About Me

Hi! I'm Caroline! I am the owner and principal medical writer at Ritchie Scientific Consulting, LLC, a small medical writing firm that provides support to clients in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

A bit about my background and experience in regulatory medical writing and teaching...

Education

  • MBA, specialization in Information Technology Management (Rivier University)

  • PhD, Molecular Biophysics (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center)

  • BS, Chemistry (Furman University)

Regulatory Writing Experience

  • Supported writing for 12 INDs

  • Served as a clinical writer for 3 NDAs and 7 BLAs

  • Written countless original protocols and protocol amendments for drug studies (Phase 0-4), devices (feasibility, pivotal, and postmarketing), and combination products

  • Prepared meeting requests, briefing documents, and responses to requests for information from health authorities

  • ....and MORE!

Teaching Experience

  • Spent several years teaching online webinars and in-person workshops for a professional training organization (clinical trial protocols, clinical study reports, Investigator Brochures, INDs, and general medical writing)

  • Trained a 100+ global regulatory team on using Microsoft Word templates for the creation of regulatory documents

  • Lead customized workshops for global teams (both online and in-person format) with hands-on learning activities

Frequently asked questions

You’ve got questions. I’ve got answers.

How did you get started in your career as a regulatory medical writer?

While I enjoyed bench work in graduate school, I knew I didn't want to be culturing bacteria and running gels for decades. I wanted to do something where I could make more direct of an impact. I always enjoyed writing and was the go-to editor for my laboratory colleagues and classmates throughout graduate school. After doing a short post-doc, I started applying for as many writing jobs I could find in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotechnology space. I finally landed a job at a large medical device company doing scientific communications. It was a unique role (which I didn't even realize at the time) where I also gained experience in writing CSRs and clinical trial protocols, along with other device-specific regulatory documents. I enjoyed the regulatory work more than the communications work so, 2.5 years later, I joined a small pharmaceutical company as a regulatory medical writer. While the company ended up being a really bad fit, I learned a ton in my 9 months there, after which I decided it was time to go out on my own. Ritchie Scientific Consulting, LLC was born!

Why do you provide this training?

I took a teaching gig many years ago where I taught webinars and led in-person workshops around the US on writing clinical trial protocols, clinical study reports, and other documents/applications. I felt so energized when teaching and just knew in my heart that teaching is my mission!

What training will you offer next?

I have SO many ideas as far as topics for training! I'm also considering different methods of providing training -- live multi-week workshops, mini-courses, cohort courses with an associated community, etc.

I am just launching my 12-week regulatory medical writing certificate program (so exciting!) and can't wait to see the impact!