Medical Secretaries & Medical Administrative Assistants

Job Description

When you think of a medical office, you think of a well-organized, clean and efficient office environment. If it weren't, patients would lose confidence in that medical office and find care somewhere else.

In a private medical practice, for example, doctors are there to treat sick patients. But how many doctors understand how to run a medical office, maintain medical records, or schedule multiple patients with varying degrees of urgent needs.

That's why a trained medical secretary, more commonly titled medical administrative assistant, is so well regarded. Not only do they make things easy for the doctors, but they present a competent image to patients as well.

Medical Administrative Assistant Job Description

Basic secretarial duties have evolved over the years. A medical administrative assistant must be proficient with all of the communication technology common to a modern office. This includes, fax machines, telephones, mail services, internet searches and e-mail.

The medical profession requires additional skills like medical transcription, patient records, medical insurance coding and billing and a knowledge of laboratory procedures.

Most medical office managers begin their careers as medical administrative assistants. If you eventually want to run a medical office, a good place to start is as a medical secretary. Once you master the logistics of the office, you can move up into a managerial role. See the medical office management page for more details.

Salary for Medical Administrative Assistants

The median salary for a medical secretary or medical administrative assistant is in the $24,250 to $33,465 range. Factors such as city of employment and type of employer affect salary as well. Medical administrative assistants may also enjoy benefits such as paid vacation, education reimbursement, 401(k) retirement plans and, of course, health care.