12 Questions with Jackie Marchington

Jackie Marchington is Head of Compliance and Ethics for IPG Health Medical Communications. Marchington has been working in the medical communications space for more years than is polite to ask. She worked up through the medical writing/editing side of the business, dabbled in IT for a bit, then moved into increasingly operational roles in agency leadership, before stepping out of the delivery side of the business in 2022 to take up her current role.

What are the main responsibilities of your current role? My role as Head of Compliance and Ethics is to make sure that we always do what is best for our clients, their products, and our people. I ensure our people do the right thing, and do things the right way. People often see compliance as a barrier, but I see it as an enabler – making sure that the solutions we provide are robust and that they’ll stand up to scrutiny.

What is your background prior to this role and how did it prepare you for the work you do now? Before entering medical communications, I was a Research Fellow at the Open University, where my main discovery was the realisation that I really wasn’t cut out for research. I entered medical communications as a hybrid writer/editor, which was a really good way to learn the craft. Working my way up through the agency side of things means that I understand the trials and tribulations of trying to get things done for clients, yet stay compliant – that means I’m now a kind of poacher turned gamekeeper, because I know (or knew!) some of the tricks to handle the pressures that land every day.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment to date? I was a member of the Global Alliance for Publication Professionals – a small “rapid response” team providing rebuttals to articles misrepresenting the role of professional medical writers that were being published in the academic literature, via blogs or social media posts. There were themes to these articles that led to a live ISMPP session where we put five myths to the test and subjected ourselves to the judgement of two top medical journal editors known to be vocal against the inclusion of pharmaceutical sponsored research in the academic literature. It all seemed like a jolly good idea until the moment sitting onstage beside our judges and in front of about 500 ISMPP delegates… Suffice to say, it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. We successfully busted one myth, kept three as plausible, and confirmed one. The myth we confirmed was essentially “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” – where disclosure of industry involvement leads to criticism and devaluing of research, but failure to disclose would be even worse. Our judges agreed with that one. Overall, a terrifying experience, yet strangely satisfying – especially when people say, “Remember that myth busting session you did at ISMPP..?”

What are some of the biggest ongoing challenges in your work? Our IPG Health Medical Communications agencies are filled with enthusiastic people who want to do the best for their clients and their products and to give the best possible experience, sometimes by going the extra mile. But remember, seemingly innocent requests can lead to quite challenging compliance conundrums. There is usually a solution, but we may need to travel through some choppy water to get there. And while compliance work alongside legal counsel, we don’t give legal advice!

What are your biggest long-term goals for five years or 10 years from now? To enjoy a long and happy retirement.

What are the most important professional skills in your work and how do you hone them? Patience. Fortunately, patience is my strong suit (though my husband probably wouldn’t agree). There’s no point in shouting and screaming at people when you’re in compliance because you really don’t want to frighten people off. I need people to be able to approach me who might have just done the daftest thing in the history of the world, but knowing we’ll work it through and come up with a solution. Good listening skills are also important – if you only hear what you expect to hear then you miss a lot of nuances, and you stop people from opening up.

What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the industry right now? AI. Everyone wants to use it, but there are many risks involved in terms of liability, accuracy, confidentiality, privacy – everything, really. It’s the latest bright, shiny thing, but “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should”. And many platforms claiming to be AI are just jumping on the bandwagon – they’re definitely “A”, but not necessarily “I”. AI – particularly generative AI – will find its place in our industry. It’s a case of finding the best ways of using it compliantly and safely. Different parts of our business use different GenAI tools, and even common tools are used differently by different agencies. Within the IPG network, our innovation and legal teams are working together with compliance to create guardrails and resources that will keep our agencies on a safe path through the constantly shifting sands of a very quickly moving landscape.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your work or your workplace culture? The workplace opportunities for learning by osmosis have eroded massively due to the pandemic. Working from home offers huge flexibility and has widened our recruitment geography, but the subtle “on the job” training you don’t even realise you’re getting when you’re in the office is difficult to replicate. At IPG Health Medical Communications, we’re fostering a “no such thing as a stupid question” culture – the only stupid question is the one you didn’t ask. We encourage people to keep cameras on in Teams calls, so you have the chance to pick up non-verbal cues and can tell if someone is struggling with a task or concept. We’ve updated our approach to teamwork and learning to adapt to this new way of working. Like everything, it’s about getting the balance right.

What advice would you give to a young person starting out in your field? Enjoy it and keep it up. Medical communications is a consistently changing landscape and the med comms of now will be very different in three years. People ask me why I’ve been in the same job for thirty-five years, to which I reply, “Well, I’ve had the same employer, but not the same job!”

What is your all-time favourite book? To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I did it for O-level English and fell in love with it, hook, line and sinker. There are so many intertwined stories and themes in there, but each one alone wouldn’t necessarily make a great book – it takes all of them to do that.

What sports do you follow and who do you root for? I have been a lifelong West Ham United fan – no idea why I’ve stuck with them; I suppose it has helped me learn to cope with disappointment. I like most sports, but I was a fairly decent volleyball player back in the day.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Rewind. I know it’s best to learn from your own mistakes, but with Rewind you can still learn, but you wouldn’t have to live with the consequences!

Connect with Jackie Marchington on LinkedIn.