It is possible to begin a career as a medical assistant without any formal training and learn on the job.  However, most employers prefer graduates of medical assisting schools.

Healthcare records are compiled every time a patient sees a healthcare provider.  For many reasons, including insurance and billing, these records are organized, coded and entered into a computer for storage and easy retrieval.

For a medical career that offers room for advancement, without patient contact, training in medical coding and records is a great opportunity.

Medical coders typically possess an associate degree from an accredited institution.  Course study includes subjects like medical terminology, physiology, anatomy, legal aspects, statistics, database management and data coding.  Medical coders should also have a keen eye for detail in their work.

While technology improvements are limiting growth in many secretarial and clerical fields, the specialized medical skills and terminology required of medical secretaries make this career a very viable job option.  Medical secretaries may work for private practices, in hospitals, government health agencies or for home health companies.

For a great entry-level medical career that offers room for advancement, training as a medical secretary is a solid opportunity.

Post secondary education is not necessarily required to become a secretary, but medical secretaries must possess specific skills.  A one or two year career college can prepare you for this career.

To facilitate the number of patients to be seen and to move quickly in their profession, patient care providers record medical notes, observations and patient histories into a tape recorder to be transcribed into a hard copy at a later time.  Medical transcriptionists are the professionals that perform this work.

If you're looking for a non-patient care career in the medical field with a flexible schedule and plenty of opportunity, a job as a medical transcriptionist could be the choice for you.

Unless you come into medical transcription through another medical field, postsecondary training is a requirement for employment.