How To Become A Clinic Receptionist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a clinic receptionist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

As a clinic receptionist, your duties will be to maintain the organization of the office and ensure the medical environment is welcoming, calm, and peaceful for patients and their families. You will make appointments for patients, remind patients for appointments, file, and answer phones. You will also help intake new patients, process payments, maintain hard copy patient records, provide patients with support and guidance as needed.

Education requirements include a high school diploma or GEO, or an associate degree. At least one year of experience in medical assisting or administration is required. If you have EWC knowledge, that is a plus. You should also have excellent communication and problem-solving skills and an ability to handle a fast-paced environment. You should be able to prioritize tasks based on importance and have a familiarity with Microsoft Office and desktop publish software. You can make an average salary of $25,000 a year.

ScoreClinic ReceptionistUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $31,647

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.91%

Asian 6.51%

Black or African American 8.47%

Hispanic or Latino 21.56%

Unknown 4.54%

White 58.00%

Gender

female 91.54%

male 8.46%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

7.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.7

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a clinic receptionist

Explore clinic receptionist education requirements

Most common clinic receptionist degrees

Bachelor's

31.8 %

Associate

26.5 %

High School Diploma

21.9 %

Start to develop specific clinic receptionist skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	31.47%
Customer Service	9.29%
Medical Terminology	7.06%
Phone Calls	6.90%
Appointment Scheduling	4.72%

Complete relevant clinic receptionist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New clinic receptionists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a clinic receptionist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real clinic receptionist resumes.

Research clinic receptionist duties and responsibilities

Assist office management and staff with administrative projects/responsibilities such as managing time-sensitive projects, filing, copying, and collating materials.
Perform all assign tasks relate to admitting patients, discharging patients, laboratory, radiology, and respiratory services.
Schedule radiology exams for patients.
Schedule appointments, register new patients, update patient demographics, and provide comprehensive information.

Prepare your clinic receptionist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your clinic receptionist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a clinic receptionist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable clinic receptionist resume templates

Build a professional clinic receptionist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your clinic receptionist resume.