Medical admin/secretary/receptionist?

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Ethereal

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I am thinking about training in this area so I can be a medical secretary or receptionist or something similar. I have never worked in an office before so would love to hear from any INFJs who do or have done this kind of job. I don't want to be an office drone but I do love medical stuff (especially psychology/psychiatry) and I am sick of doing jobs where I am on my feet all day long for poor pay. My last job was in a pre-school/nursery and it was too demanding in terms of noise, chaos, poor pay, catching every virus, and being on my feet all day long.

Could anyone tell me what the competition is like for medical receptionist/secretary like? I have read that after doing a course it is very hard to get a job because most places demand 1 year's experience.......but how are you supposed to get experience if no-one will give you a job? I am in my 30s too, will that go against me? Is it worth doing the training? I don't want to waste my time and money. Also, just how stressful is it? I am not a career person, I just want a job that I find interesting, that pays ok and where I will feel comfortable.

Would be grateful for any insight :smile:
 
I can only give you some (not much) information about the education as medical secretary (in Belgium) if that's interesting enough
... probably not :P
 
I've heard being a dental assistant isn't too bad. Plus if you're in the USA it's a growing field. From there you can always move onto dental hygeine and those types of positions pay 50-70k a year IIRC.
 
Hi Avva, any info you've got I would be happy to read, thanks!

jdftx, I looked into dental assistant and heard from people that it is an awful job and stressful, lol. I don't want any "hands on" type jobs, I want to be sitting at a desk doing the clerical stuff, I don't feel comfortable touching people physically.
 
I don't want to be an office drone but I do love medical stuff (especially psychology/psychiatry) and I am sick of doing jobs where I am on my feet all day long for poor pay.
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Ok, ok. I got you.

jdftx, I looked into dental assistant and heard from people that it is an awful job and stressful, lol. I don't want any "hands on" type jobs, I want to be sitting at a desk doing the clerical stuff, I don't feel comfortable touching people physically.
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You don't want "hands on" type jobs, but you don't want to be an office drone either? :3

I'm confused, because that doesn't leave much if anything in terms of options.. :|

Well, I wish you luck on your endeavors none the less..

Unless you're willing to go to a 2-4 year school for some sort of therapist/social worker type screening job.

Again, hope you find what you're looking for :)
 
Lol, yes it does sound condradictory, what I mean is I don't want to work in any old office, I want to work in a medical environment such as a doctor's office or hospital.
 
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Ethereal said:
Lol, yes it does sound condradictory, what I mean is I don't want to work in any old office, I want to work in a medical environment such as a doctor's office or hospital.
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In that case, I suggest getting your resume tip top, your appearance 'sparkly' and try and get some interviews :)
 
Well, a friend of mine is studying to be a medical secretary right now and her experience is that it's quite boring. In Belgium it's the same education as office management, plus the medical stuff. The general courses are economics, business communication, civil law, bookkeeping etc. Besides that she had to learn the basic terminology (it was a lot though) of the medical stuff (latin names of all sorts of things), anatomy, fysiology, pathology and pharmacy.

Her internship was at a hospital, but she actually didn't need any of the medical stuff she had learned during the year. But an internship is always different from the actual job so I can't help you with that.

If you want, I can ask her more information
 
Thanks Avva! Yes, the civil law and economics etc does sound really boring.....but the medical terminology would be a breeze for me.

jdftx........Ethereal is always sparkly!!! :becky:
 
I am an admin assistant at a university. I find that the job requires organizational skills more than anything. I also worked for an eye doctor many years ago and found the work okay. If you are good at your job, you are the power that makes everything run smoothly. If you are really good, the other people don't even realize that you control their work lives....hehehehe
 
Thanks for replying Sonyab :smile: I *think* I'd be ok at this job, it's the multi-tasking that worries me, having to answer a 5 line phone and doing something else at the same time, that kind of thing. Also I worry I'm too dreamy and abstract in some respects but I'm probably over-analyzing if an INFJ would be alright in this job.

Funny you should mention the eye doctor, I just got back from there, while in the waiting area I was watching the receptionists. Do you enjoy your job?
 
I enjoy a lot of aspects of my job. Sometimes the neediness of the people gets on my nerves but I am not a Feeler I am a Thinker. I am also a union steward at my job site so I have the intellectual stimulation of working on that and being close to the powers that be (management). People tend to rely on me quite a bit because I am good at what I do. It isn't as challenging as I am capable of being but I don't really want a career--just a job. The university is a really nice community though and I have made several friends who I value immensely.
 
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