When I started my career in freelance medical writing, I was fortunate to have an agency background that gave me an initial portfolio. But I know many aspiring medical writers don’t have that experience to fall back on – and that’s okay.
As a mentor, one of the most common questions I hear from new writers is:
“How do I build a portfolio if I don’t have any experience?”
It can feel like a chicken-and-egg situation; you need samples to get clients, but you need clients to get samples.
The good news is, whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to transition into medical writing: you don’t need a wealth of experience or a long list of clients to start building your portfolio.
In this guide, I’ll share practical steps and examples to help you create a medical writing portfolio that helps you land your first projects.
How to Build Your Medical Writing Portfolio With No Experience
Here’s how to get started:
A. Write Mock Pieces
When you’re starting out without any medical writing samples, just start writing mock pieces. At this stage, you probably won’t know what you actually enjoy or want to specialise in—and that’s completely normal. Even experienced writers like me revisit this question regularly. The best part though? You’re in control. Try out different topics, formats, and tones until you figure out what suits you as you gain experience. Write the piece as if a client had hired you for it.
Steal some of my ideas for mock projects:
1. A Blog Post Explaining a Medical Condition
Write a 600-word post about a common condition, such as hypertension or diabetes. Imagine it’s for a health and wellness website you’d love to write for. You can use LinkedIn articles or Medium to publish articles for free and link to them in your portfolio, if you don’t have a website yet.
2. Patient Education Material
Create a one-page handout on post-operative care or medication instructions. Focus on what a patient would need to know, using clear and simple language. For inspiration, you can refer to the Living Well with ALK+ lung cancer brochure I co-created with the patient community for Takeda.
3. Executive Summary of a Journal Article
Choose a recent study from a reputable journal and summarise it for healthcare professionals. This shows you can make complex information easy to understand. This mirrors the type of work you would do in white papers, such as the Online Clinical Trial Recruitment report I wrote for Raremark.
Top Tips:
- Don’t overthink these projects. They’re not meant to be perfect; they’re meant to show potential clients what you can do.
- Add a disclaimer to speculative pieces in your portfolio to make it clear they are conceptual.
B. Leverage Academic Work
If you have a background in health sciences, you already have a wealth of potential portfolio pieces at your fingertips! You can transform academic essays, research papers and lab reports into client-ready samples.
My tips to adapt academic work for your portfolio:
- Simplify the language: Replace technical jargon with conversational terms suited to your target audience.
- Reframe the focus: Condense a research paper into a brief case study or blog post.
- Trim the excess: Clients don’t need to see 10-page dissertations; a concise, one-page summary works perfectly.
You’re not from a healthcare background? No problem – focus on writing mock pieces instead.
C. Volunteer Work
If you want real-world experience, volunteering is a great way to build your skills and credibility. Non-profits, community health organisations and small healthcare businesses often welcome pro bono help from writers.
Examples of where to volunteer:
- Write blog posts for a local health clinic.
- Create patient education brochures for a non-profit organisation.
- Edit newsletters for a healthcare charity.
Top Tip: Start gathering feedback and testimonials from your very first project to help you keep improving. Adding testimonials to your portfolio, as I did with mine, is also a great way to attract clients.
How to Present, Organise and Maintain Your Portfolio
1. Organise by type
- Group content by type (e.g., patient-facing vs. HCP-facing).
- Include brief descriptions to explain the purpose of each piece.
Example of how my medical writing portfolio is organised:
2. Make it easy to navigate
- Don’t worry too much about having a fancy design at this stage.
- Use simple, clean design elements to create a professional and user-friendly portfolio.
3. Keep it current
- Regularly update your portfolio with new work.
4. Refresh and Optimise
- Rework older samples to reflect your growth and align with current industry trends.
5. Add Client Feedback
- Incorporate testimonials where possible.
For more guidance, check out my blog where I share three top tips for perfecting your freelance writing portfolio.
Platforms for Building Your Medical Writing Portfolio
Here are some options to choose from to build your portfolio:
- Design tools: I use Canva for my PDF portfolio which I can send out to clients. I find it very user-friendly for non-designers and might be your easiest option at first.
- Portfolio platforms: Contently, JournoPortfolio. These are perfect tools for beginners to showcase your work for free, especially if you’re not a techy and do not have a website.
- Website builders: Wix, Squarespace, WordPress. It’s relatively easier these days to set up a domain and a one-page website with your profile and portfolio. I personally use WordPress but heard very good feedback from other freelancers using Wix and Squarespace. In this case, you’re in full control of your portfolio design, which is something handy as you grow your freelancing medical writing career.
FAQs from beginner medical writers on how to build a writing portfolio
How many samples beginners should have in a medical writing portfolio?
At the start, aim to include 3–5 strong samples in your medical writing portfolio. Focus on showcasing a variety of skills: these pieces should highlight your ability to write for different audiences and formats. Quality is more important than quantity. For reference, experienced writers typically have 8 – 10 pieces, tailored to the types of clients or projects they’re targeting.
Top tip: When sales pitching prospects and editors, it’s best to only include 2-3 samples of your most relevant work.
I’m worried about not having any published work. What could I do?
It’s completely normal to start without published work, so don’t worry! You can create mock pieces to show your skills, repurpose academic work, or volunteer to write for non-profits or small organisations.
If you want to publish articles, try free platforms such as Medium or LinkedIn Articles.
Focus on creating quality work that shows you can write clearly and for specific audiences—it matters more than being published!
What if I’m bound by Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs)?
If you’ve started working for clients but are bound by NDAs, you can still showcase your skills by summarising projects without revealing sensitive details. Alternatively, ask clients for permission to share generalised versions, or use testimonials instead of samples.
Get Help from an Experienced Medical Writer to Build Your Portfolio and Land Clients
Getting started is the hardest part. The important thing is to start writing. Whether you’re writing mock pieces, repurposing academic work, or volunteering, it all adds up to building a portfolio that gets you noticed.
And if you need a little help? Drop me a message—I’d be happy to share more tips like where to get clients or look over your portfolio as you build it.
You’ve got this!
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