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Referral specialist education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
2 min read
Usually, referral specialists don't need a college education. The most common degree for referral specialists is bachelor's degree with 44% graduates, with only 22% referral specialist graduates earning associate degree. Referral specialists who decided to graduate from college often finish University of Phoenix or University of Central Florida. Some good skills to have in this position include patients, customer service and medical terminology.

Popular referral specialist certifications include Medical Assistant, Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA), or Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS). To improve referral specialist qualification and skills, we prepared some online courses to help in referral specialist education paths.

What education do you need to become a referral specialist?

What degree do you need to be a referral specialist?

The most common degree for referral specialists is bachelor's degree, with 44% of referral specialists earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 22% and associate degree degree at 12%.
  • Bachelor's, 44%
  • Associate, 22%
  • High School Diploma, 12%
  • Master's, 8%
  • Other Degrees, 14%

What should I major in to become a referral specialist?

You should major in business to become a referral specialist. 18% of referral specialists major in business. Other common majors for a referral specialist include psychology and health care administration.

Best majors for referral specialists

20 best online courses for referral specialists

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1. Health After Cancer: Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care

coursera

This course presents basic principles of cancer survivorship to primary-care physicians. Developed by a team of experts in caring for cancer survivors, and narrated by a primary-care physician, this course provides practical tips and tools that can be easily integrated into medical practice. You will learn about the complex physical and psychosocial needs and concerns of the growing number of cancer survivors, along with the key role that primary care physicians have in guiding these patients...

2. Health for All Through Primary Health Care

coursera

This course explores why primary health care is central for achieving Health for All. It provides examples of how primary health care has been instrumental in approaching this goal in selected populations and how the principles of primary health care can guide future policies and actions. Two of the most inspiring, least understood, and most often derided terms in global health discourse are “Health for All” and “Primary Health Care.” In this course, we will explore these terms in the context...

3. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer

udemy
4.7
(18,204)

Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...

4. Providing Trauma-Informed Care

udemy
4.7
(1,276)

Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...

5. Operations and Patient Safety for Healthcare IT Staff

coursera

Now that you've been introduced to the world of Health IT and the important role played by electronic health records (EHRs), we'll focus on other technologies that play a role in maintaining ongoing operations in healthcare. Telemedicine, patient portals, barcode scanners, printers, and medical devices are just some of the technologies that impact providers and patients. As an IT support specialist, you’ll be asked to troubleshoot issues with a wide variety of tools. You'll see a scenario with...

6. Palliative Care Always Capstone Course

coursera

The Palliative Care Always Capstone course is designed to let you test your knowledge about palliative and help others understand the value of palliative care, while showing your creative side. In this course, you will impact community awareness about palliative care, promote self-care and wellness, show-off your communication skills in a virtual environment, and finish the course off by proving your thoughts on ways to offer psychosocial support to a patient and family...

7. Data Science for Healthcare Claims Data

udemy
4.4
(489)

Learn and practice how to transform raw healthcare claims data into valuable knowledge and actionable insights!...

8. Crisis Intervention Seminar

udemy
4.4
(634)

The emphasis is on the development of fundamental clinical skills in the area of crisis intervention...

9. Emergency Care: Pregnancy, Infants, and Children

coursera

Welcome to the final course of lectures in your quest to master EMT basics. In this course, we will cover some of the highest-stress patient populations: pregnant patients and kids, also known as pediatrics. To wrap up your EMT knowledge we will end this course with information about hazmat situations, extricating patients from tight spots and finally how you write a note about your patient care. You will learn to ensure it communicates what your assessment of the patient was, what...

10. Trauma Emergencies and Care

coursera

Welcome to Trauma Emergencies and Care. In this course, you will learn about some of the mechanics and physics of trauma on the human body, and how this can cause injury. You will continue to expand your new vocabulary with medical terminology, and learn how to describe the different injuries you may see. You will also learn about the trauma system itself- and when it is important to transport patients to a trauma center. Then we will dive into specific injuries based on what part of the body...

11. Outstanding Customer Service - The Ultimate Guide!

udemy
4.5
(292)

Unlocking the Powerful Secrets of OUTSTANDING Customer Service - Transform Your Business!...

12. ICD 10 & 11 Medical Coding and Billing

udemy
4.4
(767)

Preparation for Medical Coding Certification Exam...

13. Prehospital care of acute stroke and patient selection for endovascular treatment using the RACE scale

coursera

Acute stroke is a time-dependent medical emergency. In acute ischemic stroke, the first objective is to restore brain flow using sistemic thrombolytic treatment and, in patients with large vessel occlusion, by endovascular treatment. In hemorrhagic stroke there are also specific treatments that can improve the clinical outcome. The sooner the initiation of all these therapies the higher the clinical benefit. Thus, the organization of Stroke Code systems coordinated between emergency medical...

14. Traditional herbal medicine in supportive cancer care: From alternative to integrative

coursera

Please join us for an exciting and innovative journey, examining one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of the oncology setting: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Supportive Cancer Care. This course is presented with short lectures offering a wide range of issues related to the principles and practice of herbal medicine in cancer care. The course includes interviews with leading world experts from the field of Integrative Oncology, from the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe, the...

15. Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist

udemy
4.4
(811)

Health Information Technology HIT...

16. Customer Service & Support For Customer Service Executives

udemy
4.5
(941)

Learn Customer Service Skills & Provide Excellent Customer Support, Customer Experience & How To Manage Upset Customers...

17. Value-Based Care: Managing Processes to Improve Outcomes

coursera

COURSE 3 of 7. This course is designed to introduce you to critical office-based processes that a value-based practice must manage in the drive towards improved patient outcomes. In Module 2, we’ll focus on office-based and clinical patient-based supporting functions. At every level in healthcare, guidelines, processes, and functions exist to improve outcomes, and following a consistent process will return the best effect. Refine your understanding of value and learn strategies to provide real...

18. Addiction Treatment: Clinical Skills for Healthcare Providers

coursera

This course is designed with a singular goal: to improve the care you provide to your patients with substance use disorders. By delving into a model case performed by actors, seven Yale instructors from various fields provide techniques to screen your patients for substance use disorder risk, diagnose patients to gauge the severity of their use, directly manage treatment plans, refer out to treatment services, and navigate the various conditions that may limit your patient’s access to treatment...

19. Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation

coursera

Kidney transplantation is a major advance of modern medicine which provides high-quality of life for patients with end-stage renal disease. What used to be an experimental, risky, and very limited treatment option more than 50 years ago is now routinely performed in many countries worldwide. The number of renal transplants is expected to rise sharply in the next decade since the proportion of patients with end stage renal disease is increasing. Are you interested in clinical kidney, pancreas...

20. Medical Emergencies: Airway, Breathing, and Circulation

coursera

In this course, you will develop the knowledge and skills to assess and stabilize certain types of patients for transport. By the end of this course, you will be able to: 1) assess a basic medical patient 2) describe general pharmacologic principles and the skills associated with medication administration, 3) explain airway physiology, the assessment of the airway and available interventions for airway management, 4) identify, assess and formulate a plan to stabilize a patient with a...

Average referral specialist salary by education level

Referral specialists with a Bachelor's degree earn more than those without, at $38,294 annually. With a Associate degree, referral specialists earn a median annual income of $37,071 compared to $36,189 for referral specialists with an High School Diploma degree.
Referral specialist education levelReferral specialist salary
High School Diploma or Less$36,189
Bachelor's Degree$38,294
Some College/ Associate Degree$37,071

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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