Freelance writing

Polished written communication is a useful skill for all doctors. Not all will want to take their journalistic careers as far as Lynne Low has, but there's a start here for those that do

If you baulk at the thought of producing an audit report but leap at the chance of turning your sabbatical into a travel piece for the local paper, freelance writing as a career, or part of your career, may be for you. It is an attractive and increasingly popular option for doctors who enjoy writing and who wish their working lives were more creative.

Besides self expression, there are other reasons to write. Freelancing could be a step towards a full time career in the press. It provides a chance to work from home, around other commitments. If you have a deepening political or social ideal, writing allows you to enter the debate. Many doctors write to capitalise on their expertise, to reach a wider audience, and even to influence public policy.

Doctors who write often do it part time. The brave ones relinquish their clinical careers entirely. It can help to have a regular working pattern and regular money coming in, because pay from writing, especially initially, can be very patchy. You need to know what deadlines you can meet, which can be difficult if you are also obliged to accept locum positions at short notice. Many writers work on a sessional basis in various specialties.

What shall I write?

It cannot have escaped your notice that media interest in health issues has never been higher. This is good news for a doctor who wants to write. Ideas that occur to you need not simply relate to the clinical specialty you practise but to a completely different aspect of medicine that fascinates you, such as legal matters or ethics. But why confine yourself to medicine? Your passion for container gardening provides just as good material. There are doctors who never write on medical topics, preferring the distraction of sport, music, accountancy, or art. …