Medical Office Manager Career Plan

There are multiple paths to becoming a medical office manager. Some people are promoted to the position after working for an employer for years. Others use schooling to help them rise to the position sooner.

1. Take general college prep courses. Make sure you have good composition skills. Also take some computer classes. Develop your organizational and leadership skills through extracurricular activities.

2. You may fast track you career by getting some health care experience. Some high schools offer health exploration courses. You may become a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) while you’re still a teenager. In some places, you can even become a pharmacy technician. These are great ways to gain professional health care work experience in places where you potentially could end up being the manager.

3. Research degree programs. What level of education will you need? It depends on various factors, including your work experience. Employers may accept a mixture of education and on the job learning. If you’ve been in the field a while, working your way through the ranks, you may not need a lot of classes to give you the management skills you need. If you haven’t built your resume up with work experience, a short certificate program may help to make you more competitive for a medical office manager position. Your degree may be in medical office management, or it may be in a related field, but keep in mind the skills you will need to pass certifying exams. It’s a good idea to study some job ads now.

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4. Make the most of educational opportunities. Treat internships as potential jobs. Also get some real world office experience. Employers are often leery of candidates who just have university experience. You might become a medical office assistant or medical assistant on your way to an administrative position. The more prestigious certifications require either medical office or general health care work experience.

5. Graduate and take any respected certifying exams that you’re eligible for. Now it’s time to find a medical office management position. You can find online career centers through professional organizations. Your state workforce site may have one as well. It can be good to turn in a resume even when you don’t know that there is an opening. Medical office management is partly about people skills, and they may just remember your smiling face.

Personality Traits: A medical office manager must have confidence as she or he will need to approach office staff when problems arise. She or he also needs good people skills and the ability to communicate well verbally and in writing.