Career Details
A medical secretary usually works in a hospital or medical office and is responsible for performing highly specialised secretarial duties that include scheduling appointments, billing patients, compiling medical charts and reports and handling correspondence. They may also assist doctors with writing reports, speeches and articles, arrange for patient hospitalisation, bill insurance companies and order supplies. If you hope to become a medical secretary you must not only possess a cornucopia of skills; but you must also have a knack for detail work and be a good communicator. A secretarial position within the medical profession is the best of both worlds for some - a responsible office job plus the satisfaction of being involved with people’s health and possibly even contact with patients. That’s why specialist Medical Secretarial jobs are very well regarded.
The Pitman Training Medical Secretary Diploma covers a comprehensive range of practical skills and information, essential for a secretary working in the medical profession. The course has short course approval from the Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR).
“Choosing the Medical Secretarial Diploma was the bravest and best decision I have ever made. I am now employed as secretary to one of the Gastroenterologists at St Peter’s Hospital.”
Medical secretaries fulfil a crucial role as the link between doctor and patient, and for this reason are required to be tactful, discreet and, above all, sensitive. Of the greatest importance, however, is the secretary’s ability to successfully complete a complex array of administrative and technical tasks relating to the job, such as compiling confidential letters, typing reports for patient records and medical journals and ensuring the general flawless running of the office. Medical secretaries are also expected by employers in the healthcare sector to be proficient in medical terminology, medical audio-typing and medical word processing skills. Nationally recognised skills for medical secretaries are generally considered to be advantageous to any individual seeking employment in this sector. The Pitman Training Medical Secretarial Diploma combines expert secretarial skills with a broad understanding of medical terminology, to enable individuals to apply for jobs within the healthcare sector.
Posts Tagged ‘secretarial training’
The Role of a Medical Secretary
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Secretary Courses Underpin The Professional Secretarial Career.
Friday, February 26th, 2010The secretarial job market remains in a state of rude good health despite the recession and demand for these highly skilled staff, the “backbone of the office,” is stronger than for other roles such administrative assistants and clerks.
Such demand is probably a reflection of the high standards demanded by employers as they strive to obtain maximum productivity from every employee.
And as secretaries tend to be highly trained, they have the ability to deliver measurable value to a business.
Achieving these standards is not a matter of luck but rather investment in secretary courses and related training programmes and it is fair to say that the secretary is often the most highly trained of all the administrative staff.
He or she will have taken skill specific secretary courses to learn typing, shorthand, audio transcription and technical subjects such as minute-taking and letter layout.
In addition, it will have been necessary to learn about the information technology used in the job, such as computer studies and software packages including Microsoft’s Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Access.
Without structured secretary courses, it would be very difficult to pick up sufficient knowledge, skill and competence to deliver work to the standard required.
And it would be even harder to become a medical secretary, legal secretary, paralegal or executive pa without having taken a number of secretary courses.
For most students embarking on secretarial careers, Pitman Training is the first port of call.
Sir Isaac Pitman launched his world-renowned shorthand method in 1837 and the Pitman name remains the byword for secretary courses to this day.
Nowadays, every Pitman Training centre seeks to replicate an office environment rather than a college or institute and they are leaders in self-paced education for the office skills sector.
Fleur Creed, Principal of the Pitman Training centres in Carlow, Gorey, Kilkenny and Wexford claims that this focus on the study environment linked with the learning methodology form the basis for the continuing professional respect enjoyed by Pitman trained secretaries.
“There is no doubt that the amount of practical study time and the reflection of what it is really like to be a high level secretary, as well as the coursework we demand results in a skill set and an attitude that says ‘I’m not just trained, I’m Pitman trained.’”
Recruiters and employers seem to agree, as anyone listing secretary courses from Pitman Training on their CV’s seems to have a definite competitive advantage when it comes to getting great jobs.
The continuing recession in the economy has made the need for professional studies even greater as downsizing has meant that secretaries face an increasingly large workload, handling tasks previously performed by colleagues whose roles have been made redundant.
Those who have the knowledge to harness technology to perform these extra duties and who have learned to organise the resources available to them can continue to provide invaluable business support to their bosses.
And at the same time they can manage the stress that additional responsibility brings.
In many ways, the recession has shown that cream rises to the top and the best way to be part of the cream is to ensure that you have the education and skills to shine.
Under 25’s urged by Government to Retrain
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009More than 50,000 young people signing on the Live Register are being urged to improve their education. Over the coming week the Department of Social and Family Affairs will post a letter to all 18 to 25-year-olds on Jobseeker’s Allowance advising them to look at the options for up-skilling and retraining.
With the announcement earlier this year of the cut in jobseeker’s allowance payment rates for 18 and 19-year-olds, we have seen a huge trend of under 25’s contacting us for advice. Within our area of computer, office and secretarial skills training, Pitman Training can offer a wide range of tailored solutions that give people immediate results and up-skill them for the jobs that are available, including temp work. From a Business I.T. Diploma through to an Executive PA Diploma, we have the courses available. Our approach has always been to give people the skills they need at the times they can learn. This flexibility gives us many advantages over the current state-aided approach to retraining.
The training courses provided by Pitman Training range from touch typing to their prestigious legal, medical, accounts and secretarial diplomas.
Every day we talk to people who have just lost their jobs and want to retrain, the biggest obstacle they face is financial. We are currently helping potential learners identify if they qualify for any fee reductions through allowances as this means we help a lot more people develop the skills they need for a new career.
Pitman Training has been successfully providing training to both the corporate and private markets across Ireland for over 15 years and is one of the world’s leading office skills and computer training organisations. With more and more employers focused on specific business type qualifications and skills, Pitman Training provides internationally recognised business certification as well as legal and medical qualifications. Learning with Pitman Training is undertaken with a flexible training model, whereby individual students choose their days and times to train. There is also a wide range of classroom courses including seminars such as CV Preparation, Job-search Skills and Job Interview Techniques.
Social Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin said improving skills will be the key to economic recovery, “Young people should not see signing on the Live Register as their future – they should look to see what supports and opportunities are available for them throughout the country. We know that people of all skill levels are losing their jobs. Young people who may have opted out of the formal education and training opportunities, when the draw of high wages during the boom years was irresistible, are now more likely to remain unemployed if they are not actively up-skilling and gaining new expertise.”
With fifteen training centres throughout the country, Pitman Training is one of the top retraining and up-skilling networks in Ireland. The centre offers top quality computer training courses, secretarial training courses and IT skills training to individuals and organisations.
For more information on the courses available from Pitman Training, call Pitman Training on 1800–532632 or log onto www.pitman-training.ie