Unlike most careers, today’s harsh job market has had little impact on the healthcare industry.

Vocations within this field of study are on the rise in recent years; this creates countless opportunities for newcomers and transitional workers to break into this occupational sphere. One of the most common entry-level positions is a medical receptionist. These positions are perfect for someone who is interested in a profession within the medical field, but prefer business and administration
responsibilities as opposed to direct patient care. There are no government laws declaring that one must obtain a degree, licensure, or certification before accepting a job as a medical receptionist, however holding such an accreditation significantly increases the likelihood of finding a job. Although there are few specialized medical receptionist courses, training in the following areas are highly recommended for a potential medical receptionist to include in his educational background.

Administrative Talents

Clerical tasks are the crux of medical receptionist courses; a student cannot expect to earn certification, let alone receive a job, if he cannot master the skills necessary to operate an office. Taking a basic computer skills course can familiarize a student with standard software applications and medical software programs used by a majority of healthcare institutions. With many medical offices going green, computer competency is a must in order for the medical receptionist to perform appointment scheduling, medical billing, government program forms, insurance carrier claims, records management, and countless other electronic tasks. Some of these courses offer hands-on training with office technologies since this knowledge boosts an applicant’s appeal to potential employers. Other administrative courses can teach a student necessary skills such as typing, filing, records keeping, patient management, and how to operate multiple phone systems.

Health and Medicine

Though students enrolled in medical receptionist courses tend to focus on administrative skills, ordinary knowledge of general health areas is expected. Courses pertaining to these topics vary across institutions but usually include concentrations in medical terminology and clinical procedures. Medical terminology courses teach how to recognize root words, utilize prefixes and suffixes to correctly define and spell common medical terms, and how to combine all three segments to produce meaningful medical idioms. Conversely, the type of clinical procedures required differs by employers but medical receptionist courses usually include teachings such as injection training, phlebotomy basics, CPR, First Aid, and how to take metabolic measurements (blood pressure, heart rate, etc.).

Externships and Internships within Medical Receptionist Courses

Towards the end of the program, some medical receptionist courses provide opportunities to step out of the classroom and practice the skills that have been learned. Two ways to get real world training are externships and internships. An externship is a short-term experience lasting one or two days at a healthcare organization that volunteers use of its facilities but does not offer pay or academic credit;

it does however offer an insider’s view of a medical office. During this brief period, the student will shadow a professional throughout a work day and may be offered such perks as question and answer sessions and involvement in actual office assignments. Externships are a wonderful way to test drive a career and can aid in obtaining a position within an internship program. An internship tends to last an entire semester and may provide both a salary and academic credit. The healthcare organization provides on-the-job training for students to gain experience and create a network of contacts. Internships often led to permanent employment with the intern company because these individuals will require little to no training.

By and large, a student should search for an educational institution that focuses on teaching office management skills, basic medical information, and offers some type of an on-site program. The compilation of these three competencies will form the basis of a successful and rewarding career as a medical receptionist.