When hospitals release health care brochures to the public, and when doctors publish articles in scholarly journals, they turn to the services of medical copy editors, sometimes also called copy markers and proofreaders. These writing professionals ensure quality documents by correcting errors ranging from misspellings to factual and logical inconsistencies. Their pay depends on a variety of factors, including the type of employer.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics divides the editing profession into two main categories. The first belongs to proofreaders and copy markers, who examine documents for errors in grammar, spelling and composition, and mark them with standard printer’s marks. Those in the medical field earned a mean of $37,300 per year, or $17.93 per hour, as of May 2011, according to the bureau. They fared better than proofreaders across all industries, whose average wage was $34,260 per year, or $16.47 per hour. Their highest wages were in the offices of doctors at a mean $41,640 yearly, or $20.02.
The second category belongs to editors. Although they can also proofread and mark copy, they look for higher level errors, such as style inconsistencies or incorrect facts. They may rewrite text to make it easier to understand for a non-medical audience, and meet with health care professionals to offer writing guidance. Higher-level medical copy editors can also take on more managerial tasks, such as enforcing deadlines for documentation and developing writing standards. In the medical field, they averaged $59,460 per year, or $28.59 per hour. They made less than the average for all editors, which was $60,490 yearly, or $29.08 hourly. Editors in doctor’s offices earned an average of $67,830 per year, or $32.61 per hour.
In hospitals, copy markers averaged $36,530 per year, or $17.56 per hour, with privately owned hospitals showing mean wages of $36,270 yearly, or $17.44 hourly, and general medical and surgical facilities showing means at an annual $36,650, or $17.62 per hour. For editors, hospitals had averages of $61,580 per year, or $29.61 per hour; privately-owned facilities offered an annual average of $63,830, or $30.69 per hour; and general medical and surgical hosptials averaged $60,340 yearly, or $29.01 hourly. One advantage of working for medical facilities is the variety and amount of writing that copy editors can address. They can handle flyers advertising the latest technology, reports to staff produced by health-care managers, and clinical reports explaining the medical treatment of one patient.
According to ONET OnLine, as of 2011, about 79 percent of all copy markers and 73 percent of all editors had bachelor’s degrees. Acceptable majors include journalism and English. The former grants students knowledge in editing, fact checking, copy marks, proofreading and page layout. The latter can teach syntax, story logic and writing styles. For those wanting to go into the medical field, courses in medical terminology, health care procedures, anatomy, physiology, and the biological sciences can be helpful.
2016 Salary Information for Editors
Editors earned a median annual salary of $57,210 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the low end, editors earned a 25th percentile salary of $40,480, meaning 75 percent earned more than this amount. The 75th percentile salary is $79,490, meaning 25 percent earn more. In 2016, 127,400 people were employed in the U.S. as editors.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wages for Health Care and Social Assistance
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wages for Proofreaders and Copy Markers
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wages for Editors
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wages for Offices of Physicians
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: What Editors Do
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wages for Hospitals
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wages for Privately-Owned Hospitals
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Wages for General Medical and Surgical Hospitals
- ONET OnLine: Proofreaders and Copy Markers
- ONET OnLine: Editors
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook: Editors
- Career Trend: Editors
- Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images