Medical secretary training

pupgrum

Polarbeary wrote: »

The BSMSA do an online "Medical Terminology for Beginners" course which for £49 may be good to have on your applications and shows some willing?

AMPSAR/Pitman qualifications are pretty expensive. The Trust I worked for did sponsor med secs to these qualifications after they had been employed for a couple of years but given the current financial situation I am not sure if the NHS would still fund!

There's a difference between a Pitman qualification and a casual course for £49. Just like a computer programmer acquiring computer knowledge is not the same as having a proper software engineering degree. If you want to learn then buy a book which is cheaper, or learn using free resources. It shows initiative, and might help if you're not competing against someone who does have qualifications.

Polarbeary

pupgrum wrote: »

There's a difference between a Pitman qualification and a casual course for £49. Just like a computer programmer acquiring computer knowledge is not the same as having a proper software engineering degree. If you want to learn then buy a book which is cheaper, or learn using free resources. It shows initiative, and might help if you're not competing against someone who does have qualifications.

The course is from the BSMSA (British Society of Medical Secretaries and Administrators) who are the professional body for medical secretaries, PA's, clinical team secretaries, administrators and clerical staff. Accredited by the City & Guilds examination centre.

http://www.bsmsa.org.uk/index.cfm?task=home

pupgrum

Polarbeary wrote: »

The course is from the BSMSA (British Society of Medical Secretaries and Administrators) who are the professional body for medical secretaries, PA's, clinical team secretaries, administrators and clerical staff. Accredited by the City & Guilds examination centre.

http://www.bsmsa.org.uk/index.cfm?task=home

They provide some City & Guilds accredited qualifications but the course you stated is a casual course, not accredited, and of no real use. Anything less than a level three accredited course won't help.

Dizzy_Ditzy

Polarbeary wrote: »

Hi queen of cheap - what is the private sector like for medical secs? I did a couple of weeks temping once at a private hospital. It seemed okay, less pressured than the NHS but the patients were still challenging

From what I remember - all overtime was paid and the staff got free meals and healthcare?

It's very different - we still get challenging patients, funnily enough, mostly NHS ones :mad: there are some private hospitals that treat NHS patients like poo but not mine - every patient is treated the same regardless of who is paying.

It is much, much less pressurised. Yes, all overtime is paid, I get free healthcare but not free meals. We do get bloody good food in the canteen though

I only started there a few months ago. I've gone in at a little bit below the top of B4 but the healthcare and other perks I get kind of balance it out.

I did a bit of temping work at another private hospital last year and it was horrible they weren't making any profit out if the NHS patients so treated them abysmally not my cup of tea I'm afraid so I left.

You learn more too because you're doing different specialties. I've got ortho, ophthalmology, GS, endocrinology and haematology, and will be getting more in the next month or so. I can't believe I didn't make the jump sooner. I'd have had a lot more sleep over the years :rotfl:

Polarbeary

pupgrum wrote: »

They provide some City & Guilds accredited qualifications but the course you stated is a casual course, not accredited, and of no real use. Anything less than a level three accredited course won't help.

Possibly. I do see your point.

I have done this course at Vision2Learn : https://www.vision2learn.net/course/free/121/business-and-administration-level-2 and when I was going for interviews for PA jobs it was definitely a talking point from my CV. I several had years of PA/admin work experience in the public sector but having this on my CV was a help as many jobs ask for a "secretarial qualification or equivalent." I also put an NHS internal secretarial course on my CV.

No, it's not the same as an AMPSAR course but in my opinion every little helps and employers do like to see courses and learning. I've also never been asked for certificates from courses or anything to prove how "official" they are.

Up to the OP what they want to do.

tiredoflife

I am a medical secretary and have been for 13 years. I think a sound education and common sense are two key factors. Not one of my colleagues has AMPSAR. A good medical secretary is hard to find these days in my opinion. I went on maternity leave and interviewed so many people to cover my job with no successful applicants.

You learn on the job, I started in general Pathology then moved to Haematology. You generally start as a band 2 and work up to a band 5 (in the NHS) It is hard initially but everything falls into place, I still google things I don't know how to spell, especially new medications!

My advice would be to look at your local Hospital bank staff (temping) they are usually crying out for admin staff and its not badly paid. You can pick and choose what hours you want and gain experience. Do that for a while then apply for a Med sec role.

Also, with regards to childcare, the NHS, or certainly my Trust, provide onsite nurseries which I pay via salary sacrifice which is a huge saving.

Salary wise, if you are in London the salary for Band 2 is £18500 - £21500 ish (with London weighting) Band 5 is £25500 - £32700 ish. Yes you can earn more outside the NHS, but the 33 days annual leave and good pension are good "perks"

Good luck, sounds like you will be a great addition to the NHS!

Sncjw

I would apply for the jobs with out qualification. Have a look on NHS jobs and the person spec for the med sec roles. I bet your last job you developed some skills that would help you.


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pupgrum

tiredoflife wrote: »

I am a medical secretary and have been for 13 years. I think a sound education and common sense are two key factors. Not one of my colleagues has AMPSAR. A good medical secretary is hard to find these days in my opinion. I went on maternity leave and interviewed so many people to cover my job with no successful applicants.

You learn on the job, I started in general Pathology then moved to Haematology. You generally start as a band 2 and work up to a band 5 (in the NHS) It is hard initially but everything falls into place, I still google things I don't know how to spell, especially new medications!

My advice would be to look at your local Hospital bank staff (temping) they are usually crying out for admin staff and its not badly paid. You can pick and choose what hours you want and gain experience. Do that for a while then apply for a Med sec role.

Also, with regards to childcare, the NHS, or certainly my Trust, provide onsite nurseries which I pay via salary sacrifice which is a huge saving.

Salary wise, if you are in London the salary for Band 2 is £18500 - £21500 ish (with London weighting) Band 5 is £25500 - £32700 ish. Yes you can earn more outside the NHS, but the 33 days annual leave and good pension are good "perks"

Good luck, sounds like you will be a great addition to the NHS!

Any of your colleagues only recently started working as a medical secretary? You started 13 years ago. 13 years ago I can walk into most companies and hand in my CV to get a job. It's a different world today. If you already have experience working as a medical secretary it's not difficult getting another role as a medical secretary, but if you've never worked in this industry before and don't know anyone already in the company, not having an accredited qualification relevant to the industry can be a deal breaker.

tiredoflife

We employed someone in our histology department 6 months ago. No formal qualifications, previous admin experience in an engineering company and that was it. She's doing well.

I've just looked on my trusts website and looked at two jobs advertised for band 3 and 4 medical secretary's, neither ask for AMPSAR. I've also looked on another London hospitals job page and again, medical secretary jobs do not list AMPSAR as needed, even as a desirable on the job spec. As I said earlier, common sense and a sound education is what I would be looking for when employing a medical secretary.

t0rt0ise

I'm a qualified nurse as well as a patient and the letters I get after my appointments often have huge spelling errors in them. So really I wouldn't worry about knowing medical terminology as nobody else seems to.