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What does a Medical Internship do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read
What does a Medical Internship do

When it comes to a medical internship, one of the primary duties is to attend to the patients' needs while under a more experienced physician's supervision. During this period, the medical interns must rotate in various fields of specialties or departments for exposure. Aside from learning and observing, there are also instances when medical interns are required to produce necessary reports and documentation, communicate with patients and families, and take part in more challenging cases.

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Medical internship responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real medical internship resumes:

  • Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
  • Room patients, vitals, schedule, injections, clia waive tests, womb care ,
  • Learned how to triage patients and make sure they are ready for the doctor to see.
  • Organize and fill patient medical records, telephone triage, schedule appointments, and provide patient education.
  • Organize, prep, and assist patients in putting on heart monitors for EKG and heart rate readings in the lab.
  • Assist physicians in taking blood pressure, EKG, ultrasound, measuring heart beat and recording all vitals in physical examinations.
  • Post charges using ICD-9 codes.
  • Change bed linens, maintains general cleanliness and order in room.
  • Charge entry of coding data into Allscripts, EMR and McKesson systems
  • Maintain adherence to HIPPA and OSHA regulations to ensure patients safety and privacy.
  • Obtain patients' height and weight, chief complaint, medications, and allergies.
  • Perform various front office duties such as: filing, scanning of documents, EMR system.
  • Preform CLIA wave tests such as, urinalysis, glucose testing, and fecal occult blood test.
  • Utilize correct ICD-9, CPT and HCPCS coding methods to determine the proper code for the services render.
  • Code a variety of CPT outpatient reports with the use of pathology, operative, and surgical reports.

Medical internship skills and personality traits

We calculated that 34% of Medical Interns are proficient in Patients, Patient Care, and Vital Signs. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Interpersonal skills.

We break down the percentage of Medical Interns that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 34%

    Performed initial interviews with walk-in patients and their families to determine eligibility for services, which included crisis intervention.

  • Patient Care, 10%

    Supported and communicated with residing Physicians ensuring delivery of optimal patient care to nearly 500 campers as needed.

  • Vital Signs, 6%

    Performed efficient and accurate vital signs and patient registration for busy suburban family practice.

  • Surgical Procedures, 4%

    Observed and sat in on orthopedic surgical procedures and clinical consultations.

  • Surgery, 4%

    Rotated in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, orthopedic surgery, and burn medicine departments

  • EKG, 3%

    Organized, prepped, and assisted patients in putting on heart monitors for EKG and heart rate readings in the lab.

Most medical interns use their skills in "patients," "patient care," and "vital signs" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential medical internship responsibilities here:

Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a medical internship to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "medical assistants must be able to understand and follow medical charts and diagnoses." Medical interns often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "reviewed clinical, laboratory and radiology data, presented clinical cases for a patient conference. "

Detail oriented. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling medical internship duties is detail oriented. The role rewards competence in this skill because "medical assistants need to be precise when taking vital signs or recording patient information." According to a medical internship resume, here's how medical interns can utilize detail oriented in their job responsibilities: "detailed resume:i am a highly motivated, high producing medical transcriptionist with radiology as my speciality. "

Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of medical interns is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday medical internship duties, as "medical assistants need to be able to discuss patient information with other medical personnel, such as physicians." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assisted medical students in developing communication and interpersonal skills. "

Technical skills. medical internship responsibilities often require "technical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "medical assistants should be able to use basic clinical instruments so they can take a patient’s vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure." This resume example shows what medical interns do with technical skills on a typical day: "study basic and clinical medicine knowledge and accept technical skills training on biochemistry, physiology and pharmacology. "

See the full list of medical internship skills

The three companies that hire the most medical internships are:

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Compare different medical interns

Medical internship vs. Md

A Doctor of Medicine or MD is the designation of a person who completed medical education. Generally, MDs focus on the treatment of conditions in need of medication. These doctors do health assessments, prescribe medication, run diagnostic tests, treat patients, and offer health and wellness advice. Among their health specialties are in the areas of neurology, gynecology, and dermatology. They may also perform surgery when necessary. All these are made possible with their knowledge and skills in medicine.

The annual salary of mds is $24,168 higher than the average salary of medical interns.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between medical interns and mds are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like patients, patient care, and vital signs.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a medical internship are more likely to require skills like "powerpoint," "medical terminology," "cpr," and "pediatrics." On the other hand, a job as an md requires skills like "customer service," "tuberculosis," "emr," and "triage." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Mds tend to reach similar levels of education than medical interns. In fact, mds are 4.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Medical internship vs. Geriatric nursing assistant

A geriatric nursing assistant is responsible for assisting elderly patients with their daily activities in a health care institution or private household setting. Geriatric nursing assistants monitor the patients' conditions, maintain an organized record of medical charts, administer medications, and update the attending physician for any health concerns. They also guide the patients with their doctor appointments, process medical documents, and coordinate with medical staff for medical procedures and payments. A geriatric nursing assistant must have excellent communication and organizational skills to ensure high-quality care services for the patients and help them improve their lifestyle.

A career as a geriatric nursing assistant brings a lower average salary when compared to the average annual salary of a medical internship. In fact, geriatric nursing assistants salary is $16,248 lower than the salary of medical interns per year.While the salary may differ for these jobs, they share a few skills needed to perform their duties. Based on resume data, both medical interns and geriatric nursing assistants have skills such as "patients," "vital signs," and "cpr. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real medical internship resumes. While medical internship responsibilities can utilize skills like "patient care," "surgical procedures," "surgery," and "ekg," geriatric nursing assistants use skills like "rehabilitation," "home health," "medical equipment," and "quality care."

Geriatric nursing assistants earn similar levels of education than medical interns in general. They're 1.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Medical internship vs. Clinical assistant

A clinical assistant is responsible for assisting medical professionals with medical procedures and ensure a high level of patient care. Clinical assistants perform minor clinic procedures such as taking patients' temperature, sterilizing medical equipment, proper dumping of disposable items, responding to patients' inquiries and concerns, processing payments, arranging appointment schedules, and maintaining an organized record of patients' information, such as their medical history and health insurance records. A clinical assistant must strictly adhere to sanitary and hygienic procedures at all times to promote a safe and clean environment for the patients.

On average, clinical assistants earn lower salaries than medical interns, with a $20,628 difference per year.medical interns and clinical assistants both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "patients," "patient care," and "vital signs," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, medical interns are more likely to have skills like "surgery," "internal medicine," "powerpoint," and "medical terminology." But a clinical assistant is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "pet," "data entry," and "phone calls."

When it comes to education, clinical assistants tend to earn similar degree levels compared to medical interns. In fact, they're 0.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 4.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Medical internship vs. Registered medical assistant

The primary job of registered medical assistants is to perform clinical and administrative tasks in a healthcare setting. They offer support services to physicians, so the latter have plenty of time to care for patients. They carry out varied administrative, clerical, and clinical tasks that include taking vital signs, filing records, and scheduling patient appointments. Other responsibilities include discussing treatment procedures to patients, interacting with patients, and collecting laboratory specimens such as tissue and blood. Ideal characteristics to become a registered medical assistant include being compassionate, can work well with people, and adaptable.

Registered medical assistants tend to earn a lower pay than medical interns by an average of $14,263 per year.While their salaries may vary, medical interns and registered medical assistants both use similar skills to perform their duties. Resumes from both professions include skills like "patients," "vital signs," and "surgical procedures. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap between medical interns and registered medical assistants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a medical internship might have more use for skills like "patient care," "surgery," "powerpoint," and "medical terminology." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of registered medical assistants require skills like "office procedures," "customer service," "phone calls," and "rma. "

Registered medical assistants reach similar levels of education compared to medical interns, in general. The difference is that they're 4.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 6.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of medical internship

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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