Medical secretary
Medical secretaries provide office support in hospitals, GP surgeries, private clinics and universities.
Also known as: Medical personal assistant
- Starter salary£23,000 a year
- Experienced£30,000 a year
- Typical hours37 to 39 a week
What you'll do
As a medical secretary you could:
- answer questions from patients, staff and consultants
- organise a doctor's diary, book consulting rooms and meetings
- make travel arrangements
- manage a waiting list of patients
- update patient records and deal with confidential information
- send samples for medical testing and record the results
- type letters, clinical reports, minutes of meetings and do filing
- monitor an office budget and deal with invoices
Working environment
You could work in an office, at a GP practice or in an NHS or private hospital.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- administration skills
- customer service skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to work well with others
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- sensitivity and understanding
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become a medical secretary
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- applying directly
College
You could do a college course, which would teach you some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job.
Relevant subjects include:
- medical administration
- medical terminology
- T level in Management and Administration
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T Level
Apprenticeship
You could apply to do an Administration Assistant Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship, or Business Administrator Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
These usually take between 1 and 2 years to complete and combine workplace learning with study.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
Work
If you work in a healthcare setting, for instance, as a receptionist or admin assistant, you may be able to move into a medical secretary role if you take a relevant qualification while you're working.
The Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR) and the British Society of Medical Secretaries and Administrators (BSMSA) offer qualifications, such as:
- Level 2 Certificate and Diploma in Medical Administration
- Certificate in Medical Terminology
Direct application
If you want to apply directly for jobs, employers will expect you to have some GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English.
You'll find it useful to have a qualification or experience in audio typing along with excellent IT skills. Some organisations may also want you to have knowledge of medical terminology.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could manage a team of secretaries in a large organisation.
With further training, you could become an administration manager, office manager or GP practice manager.
You could also move into roles in finance or HR.
Career tips
To get a job as a medical secretary, you'll need experience of working in an office, ideally in a secretarial role. Temporary work can be a good way of getting this experience.
You would be expected to have an understanding of how the NHS values would apply in your work.
Guides for this industry
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