Health Sector Secretaries And Study.
While there's no substitute for experience, taking the time to learn the skills necessary to become a medical secretary is the next best thing.
Indeed, people wishing to join the profession or secretaries wishing to make the switch are rather spoiled for choice when it comes to taking a medical secretarial course.
How To Get Started.
Many aspiring students go to Pitman Training in London's Notting Hill and High Holborn or their centre in Manchester.
Experience has shown that many students start with Pitman Training's diploma level medical secretary course and then go on to take their AMSPAR exams as the icing on the cake in terms of professional recognition.
The reason for following this path is that the Pitman Training Medical Secretary Diploma is considered to be a relatively quick route to getting a job in the profession due to their self-paced teaching method.
Pitman Training's educational method is very flexible. While it requires attendance at one their training centres, students can attend when it suits them on a drop-in basis during their long opening hours which include evenings and Saturdays.
They also focus on general secretarial skills as well as specifically medical secretarial ones.
For example, students will usually take a typing course to get their speed up to 70 wpm. They'll learn effective business communication, Word and PowerPoint before moving on to specifically medical topics such as medical terminology and medical audio transcription.
How Easy Is It To Get A Job With No Experience?
This is a fair question to ask. After all, if you haven't been working in at least a medical administrative role, will a qualification leapfrog you into a job in health services?
Shilpa Wymer, Principal of the Pitman Training centres in London (Notting Hill and High Holborn) & Manchester certainly thinks so.
"We have lots of success stories where our students have got fantastic jobs as medical secretaries in both the private and public sectors," she claims.
"The key seems to be earning your Pitman Training medical secretarial diploma as proof of your practical competence coupled with real attention to detail when writing your CV."
"You also need to complete your registration with the appropriate recruitment agencies and finally, don't forget that your personality and the way you come across at interviews is crucial."
What Kinds Of Things Will The Job Entail?
Secretaries in the health professions need to be good organisers, running the diaries of doctors and consultants for meetings and operations and they need a certain amount of assertiveness, particularly where phone work is concerned.
There is also a lot of typing, both touch and audio, so speed and accuracy are important as is letter layout in the required style of the various departments.
It is also very important to be able to use medical terminology accurately. It's quite technical but interesting too.
In order to keep up with the workload, a good grasp of information technology, particularly Microsoft Office is essential while shorthand is always a bonus.
What To Do Next.
If you're keen to learn more about this programme why not contact Pitman Training?
Notting Hill - 020 7792 5214
Holborn - 020 7025 4700
Manchester - 0161 923 6814
Or contact them by email.
