Want to be a medical editor? Master five introductory cheats to help you make the right choice

Medical editor is a niche profession in the editing industry, and it is also a highly professional industry. There is a saying that health is 1 and wealth is 0. The more 0s after 1, the richer you are; however, once you lose the healthy 1, the more 0s behind it are meaningless. Therefore, the medical editor shoulders the mission of guiding the health of the whole people, which can be described as a great responsibility.

As a medical editor, our core value is "spreading health and creating value". In a big way, our work is for the benefit of human health; in a small way, we also realize our self-worth because of this grand goal, which makes our life more meaningful.

As the saying goes: "Men are afraid of entering the wrong profession, and women are afraid of marrying the wrong man". Before you want to be a medical editor, you need to carefully consider whether you are suitable for this job! Master the following 5 entry tips to ensure that you will not choose the wrong industry, and will walk more steadily and accurately on the path of medical editor's career growth!

First, I really love the profession of editing.

interest is the best teacher. Because of love, because you like it, you will have continuous enthusiasm and work hard in a certain field. Only by cultivating deeply can you reach new heights in your career.

As far as I am concerned, I have had a strong interest in Chinese since elementary school. The compositions I wrote were often read in class by Chinese teachers as sample essays. The sense of pride and achievement at that time was like a stimulant. , supporting me through the entire confused youth. Because of my love, after graduating from university, I did not enter the hospital as a doctor, but entered the editing and publishing industry without hesitation, and started my own unique career.

Now I often meet some buddies in interviews who turn to medical editors because they don't like their jobs. Normally I would ask, why did you quit your previous job? Some say it's because they don't like it or can't adapt. I'll keep asking, so are you sure that medical editors are your favorite? If he is not determined or just doesn't know what he likes, I usually advise him to think clearly before applying for the job. Work is not something that happens overnight. If you don’t love it very much, it will be difficult to persist for a long time, or even treat it as a lifelong career. It is a very painful thing to go to work with the feeling of going to the grave.

Second, have a medical-related learning background.

Medicine is a highly specialized subject and a very rigorous science. A course that normally takes four years to complete in college, but an undergraduate in medical school takes five years to graduate. I remember at the time, Internal Medicine and Surgery were as thick as bricks. It can be seen that for medical editors, if you are a professional, your growth path will be faster. If you are studying journalism or Chinese, it does not mean that you cannot be a medical editor, but your learning process will be longer. At the same time, because of unfamiliar professional knowledge, it is easier to make mistakes in the editing process, and the medical profession has a very low tolerance for mistakes. After all, human life is at stake!

As far as my own unit is concerned, the medical editing program is all from a medical background, and I have some hobbies for writing, so I just become a cross-border talent. In addition, some friends entered the hospital after graduation. They either did not have a career in the hospital, or they could not survive the three-year rotation, or they could not accept working night shifts, and then switched to the medical editing industry. At this time, although it is said that a good meal is not afraid of being late, you have to learn the knowledge of the editing industry from scratch. Compared with the friends who entered the industry as soon as you graduated, you have opened a considerable distance in experience. Fortunately, having some clinical experience is beneficial to the industry.

Medical editors are divided into professional media medical editors and mass media medical editors. The audience of professional media medical editors is the group of doctors, while the audience of mass media medical editors is the general public. That said, professional media medical editors preferably have a medical background, while mass media medical editors can relax appropriately. It should be emphasized that self-learning after work is also very important, which is also the only way to make up for the lack of professional knowledge.

Third, have a certain writing ability.

Does the editor want to write well? Do you need some writing skills? The answer is yes. In addition to editing the article itself, the current editor also works as a part-time reporter. And reporters need to write press releases, interviews, in-depth reports, documentaries and so on. If your writing skills are not very good, it will become a bottleneck in your personal development and you will be very miserable at work.

Of course, sensitivity to words is something we are born with and accumulate, and writing skills can be acquired. If you must develop in this industry, it is best to continue to practice and improve your writing skills to meet the needs of professional development.

Fourth, be good at communicating and coordinating with people.

Editors are the bridge between authors and readers. Therefore, its job is not only to deal with the text, but also to deal with the author and the reader constantly. At work, you need to plan topics, seek opinions from experts, find suitable authors, or write outlines, make appointments with experts, communicate with experts’ secretaries, respond to emergencies during interviews, coordinate and handle emergencies, etc. We all need this ability. Especially in today's society, many units have been transformed into enterprises, that is, all operations need to be responsible for their own profits and losses, and editors are inevitably dealing with customers. At this time, the ability to communicate and coordinate is particularly important.

Fifth, be prepared to struggle in big cities.

Medical editor is a niche profession, if you take a look in a small city, you will find that it is difficult for you to find the right job. Only in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou can you have the stage to display your talents. Especially in Beijing, medical resources are very rich, and medical editors also have more choices. For example, medical and scientific publishing houses, medical journals, medical newspapers, etc. With the rapid development of network technology, new medical media have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. However, to be a medical media requires a good platform and a strong team, so the new media is actually very challenging.

In addition, medical editors not only have to bear high housing prices in big cities, but also have a certain spirit of dedication. Because doctors see patients in the hospital on weekdays, various large-scale conferences and academic activities begin on weekends. You need to sacrifice weekend time to attend conferences or study. At the same time, you may also need to rush manuscripts at night, or keep traveling in various cities. Travel, because medical related conferences are indeed many.