Apprentice medical secretaries organise correspondence, arrange appointments, and answer patient enquiries at hospitals/surgeries and other medical institutions; file and maintain medical and other records; transcribe notes and dictation; and carry out other clerical duties.
Responsibilities
Throughout your apprenticeship, you may help:
- handle 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.
Salary
As an medical secretary apprentice your starting salary would be £17,500 a year rising to £24,000 a year with experience.
Working hours
You will work standard hours around 37.5 a week. In some jobs, this could involve early starts, evenings and weekends.
Qualifications
Qualifications you can achieve as an apprentice medical secretary include:
- Level 3 Business Administrator – Entry requirements for this level include 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship.
Skills
On a medical secretary apprenticeship, you’ll learn:
- 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.
Employers
You could work in an office, at a GP practice or in an NHS or private hospital.
Professional development
You may be offered the chance to take qualifications such as NVQs or those from:
- the Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR)
- the British Society of Medical Secretaries and Administrators (BSMSA)
Some medical secretaries/personal assistants become members of AMSPAR or BSMSA. Both AMSPAR and BSMSA offer training, online forums and newsletters so staff can network with others doing the same type of work.
Career prospects
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.