meaningful headings, and explanations of necessary medical terms. Organize the main message and relevant next steps so readers can find them. Preserve important information about risks, uncertainty, and the limits of the material.

Plain language should make the meaning easier to understand. Simplifying a sentence should preserve the clinical or scientific point, including who the information applies to and what it doesn't establish.

Combine medical review with an appropriate assessment of audience understanding. A readability score can flag difficult text, while user feedback can reveal confusion about the message, numbers, instructions, or visuals.

Provide approved language for situations that need individualized advice or another contact route. The writer can explain general information while your responsible clinical team reviews medical recommendations and instructions. For translated materials, define the qualified translation and review process. Don't assume English writing experience alone establishes competence in every language, cultural context, accessibility requirement, or patient communication format.

Check Claims, References, Tables, and Figures Together

Give important statements a traceable connection to the supporting evidence. A practical claims or reference map can identify the source, location, relevant context, and unresolved question for review.

Verify citations in the actual source material. Reference software helps organize a library and format entries, while the writer still needs to check that the cited source exists, supports the statement, and has the correct bibliographic details.

Review tables, figures, captions, footnotes, and narrative together. Confirm populations, units, labels, time points, denominators, and any stated uncertainty. A number copied correctly can still mislead if its context changes or a qualifier disappears.

Clarify the role in visual production. The writer may draft a table, specify a figure, or collaborate with a designer. More advanced analysis, programming, or statistical visualization requires the corresponding competence and review.

Check permissions and attribution for reused material through your established process. During assessment, give the candidate a draft paragraph and a small fictional data table with a purposeful mismatch. Ask them to identify what needs correction, what requires clarification, and which reviewers should confirm the revised wording before release.

Coordinate Medical, Editorial, and Author Review

Identify who reviews scientific accuracy, data interpretation, style, product claims, legal questions, and final readiness. The required combination depends on the document, organization, and intended use.

Provide one dependable way to collect comments and distinguish the current draft from superseded copies. Set review windows, decision owners, and an escalation route for feedback that conflicts or arrives after an agreed milestone.

The writer should interpret comments in context and maintain a record of substantive decisions. A wording change can alter a claim or remove a qualification, so scientific implications need appropriate review even when the edit looks small.

Ask how the candidate handles disagreement between reviewers. Strong responses identify the underlying issue, explain the evidence, and seek a decision from the people with relevant authority.

Define final approval separately from completing revisions. The writer may coordinate the process and prepare the approved file, while designated authors, medical reviewers, or organizational owners authorize its intended use. Plan how changes after approval are assessed and documented. This gives the team a practical route for handling late corrections without losing track of the version that was actually reviewed.

Maintain Document Quality, Versions, and Delivery Plans

Agree on milestones for research, outline, drafting, review, revision, quality control, and release. Include the availability of source materials and reviewers when estimating delivery dates.

Use approved templates, file naming, version control, tracked changes, and document repositories. The writer should be able to explain which file is current, which sources it uses, what remains unresolved, and who owns the next action.

Check the final document after formatting and production changes. Cross-references, citations, tables, figures, headings, and links can become inconsistent as a file moves through different tools or revisions.

For ongoing healthcare content, define the review date, update owner, and route for responding to changes in evidence or approved product information. Publication doesn't remove the need for an assigned maintenance process.

Plan capacity around document complexity and review effort. A short abstract with several authors and strict submission requirements may require more coordination than its word count suggests. Track work awaiting another response separately from active writing. If the scope or evidence changes, the writer should explain the effect on timing and help the team agree on revised priorities.

Set Confidentiality, Remote Collaboration, and AI Rules

Approve the working arrangement, access, equipment, and information-sharing methods before confidential materials are provided. Define the records and systems the writer can use, with appropriate agreements and privacy review where needed.

Explain whether participant information is necessary for the assignment and use the minimum approved information required. Unpublished results, draft manuscripts, product plans, and restricted study documents also need clear handling instructions.

Agree on overlap for author discussions, expert interviews, and review meetings. A remote writer needs responsive scientific contacts and a reliable route for urgent document questions.

If AI is permitted, define the tools, information, tasks, verification, and disclosure requirements. Generated references, summaries, or interpretations need checking against the actual sources. AI output shouldn't become independent evidence for a medical claim.

For journal work, follow the applicable AI policy and disclosure requirements. Human authors remain accountable for the submitted work; AI tools don't qualify as authors under ICMJE recommendations. Discuss these practices during hiring and use clear instructions in the assessment. Your organization should also define how suspected data exposure, inaccurate output, or an unauthorized tool use is reported and addressed.

Related Roles to Consider

Compare these roles against the main work your organization needs:

  • Technical Writer: Relevant when product, software, process, or operational documentation is the core assignment. Assess any healthcare-specific knowledge and review requirements separately.
  • Copywriter: Consider this profile for campaign concepts, landing pages, emails, and persuasive brand messaging, with appropriate medical expertise and review for health-related claims.
  • Content Marketing Specialist: Useful when editorial planning, distribution, search strategy, and content performance need ownership alongside writing.
  • Medical Transcriptionist: Relevant when converting dictated clinical information into accurate records is the main need. Creating new scientific documents from research is a different assignment.
  • Clinical Research Coordinator: Consider this role when study scheduling, participant coordination, records, and operational follow-up are the main priorities.

Combined roles need a clear workload, suitable expertise, and defined review support. Assess the specific capabilities instead of assuming a shared medical or writing title covers every responsibility.

How to Evaluate Medical Writer Candidates

Evaluate scientific judgment, evidence use, and writing for the intended reader.

Start with the candidate's actual assignments. Discuss document types, therapeutic areas, sources, reviewers, deadlines, and the sections they personally developed.

Review relevant samples the candidate is authorized to share. Published work can help, while confidential regulatory assignments may need reconstructed examples or a detailed process discussion. Ask what changed during review and how the candidate handled those changes.

Use a fictional assessment matched to the role. Provide a short brief, synthetic study summary, small data table, mock references, and review instructions. Include the audience, purpose, authority limits, and rules about outside tools or AI.

A useful case can contain an unsupported claim, inconsistent denominators, a missing limitation, and conflicting reviewer comments. Ask for a short document or section, a reference map, and questions for the relevant experts. Have a qualified reviewer validate the supplied science, expected handling, and rubric.

Match the task to the profile. A patient writer may need to explain the findings simply; a regulatory writer may need a report section; a publications writer may need an abstract. Give consistent instructions and a reasonable time allowance. Keep confidential records and productive client assignments outside an ordinary hiring exercise.

Ask for six outputs:

  1. An evidence review: Identify supported statements, gaps, limitations, and questions that require additional sources or expert input.
  2. An audience-appropriate draft: Organize the supplied information in the requested format, preserving scientific meaning and necessary qualifications.
  3. A claims and reference map: Show where key statements are supported and which details another reviewer should verify.
  4. A data and consistency check: Identify mismatches in the narrative, numbers, labels, populations, or supporting table.
  5. A revision response: Explain how conflicting comments should be resolved and which changes require a specialist decision.
  6. A delivery note: Summarize outstanding questions, review requirements, source status, and the next step before release.
Evaluation Area What Strong Candidates Demonstrate
Scientific Accuracy and Evidence They connect claims to relevant sources, identify limitations, and distinguish supported findings from assumptions or overstatement.
Audience and Document Fit They choose a useful structure, explain necessary terminology, and adapt detail and tone without changing the scientific meaning.
Data and Reference Integrity They check populations, denominators, units, citations, and consistency across the narrative, tables, and figures.
Review and Editorial Judgment They identify consequential edits, handle conflicting comments constructively, and involve the appropriate scientific or approval owner.
Relevant Document Experience They demonstrate the skills required for the assigned publication, regulatory, educational, patient, or healthcare content work.
Process, Confidentiality, and Follow-Through They respect information and tool permissions, maintain useful versions and questions, and leave a clear path to completion.

Interview Questions That Reveal Medical Writing Judgment

  • Walk me through a document you developed. What did you personally write, and who reviewed it?
  • How did you decide whether the evidence supported the main conclusion?
  • Tell me about a discrepancy between a source table and a draft. How was it resolved?
  • How would you explain the same result to a clinician and a patient?
  • Describe a substantive disagreement between reviewers and your role in resolving it.
  • How do you confirm that a citation supports the precise statement being made?
  • What do you check after a document has been formatted or moved into another system?
  • How have you used AI, and how did you handle permissions, verification, and disclosure?

Verify Contribution, Qualifications, and Working Methods

Verify relevant education, credentials, experience, and references through the appropriate process. Ask how the candidate's background applies to your specific deliverables.

Assess the difference between leading a document, drafting sections, editing language, and coordinating review. Each can provide useful experience when it matches the assignment.

Use authorized samples and fictional examples. Ask how the candidate approached difficult review decisions while respecting confidentiality.

What Should a Medical Writer Accomplish in the First 90 Days?

Use the first 90 days to learn the environment, establish evidence and review habits, and take dependable ownership of an agreed document workload. Adjust the pace for complexity, source availability, experience, and reviewer capacity.

Your organization provides product or study training, approved access, templates, tools, and introductions to scientific and approval owners.

First 30 Days: Learn the Assignment and Confirm Standards

Review the document types, audiences, therapeutic areas, source materials, style requirements, and approval process. Complete required confidentiality, privacy, system, and other role-specific preparation.

Meet the scientific reviewers, authors, regulatory contacts, editors, and operational partners relevant to the work. Confirm who resolves different questions and who authorizes release.

Complete a defined initial assignment with appropriate review. Check research, interpretation, references, structure, and version handling.

Useful outputs include a confirmed scope, current review map, organized source library, first reviewed draft, and a list of unresolved training or access needs.

Days 31–60: Build Consistency Across the Assigned Work

Manage agreed drafts and revisions with the required review. Check whether evidence, comments, versions, and pending questions remain easy to follow.

Discuss feedback in terms of specific changes and their reasons. Clarify whether recurring revisions reflect a skill gap, unclear brief, changing evidence, or unresolved reviewer expectations.

Refine estimates using the actual document mix and available support. Coordinate deadlines with the people providing data and approvals.

Useful outputs include dependable draft quality, a functioning reference workflow, clearer capacity estimates, and an effective routine for scientific questions and review handoffs.

Days 61–90: Review Ownership and Continuing Priorities

Assess accuracy, audience fit, review coordination, delivery, and adherence to information-handling requirements. Evaluate the work within the scope and support agreed at the start.

Confirm the continuing workload, quality checks, maintenance responsibilities, and backup arrangements. Expand into another document type when capability, preparation, and review resources support it.

Useful outputs include a performance summary, current working instructions, targeted development goals, and an agreed next-quarter assignment. For longer projects, assess completed milestones and quality rather than expecting an entire submission or publication cycle to finish within 90 days.

How to Prepare Your Medical Writer Hiring Brief

Give South a specific description of the documents and responsibilities you need covered. Include the following information:

  • Document types: Specify manuscripts, reports, protocols, education, patient materials, website content, or another defined output.
  • Audience and purpose: Explain the readers, intended use, channels, and decisions the content should support.
  • Scientific scope: Identify therapeutic areas, products, study types, and the depth of knowledge required initially.
  • Source materials: Describe the data, full-text access, approved references, and expert support available.
  • Responsibilities: Define research, drafting, editing, quality control, review coordination, formatting, and any publishing duties.
  • Review and authority: Identify scientific reviewers, authors, regulatory or other approvers, and final release ownership.
  • Systems and standards: List document tools, reference managers, repositories, templates, style guides, and relevant requirements.
  • Workload and timing: Provide representative projects, milestones, review cycles, required overlap, and capacity expectations.
  • Confidentiality and AI: Explain approved information access, tools, working arrangements, and disclosure requirements.
  • Success criteria: Define accuracy, audience fit, reference quality, review habits, and delivery measures.

Prioritize experience with your starting deliverables. A precise document scope makes candidate comparison and the practical assessment more useful.

If you expect publication planning, regulatory strategy, statistical analysis, design, or people management, describe those duties explicitly and provide the relevant authority, support, and time.

Hire a Medical Writer in Latin America With South

South helps U.S. organizations hire full-time professionals in Latin America. Share your document types, scientific scope, audiences, review process, systems, and required working hours.

South's Medical Writer page currently lists an all-in monthly rate of $4,350. Use that as the published reference and confirm the quote for your requirements. Document expertise, therapeutic-area knowledge, experience, and leadership responsibilities can affect the profile you need.

Your organization provides product or study training, source access, approved tools, scientific review, and day-to-day direction. Confirm confidentiality, permissions, and final approval responsibilities before work begins.

South's model includes one consolidated monthly invoice, no minimum commitments, and free replacement. Compare candidates through relevant portfolio discussions and a fictional assessment of evidence use, writing, data interpretation, and review judgment.

Bring clear, well-supported medical writing into your team's workflow. Schedule a free call with South to discuss your Medical Writer search, or review South's pricing as you plan the hire.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

When Should I Hire a Medical Writer?

Consider hiring when scientific documents, medical education, patient materials, or healthcare content need consistent writing ownership. Define the deliverables, audience, evidence, review process, and workload first. A Medical Writer can organize and explain information while qualified experts retain their assigned scientific and approval decisions. Provide access to sources, current requirements, and responsive reviewers so the person can complete the work effectively.

Do I Need a Regulatory Medical Writer or a Scientific Publications Writer?

Choose according to the documents. Regulatory writing may involve assigned protocols, clinical study reports, or submission content. Publications work may involve manuscripts, abstracts, posters, and author review. The skills overlap, while the requirements and working processes differ. Ask candidates about the exact documents they developed, their contribution, and the support available before assigning responsibility for an unfamiliar document type.

Should I Hire a Medical Writer or a General Content Writer?

A Medical Writer can suit work requiring scientific interpretation, medical terminology, evidence appraisal, and specialized document experience. A general content writer may suit a broader editorial assignment with suitable subject support. Decide using the actual content and review requirements. For healthcare marketing or education, assess both audience-focused writing and the ability to support claims accurately rather than relying on the title alone.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Medical Writer Through South?

South's role page currently lists an all-in monthly rate of $4,350. Treat that as a published hiring reference and confirm the quote for your assignment. Regulatory or publication expertise, therapeutic-area experience, document complexity, and leadership responsibilities affect the profile you need. Clarify the platforms, reference access, training, scientific review, and working hours your organization will provide for the role.

Can a Medical Writer in Latin America Support a U.S. Team Remotely?

Yes, when the writer's experience, English communication, approved access, and working hours fit the assignment. Confirm overlap for scientific discussions, author meetings, and review decisions with each candidate. Your organization should establish confidentiality, privacy, contractual, and system requirements before sharing restricted information. Provide the sources, templates, training, and expert contacts needed for the documents they'll develop.

Does a Medical Writer Need an MD, PhD, or PharmD?

Set education requirements according to the scientific depth and documents involved. An advanced degree can provide relevant knowledge, while practical writing, evidence evaluation, and review experience still need assessment. Some assignments can suit another scientific or communication background with appropriate expertise and support. Identify which capabilities are essential immediately and verify how the candidate's education translates into the actual work.

Should I Require Medical Writing Certification?

A relevant credential, such as Medical Writer Certified, can provide evidence of core medical writing knowledge. Verify the specific credential and issuer rather than treating course completion, association membership, and certification as equivalent. Combine qualifications with samples, a practical assessment, and references. The candidate still needs the document expertise, subject knowledge, review judgment, and organizational training required for your assignment.

How Important Is Experience in Our Therapeutic Area?

It matters more when the assignment involves specialized terminology, complex data, unfamiliar treatments, or a need for immediate independence. Strong writing and research skills can transfer when suitable preparation and expert review are available. Ask candidates to explain the topics and documents they've handled. Separate knowledge they must bring from the product, study, or organizational context your team will teach.

Can the Writer Prepare Clinical Study Reports and FDA Submission Documents?

They can contribute or lead specified documents when their experience and the available clinical, statistical, safety, and regulatory support fit the assignment. Define the document, source inputs, review responsibilities, and approval process. Writing content doesn't establish readiness for every submission component or technical publishing task. Assess those duties separately and confirm the current requirements with your responsible regulatory team.

Can a Medical Writer Draft Journal Manuscripts Without Being an Author?

Yes. Professional writing support can be acknowledged according to the applicable journal requirements. Where ICMJE criteria apply, writing assistance alone doesn't qualify someone for authorship; authors need to meet all four criteria. Define contributions, approvals, funding information, and disclosures with the author group. A writer who also meets the full criteria should be considered through the same authorship process as other contributors.

Can the Writer Create Patient Education and Plain Language Summaries?

Yes, with relevant audience skills, suitable source materials, and qualified medical review. Ask how they explain terminology, numbers, risks, and uncertainty while preserving meaning. Evaluate the structure and the reader's likely questions alongside readability measures. Define review for medical recommendations, accessibility, translation, and intended use. A plain language version should remain consistent with the underlying evidence and approved information.

Can a Medical Writer Help With Healthcare SEO Content?

Yes, when the writer understands evidence-based healthcare content and the editorial brief. Combine useful answers, clear structure, relevant search language, accurate claims, and appropriate references. Assign search strategy, distribution, and performance ownership explicitly. Medical and editorial review should fit the content's purpose and audience. Avoid making ranking or traffic promises that depend on factors beyond the writer's control.

Can Any Medical Writer Conduct a Systematic Literature Review?

Assess that capability specifically. A focused literature search, narrative review, and systematic review have different methods and reporting needs. Define the question, protocol where relevant, search strategy, screening, appraisal, synthesis, and specialist support required. A Medical Writer may contribute selected tasks or lead suitable work with demonstrated experience. General research familiarity alone doesn't establish readiness for every review assignment.

Which Tools Should a Medical Writer Know?

Prioritize your document and review tools, reference manager, research resources, and approved repositories. Common requirements can include Microsoft Word, tracked changes, reference software such as EndNote or Zotero, and PDF review. Add publishing, structured authoring, visualization, or submission tools only where needed. Ask what the candidate actually did in each system and provide training on your configuration and procedures.

How Can I Review a Portfolio When the Writer's Work Is Confidential?

Use authorized public samples, reconstructed examples, a process discussion, and a fictional assessment. Ask which sections the candidate created, what inputs they received, and how review changed the draft. Respect restrictions on unpublished research, client documents, and participant information. A published byline isn't the only evidence of contribution, especially for writers who supported regulatory work or acknowledged publication assistance.

What's the Best Hiring Assessment for a Medical Writer?

Provide a short fictional brief, synthetic study information, a data table, mock references, and reviewer comments. Ask for a focused draft, claims map, questions, and revision response. Match the audience and document type to the role, with consistent instructions and clear AI rules. Have a qualified reviewer validate the science and scoring. Assess accuracy, clarity, reasoning, and follow-through together.

How Should a Medical Writer Use AI?

Use approved tools and information for defined tasks, with verification against the actual evidence and document requirements. Check generated claims, citations, interpretations, and wording carefully. Follow confidentiality and applicable publication disclosure policies. AI shouldn't be treated as an independent scientific source or listed as an author under ICMJE recommendations. Human contributors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of submitted work.

Who Should Review and Approve the Writer's Work?

Assign reviewers according to the document and intended use. Relevant people may include clinical experts, statisticians, authors, medical affairs, regulatory or legal colleagues, and editors. Define who resolves disagreements and who authorizes release. The writer can coordinate comments and revisions while designated owners retain approval authority. Plan review time and availability before committing to publication, submission, or production deadlines.

How Should I Measure a Medical Writer's Output and Performance?

Review accuracy, evidence support, audience fit, reference integrity, revision judgment, and delivery against agreed milestones. Interpret output alongside document complexity, source availability, and reviewer dependencies. A word count or document count alone doesn't capture research and coordination effort. Track recurring quality issues and pending decisions so you can distinguish training needs, unclear briefs, changing evidence, and capacity constraints.

What Should I Prepare Before Starting a Search With South?

Prepare your document types, audiences, therapeutic areas, starting projects, systems, workload, and required hours. Define scientific review, authorship where relevant, approval authority, confidentiality, and AI rules. Explain the training, source access, templates, and expert support your organization will provide. A precise initial assignment helps South identify candidates with the writing experience and scientific judgment your team needs.

Why Latin America?

Hire teammates, not offshore resources.

US Time Zones

Argentina & Brazil are just one hour apart from New York. Your Latin America teammates work when you do so you can collaborate all day long.

Excellent English

We screen all candidates for excellent spoken and written English. They are ready to jump right in.

Cultural Fit

We make sure all candidates are a strong professional and culture fit. They are already accustomed to working remotely.

Cost Savings

Latin American salaries are 30-80% less than US-equivalents. Grow your team with top 1% nearshore talent without breaking your budget.

Why Choose South?

We try harder.

Full-Service Talent Partner

We take care of all the headaches of hiring, from recruiting, vetting, compliance, and global payroll. We work to understand your specific needs and to provide unreasonable hospitality every step of the way.

Trusted Top Talent

Tap into our pool of over 120,000 pre-vetted professionals who have worked for Fortune 500 companies and top startups. Our rigorous selection process accepts only the top 0.5% of Latin American talent.

Simple All-In Pricing

Every hire comes with one flat monthly rate that covers your teammate's compensation and South's service. No deposits, no hidden fees, and you only pay if you hire.

Zero Compliance Headaches

South handles all legal and compliance aspects of employment, ensuring adherence to local regulations in every country we operate in. Bring on global talent confidently, without legal risks or administrative headaches.

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Your satisfaction is our highest priority. If your new team member doesn’t meet your needs perfectly, we are happy to provide a quick replacement.

Ready to elevate your team? Start hiring remotely in Latin America today!

Start hiring

How South Works

Hiring great employees globally can be tough. We make it easy with our hassle-free hiring.
01.
Describe the Role
We get to know you, your company, and the job you are looking to fill. Then, we put together a job listing to start finding potential candidates for your specific role.

Time saved: 5 days
02.
We Search & Vet
We search far and wide for the best talent that meets your goals. Then, we run them through English assessments, internet speed tests, the initial interview, behavioral and communication tests, and run reference checks on your behalf. After the candidates survive our gauntlet, we present the best pre-vetted options for you to choose from.

Time saved: 10 days
03.
Hire with Confidence
After you select the best person for the job, we set you up for success with our battle-tested processes for remote onboarding. We handle compliance, payroll, and any mess for you. Then, you are off and running with your new favorite employee!

Money saved: $30k-$100k / year
Why clients love us for hassle-free hiring...

"South was a low-risk, high ROI way to source new talent. In under two weeks, we hired a Customer Support and a SEO Specialist and were able to scale up without getting bogged down in hiring."

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Brent Sanders

CEO, Scout Software

"I got a Finance & Data Manager for under $40k a year, that would have cost me $180k in the US. South knocked it out of the park for us! Their thorough hiring funnel delivered exactly the quality I was looking for. Over half our team is in Latin America now. "

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Trevor Houghton

CEO, Pass Galleries

"Working with South has honestly changed my entire business. I built my whole team with them. They are by far the best."

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Brian Blum

Founder, Nibble Studio

Frequently asked questions

If you have any further questions, get in touch with our friendly team!

Why hire in Latin America?

The region has the perfect mix of everything you want in remote employees: English skills, shared time zones, hard-working, and depth of talent. They are already accustomed to working remotely for top US startups and Fortune 500 companies.

Can they work my time zone?

Absolutely! The US and Latin America have basically the same time zones. No Latin American city is more than two hours ahead of EST.

What tasks can they do? What roles can I hire for? 

Every hire is sourced based on your exact needs. They will arrive ready to support your business right away. They can do basically any tasks done remotely, but we recommend starting them as support so your team has more bandwidth for high-value strategic tasks.

All types of roles - customer service, executive assistant, sales, accounting, email marketing, lead generation, content writers, operations, social media marketing, and more!

How do I pay them? Any tax or visa issues?

You can pay directly through us (most popular) or we can connect you with one of our payroll partners.
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You don't have to deal with any American labor laws / taxes when hiring full-time remote contractors. They aren't US-based, so no visas or sponsorships to deal with either.

What does this cost?

Pricing is one flat monthly rate per hire. The rate includes your teammate's compensation and South's service in a single consolidated invoice. It covers sourcing, vetting, payroll, compliance, ongoing support, and a free replacement if you ever need one. Rates vary by role and seniority. See our savings by role page for typical ranges, then we'll confirm an exact rate for your role.
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There are no cancellation fees or minimum commitments, and you only pay if you make a hire.

Do I have to hire full-time?

Yes, we only recruit for full-time and we strongly recommend full-time hiring if you can. Stability (full-time & long-term) is highly sought after abroad. The top caliber candidates are only looking for full-time work.

You're also going to spend time training and getting them up to speed on your processes. It would be a waste to do that over and over again with new people all the time.

Do I have to hire for an individual role or can they handle multiple roles?

We recommend training new hires on one thing at a time.

For example, once they get up to speed on lead generation, you can add the next role writing blog posts or whatever you'd like. You can definitely overlap roles until you have enough work for multiple people.

How can they be 70% less?

The cost of living is much less in Latin American countries. Many of our employees are able to own homes, raise families, provide for their parents, and have in-home help of their own with their salaries.

How does the money-back guarantee work?

If you aren't happy with your hire in the first 120 days, we will work with you to conduct a second round of search for the same role for free.

How do I reach out if I have a question?

Just email us at Hello@HireInSouth.com and we will get back to you with an answer as soon as possible.

Start hiring today!
Free to interview, pay nothing until you hire.