Medical secretary

Earn while you learn in the workplace.

The Job

As a medical secretary or personal assistant, you’ll usually work for a senior member of staff or group of staff. You’ll support the work of a department by taking on a range of administrative and secretarial tasks, such as:

• typing
• arranging meetings and taking minutes
• managing diaries
• arranging events
• dealing with phone calls, messages and enquiries
• ordering stationery
• keeping a filing system
• dealing with post and emails
• creating and updating spreadsheets and databases

Medical secretaries are located in clinical areas across the hospital sites. 

You will have contact with patients and their families as well as with healthcare staff and other admin staff.

Requirements

This is role is a good second job, where you have gained at least 12 months experience in the NHS. You should have good keyboard skills with intermediate MS office skills and good literacy, numeracy skills. 

Personal qualities

As a medical secretary or personal assistant, you’ll need to:

• work accurately and methodically
• meet deadlines
• use medical terminology
• pay attention to detail
• work in a team but use their own initiative
• work with all types of people
• be helpful and reassuring if dealing with patients and their families

Your development

You will gain a formal qualification through Business Administration Level 3, which will include medical terminology.