Office and Administrative Support · Holland code CSE
Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants
Perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Duties may include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence.
Also called: Medical Receptionist, Medical Secretary, Unit Clerk, Unit Support Representative, Clinic Office Assistant, Front Desk Receptionist, Medical Office Specialist, Physician Office Specialist.
O*NET 43-6013.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $45,930
- Middle half earn $38,570 to $50,580. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 48% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff.
- Transcribe recorded messages or practitioners' diagnoses or recommendations into patients' medical records.
- Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer.
- Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations.
- Complete insurance or other claim forms.
- Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff.
- Transmit correspondence or medical records by mail, e-mail, or fax.
- Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Speaking4.0 / 5
- Active Listening3.9 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.5 / 5
- Writing3.1 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.1 / 5
- Monitoring3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Customer and Personal Service4.4 / 5
- English Language4.3 / 5
- Administrative3.9 / 5
- Medicine and Dentistry3.6 / 5
- Personnel and Human Resources3.4 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.4 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic22
- Investigative34
- Artistic0
- Social52
- Enterprising36
- Conventional95
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- medical records clerk · DE Krankheitsregister-Dokumentar/Krankheitsregister-Dokumentarin · FR agent du service des dossiers médicaux/agente du service des dossiers médicaux
- chiropractic assistant · DE chiropraktischer Assistent/chiropraktische Assistentin · FR assistant chiropracteur/assistante chiropracteur
- medical administrative assistant · DE medizinischer Sekretär/medizinische Sekretärin · FR assistant médico-administratif/assistante médico-administrative
- medical transcriptionist · DE medizinische Schreibkraft · FR audiotypiste médical/audiotypiste médicale
- secretary · DE Sekretär/Sekretärin · FR secrétaire
- front line medical receptionist · DE Empfangskraft Gesundheitswesen · FR réceptionniste médical/réceptionniste médicale
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Health care practice managers (1231)27,200 employed
- Medical secretaries (4211)62,500 employed
- Receptionists (4216)149,000 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.22. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (43-6013).
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