Claudia Said:

What is the best job: Medical secretary or Beauty Therapist?

We Answered:

stay in beauty therapist you can start your own business.

Melissa Said:

Can a medical assistant move into medical secretary job?

We Answered:

They're not common. Technology is replacing them.

Darlene Said:

Why do typing jobs frequently now require Bachelor's degrees?

We Answered:

Many employers prefer a person with at least a Bachelor's degree, they feel this individual would be more capable of moving up in the company as well as making a more greater contribution while in a clerical position. They for one thing could assume a more responsible role in the office.

Mark Said:

Assuming that you are a Medical Secretary,list the groups of people whom you would consider 2 be ur customers?

We Answered:

Your customers are the patients and the doctors as your job is to provide a service for both.

the ability of multi tasking is great in a busy doctors surgery or hospital.

Marcia Said:

Would having previous employment as a medical secretary make a good impression when applying to nursing school?

We Answered:

I have taught medical front office and medical billing and coding.

Absolutely it would make a good impression.

Think of all your transferable skills--things you already know that you will need.

Here are some off the top of my head:

1) Medical Terminology
2) You understand HIPAA and patient confidentiality.
3) You are familiar with patient charting.
4) You have experience dealing with doctors.
5) You have experience dealing with patients.

I've served as an Medical Office Manager over the years and trained a lot of new employees and students. It is much easier for me to train someone who has some medical background. New employees who had never served in a medical office I had to keep off the phones the first week because they didn't yet understand patient confidentiality! Even so, one time in particular an employee slipped--right in front of the doctor! The doctor and I both smiled through it but inwardly we were almost having heart attacks! As soon as the patient left I counseled the employee after the doctor went in with another patient.

One of the most important things to consider is this. There are two things I have learned I can not teach. One is common sense. The other one is attitude. I can teach skills. However, I can not teach attitude. You either have it or you don't!

So ask yourself---do you have the proper attitude of service? The lousy economy aside ask yourself why do you want to go into nursing? Why not computer programming, real estate or retail?

I would think it is because you want to help people, correct?

Years ago I studied medical assisting and worked doing front office and transcription. I went back to school and studied massage therapy. You'd better believe I did better than most of the other students. One had formerly been painting houses and another worked for the federal government. Of course there was also a nurse in my class but overall I still had a lot of advantages.

I knew terminology and the basics of anatomy and physiology. My instructor told me during clinic that I had the best communication with my clients that she had ever seen. I knew the proper demeanor and way to deal with patients. I understood how to document in the client's chart. I knew which questions to ask about their pain already. Think about all you have learned from your work. I learned a lot over the years from transcribing autopsy reports and psychiatric evaluations.

Know that yes some applicants will already be an LVN/LPN (depends on which state you are in) or be a CNA. However, ANY experience will help. Realize that right now there are a lot of graduates of medical assisting and other training courses who don't have any actual work experience.

Serving in the medical field we are held to a higher standard than other professions, as well we should be. Patients lives can be on the line. It is a very conservative field and you have experience dealing with it.

Remember you have a lot of transferable skills and certain classes will be easier for you as in you've already learned the material, at least some of it.

I helped my niece get into a severely impacted ROP medical assisting program. If and when you go interview for school think about things from their perspective. When my niece interviewed she was one of the last applicants of the day. She walked in, sat down and they asked her why she wanted to be a medical assistant. Before she could reply one of the instructors just lost it! She burst out laughing and couldn't stop. She apologized and mentioned it had been a long day. One of the reasons I think my niece got in was that she validated the instructor's reaction and said something like I can imagine sitting all day and asking the same questions over and over can get exhausting, or something like that. This had less to do with me and more with empathy on her part.

Go get them! Write out everything you have learned and rewrite, retype your blurb for your application until it is just the way you want it. You'll know when you have it just right. Once you write your blurb if you want post it and I and others can look at it for you.

Alex Said:

Does anyone have any experience with these jobs in the medical field?

We Answered:

I work in a hospital but do not have experience in those particular fields. My best advice for you would be to first look up the descriptions on-line then simply drop by a hospital and ask to talk to people in those professions. You've picked completely different professions on your list. If you like secretarial type work, perhaps the the assistant choices are the way to go, but if you'd like a skilled technical career and significantly higher pay, choose the RT or other career.

Ricky Said:

Does a medical secretary's job description include making coffee and picking up dry cleaning?

We Answered:

No and you should make that quite clear. If he asks for you to pick up his dry cleaning, your respond "Sure as soon as you wash my car" As for the coffee, if you drink it then make it. As I do not drink coffee I always stated No