Medical Receptionist- Can anyone tell me more about it ?
Asked by J C
I'm studying a Cert 3 in Medical Business Admin at TAFE, Australia and was wondering what other qualifications would I need to get a Medical Admin job in a G.P's office. I have had no previous experience, and most job ad's require experienced people. Also, is it really important to learn and remember medical terminology ? When do Medical Receptionists use it the most ?

Best Answer:
ITs very important to have a good grasp of medical terminology for billing and coding purposes

There are a variety of "business" functions that happen in a clinic or hospital. Consequently, depending on the size of the organization you may specialize (examples, scheduling, registration, coding and billing, front desk reception and phone), or if the organization is smaller you may need to do a combination of tasks. Knowledge of basic medical terminology is certainly worthwhile if your working in a clinic, but I don't think anyone would expect you to be fluent, As for experience, or lack of it, you may want to emphasis other very important attributes employers at a clinic or hospital value. These would include, the ability to keep confidential all patient and clinic information, showing up on time and not being absent, honesty, ability to work with people, a good work ethic (all of these matter a great deal). Best of luck to you and I hope you find what your looking for.
Answered by blueiron511

Yes I believe it is important for you to know medical terminology. It will help you understand conditions the doctors talk about. There are online courses you can take to learn medical terminology. It's much better to learn it, or take a course on it then trying to remember it. My medical dictionary is about 4 inches thick and that's a lot of words to remember. Medical terminology courses will teach you how to build words. Once you learn the roots, suffixes and prefixes you will be able to decipher the medical terms rather than recalling them from memory. There are several courses out there and I've included a link to a self-paced one in my source list. I wish you luck. It sound like an exciting career change for you and it sounds like it can be very rewarding.
Answered by Don B