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Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Duties may include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence.

Related: Medical Assistants Medical Records Specialists Office Clerks, General Receptionists & Information Clerks Secretaries & Administrative Assistants

Industries: Health & Counseling

Summary
Details

Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff.
Perform bookkeeping duties, such as credits or collections, preparing and sending financial statements or bills, and keeping financial records.
Interview patients to complete documents, case histories, or forms, such as intake or insurance forms.
Perform bookkeeping duties, such as credits or collections, preparing and sending financial statements or bills, and keeping financial records.
Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer.
Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff.
Complete insurance or other claim forms.
Transcribe recorded messages or practitioners' diagnoses or recommendations into patients' medical records.
Prepare correspondence or assist physicians or medical scientists with preparation of reports, speeches, articles, or conference proceedings.
Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff.
Schedule tests or procedures for patients, such as lab work or x-rays, based on physician orders.
Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations.
Transcribe recorded messages or practitioners' diagnoses or recommendations into patients' medical records.
Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files.
Operate office equipment, such as voice mail messaging systems, and use word processing, spreadsheet, or other software applications to prepare reports, invoices, financial statements, letters, case histories, or medical records.
Operate office equipment, such as voice mail messaging systems, and use word processing, spreadsheet, or other software applications to prepare reports, invoices, financial statements, letters, case histories, or medical records.
Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer.
Receive and route messages or documents, such as laboratory results, to appropriate staff.
Transmit correspondence or medical records by mail, e-mail, or fax.
Perform various clerical or administrative functions, such as ordering and maintaining an inventory of supplies.
Perform bookkeeping duties, such as credits or collections, preparing and sending financial statements or bills, and keeping financial records.

Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.

Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

56920/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

27.37/hr

Currently Employed

10,450

Yearly Projected Openings

1280

Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:

Concern for Others
Attention to Detail
Integrity
Dependability
Stress Tolerance
Self Control

Desktop computers
Dictation machines
Hospital intercom systems
Laser fax machine
Laser printers
Magnetic stripe readers and encoders
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Photocopiers
Premise branch exchange PBX systems
Scanners
Special purpose telephones

Accounting software
Calendar and scheduling software
Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Data base user interface and query software
Desktop publishing software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Office suite software
Operating system software
Point of sale POS software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

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