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.
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. The role reports a median annual salary of $44,640 in the US and is projected to grow 4% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Entry typically requires a High school diploma or equivalent, and shows high AI exposure (0.74 on a 0-1 scale) — significant portions of core tasks are already being automated. The most in-demand skills for the role include Speaking, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £42,559 a year for Health care practice managers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 1231). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Technicians and associate professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only Medical secretaries and administrative assistants, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 3. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
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Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administrative
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Economics and Accounting
A day in the life
You start the morning at the clinic front desk, checking the appointment schedule and pulling up the notes and files the doctors will need. The phones start ringing early, so you book and confirm appointments, reschedule a surgery and direct clinical questions to the nurse. As patients arrive you greet them, check their details and help nervous visitors understand where to go. Mid-morning you fill in insurance claim forms and chase up a missing referral letter. You receive lab results and scan and route them to the right doctor. After lunch you update medical records, send reports to another clinic by secure email and file correspondence. You also organise a stock order for forms and supplies. Keeping records accurate and handling the same questions over and over can be tiring, and upset patients need patience. But when a worried patient thanks you for calming them and getting them seen quickly, you know you have made a difference.
Illustrative: one typical day, written from the O*NET task statements for this occupation. Real days vary by employer and seniority.
What you'd actually do
- Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff.
- 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.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does Medical secretaries and administrative assistants do?
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.
What does a typical day look like in Medical secretaries and administrative assistants?
You start the morning at the clinic front desk, checking the appointment schedule and pulling up the notes and files the doctors will need. The phones start ringing early, so you book and confirm appointments, reschedule a surgery and direct clinical questions to the nurse. As patients arrive you greet them, check their details and help nervous visitors understand where to go. Mid-morning you fill in insurance claim forms and chase up a missing referral letter.
How much does Medical secretaries and administrative assistants earn?
The median annual salary for Medical secretaries and administrative assistants in the US is $44,640.
What is the job outlook for Medical secretaries and administrative assistants?
The role is projected to grow 4% over the next decade (about as fast as average). Current US employment is approximately 850,000 workers.
How do I become medical secretaries and administrative assistants?
The typical entry education is a High school diploma or equivalent. Building a foundation in the top skills below will strengthen your application.
What skills does Medical secretaries and administrative assistants need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include Speaking, Active Listening, Service Orientation, Reading Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Writing. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace Medical secretaries and administrative assistants?
Our AI-durability model gives Medical secretaries and administrative assistants a score of 0.74 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at high AI risk — many core tasks are already being automated by generative AI and workflow tools. Focus on AI-adjacent skills or plan a pivot to an AI-durable adjacent role.
How hard is it to enter this field?
Medical secretaries and administrative assistants has low barrier to entry — generally accessible — you can enter with basic credentials and on-the-job learning.