If you’ve never worked as a medical receptionist before, you may wonder what the difference is between being a medical receptionist and being a regular office receptionist. What will hospital and nursing homes be looking for in you, a potential medical receptionist?
A typical receptionist in an office environment acts as a mediator between members of a business and their clientele. As a medical receptionist, you’ll be doing pretty much the same thing, except that the members of the business are the doctors, and the clientele are the patients. Doctors will give you information to hold or pass on to clients, and patients will give you information to hold or pass on to doctors. It will be your job to receive that information efficiently and politely, organize it effectively, and pass it on to whoever may need it whenever they may need it.
This article will take you through the steps of writing your medical receptionist resume.
YOUR OBJECTIVE
The purpose of an objective statement is to explain to the employer why you’re sending her your resume. Even if you’re responding to a job posting, your employer may be trying to fill several different positions at once, so it’s important to be clear what position you’re applying for. If you are including a cover letter with your resume, it is more correct to include the objective statement with your cover letter. Otherwise, place it at the very top of your resume.
Make the “Objective” line work for you. If you just write “To get hired as a medical receptionist”, then you’ll sound terribly dull. Instead, take this early opportunity to get the point across that you want this job, not because you need the money, but because it would make use of your skills, challenge you personally, or give you the opportunity to work with or alongside such-and-such.
Example:
Seeking a medical receptionist position that utilizes my extensive computer and medical knowledge and experience with client/patient service.
YOUR QUALIFICATIONS
Below are some of the skills your employer will be looking for.
- Extensive knowledge of medical terminology, medical billing and medical coding
- Possess warm outgoing personality with excellent telephone etiquette
- Knowledge of handling general administrative and clerical tasks
- Skilled in computer applications like MS Word, PowerPoint, Spreadsheet and the Internet
- Excellent monitoring, organizational and supervisory skills
- Skilled in handling multiple tasks and work under pressure
YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE
If you want to build a career in this field the term “professional experience” is better than the term “work experience”, because it emphasizes that you’re a serious professional, and that this isn’t just a job for you.
When it comes to the work experience section of your resume, you need to list anything that will help you show you have the skills you’ve just listed. Have you volunteered in a nursing home or worked in a lab? Have you done any data-entry work, or any kind of secretarial work?
YOUR EDUCATION
When listing your education, list your computer skills separately from everything else. They will likely be more relevant to an employer than whether or not you have a bachelors degree.
OPTIONAL HEADINGS
Have you published any articles relevant to your field? Include the eye-catching heading, “Publications”. Do you belong to any professional associations? List them under the heading “Professional Associations”. Certificates and volunteer work go under education and work experience, respectively.
In the end, a medical receptionist resume isn’t all that different from any other resume. As long as you keep your employer’s needs and expectations in mind, you’ll do fine.
