Healthcare PR: What you need to know

What does someone in healthcare PR do?

Someone who works in healthcare PR might form positive relationships with journalists and editors working for newspapers, magazines, and websites. They may ensure good relations are maintained with radio and TV organisations, recruit and instruct spokespeople for the company or organisation, work with the advertising team to ensure a consistent message is delivered, and create and send out press releases. Much of their work will be centred upon protecting their organisation’s reputation.

What are the different job types on offer?

There are many different roles involved in healthcare PR. Some of the most common ones include account executives who help healthcare providers repair and maintain their reputations, press releases who inform the public about important news and events, and social media managers who help protect and nurture relationships with the public online. Marketing managers oversee marketing projects to ensure targets are met and often liaise with boards, doctors and important figures.

What skills do you need?

You don’t need a degree for all jobs within healthcare PR. If you don’t have one, you are more likely to be recruited if you have substantial sales and marketing experience. What you will need are strong writing and strategic skills, a wealth of innovative ideas, great organisational and persuasive skills and an ability to confidently communicate with people at all levels.

Work perks

There are many different perks attached to working in healthcare PR. There’s very little chance you will become bored in this profession. The job can be incredibly varied, and the better and more creative your ideas are, the more you can achieve. The world of PR and technology never stops, so you can expect to frequently receive training on the latest developments in areas like social media. A reputable company will be more than happy to invest in your development and help you to continue strengthening your CV. The industry can also be ideal for you if you require flexibility, with a whole host of full and part-time, freelance and in-house jobs available to suit your needs and circumstances.

Earning potential

The salaries for roles in healthcare PR can vary wildly, but stats from Reed suggest that communications managers earn around £47,000 on average. PR managers have been commanding £41,100 recently, with social media managers earning £35,300. PR assistants have been earning around £23,200. Content marketing managers have received £37,700 on average.