Medical and dental receptionists:

• greet and assist patients
• make appointments for patients
• record patients' information
• organise and use a filing system for patient records
• maintain accounts and patient records
• scan documents and patient records
• may collect and bank money
• may prepare equipment for use
• may prepare patients for treatment.

Medical and dental receptionists need to be caring, understanding, and sensitive to the needs of people of all ages, cultures and lifestyles. They need to have a mature outlook and they need to be accurate and observant. It is also important that they understand and respect client confidentiality.

There are no specific physical requirements for medical or dental receptionists. Some medical receptionists may have to assist patients with physical disabilities, which may involve some lifting.

Medical and dental receptionists learn many skills on the job, including how to handle cash and use computers, fax machines and other office equipment.

Clerical or medical work, or experience working with people is useful for medical and dental receptionists.

Equipment medical and dental receptionists use includes office equipment such as computers, telephones, fax machines, scanners and filing systems.

Medical and dental receptionists work regular hours, and are sometimes required to work late nights and weekends.

Medical and dental receptionists have contact with a wide range of people including patients and their families, doctors, nurses and other health professionals.

Salaries vary, but medical and dental receptionists usually earn between $12 and $20 per hour.

Computers are now used in many health sector receptions, and large organisations often have sophisticated computer systems that deal with booking patients, patient records and test results. This has greatly increased the need for computer skills in this occupation, especially in hospitals and large clinics. Customer service skills are also increasingly important for medical and dental receptionists. Many health providers see customer service skills as a key competency in this occupation, especially as there is now more choice available for users of health services.

Health services tend to be provided over longer hours than in the past. This has required some medical and dental receptionists to work longer hours or to work outside of usual office hours.

Medical and dental receptionists now work in a more diverse and comprehensive health sector. They need a greater knowledge of the range of health providers and services available, and are expected to have a basic knowledge of the medical area they work in.

Turnover among medical and dental receptionists is moderate, although it is also quite common for receptionists to move between organisations or departments.

(Written 16/05/2001 - Updated 13/01/2004)

Career Services refers to a variety of written articles and reports, and talks to relevant groups, such as government agencies, industry organisations, professional bodies, industry training organisations, training providers and employers, when researching and writing this information.

Everything seems very strange when you first start working as a dental receptionist. There are many medical and dental terms that you haven't heard before and all of the materials, products and treatments have their own special names.

My first dental job was working as a dental receptionist/assistant. It was a combination of reception and assistant work so I spent two days on reception and three days as an assistant in the surgery with the dentist. I think that was a really great way to start because I was able to learn how to run a reception area and at the same time learned about all of the procedures in the surgery. I've found this background useful for running a dental reception area without disturbing the dentists every five minutes. I have learned what questions to ask patients so when people call up wanting to see a dentist I can work out how urgently they need an appointment.

In my present job I start each day by confirming the patients' appointments for the next day. It is quite important to have a good phone manner when doing this because some people find it annoying, but it is necessary. There is always a lot of filing of patients' information, writing letters and handling payments. I am also responsible for writing and updating the day list, which is a list of the patients that the dentists will see each day. I call patients who have had treatment or not arrived for appointments, order dental materials and make sure patients' dentures or crowns are going to arrive in time for their appointment.

You have got to be prepared to help out with almost anything that could come up, from doing the dishes to helping a dentist with a patient in the surgery. We also have to be friendly and willing to help people, and having a good sense of humour really helps because people always respond well to that, especially if they're nervous.

Getting a laugh out of a patient or putting them at ease about their procedures is a great feeling. We do get a lot of questions when the patients first come in, and sometimes they don't always know what they are in for or what is involved, and we have to let them know.

I have had a lot of experience in customer service roles and I have also tutored a few customer service courses. That was the most important factor in me getting this job, because the hospital I work for now was looking for someone who had proven customer service ability. When I was employed, I was told that I would have to up my skills; I did have a lot to learn especially in terms of the medical procedures run in this clinic. This is a radiology clinic, which means the patients we deal with are all coming in for x-rays or other scans and I have to know what is required for each procedure. At the same time I have to work out where to send the results once they have been done. Sometimes it is not clear where a patient's doctor wants the information sent.

I enjoy working with people. You have to be prepared to go the extra mile for people in this work, because this can be a negative place for people to be - they are here because they are unwell or injured. Being able to communicate and liaise with a wide age group is also vital because you have to talk to adults, children, teenagers and elderly people - sometimes all at once. We also do immigration x-rays, which often involves finding out a lot of information from people with limited English language skills.

At the most basic level we have to do a number of things right in this job. The patients should be dealt with courteously and appropriately; their information should be dealt with in the right way; and their results sent to the right place. Customer focus is now an important part of our work and it helps if you enjoy this aspect of reception work.

Everything seems very strange when you first start working as a dental receptionist. There are many medical and dental terms that you haven't heard before and all of the materials, products and treatments have their own special names.

My first dental job was working as a dental receptionist/assistant. It was a combination of reception and assistant work so I spent two days on reception and three days as an assistant in the surgery with the dentist. I think that was a really great way to start because I was able to learn how to run a reception area and at the same time learned about all of the procedures in the surgery. I've found this background useful for running a dental reception area without disturbing the dentists every five minutes. I have learned what questions to ask patients so when people call up wanting to see a dentist I can work out how urgently they need an appointment.

In my present job I start each day by confirming the patients' appointments for the next day. It is quite important to have a good phone manner when doing this because some people find it annoying, but it is necessary. There is always a lot of filing of patients' information, writing letters and handling payments. I am also responsible for writing and updating the day list, which is a list of the patients that the dentists will see each day. I call patients who have had treatment or not arrived for appointments, order dental materials and make sure patients' dentures or crowns are going to arrive in time for their appointment.

You have got to be prepared to help out with almost anything that could come up, from doing the dishes to helping a dentist with a patient in the surgery. We also have to be friendly and willing to help people, and having a good sense of humour really helps because people always respond well to that, especially if they're nervous.

Getting a laugh out of a patient or putting them at ease about their procedures is a great feeling. We do get a lot of questions when the patients first come in, and sometimes they don't always know what they are in for or what is involved, and we have to let them know.

I have had a lot of experience in customer service roles and I have also tutored a few customer service courses. That was the most important factor in me getting this job, because the hospital I work for now was looking for someone who had proven customer service ability. When I was employed, I was told that I would have to up my skills; I did have a lot to learn especially in terms of the medical procedures run in this clinic. This is a radiology clinic, which means the patients we deal with are all coming in for x-rays or other scans and I have to know what is required for each procedure. At the same time I have to work out where to send the results once they have been done. Sometimes it is not clear where a patient's doctor wants the information sent.

I enjoy working with people. You have to be prepared to go the extra mile for people in this work, because this can be a negative place for people to be - they are here because they are unwell or injured. Being able to communicate and liaise with a wide age group is also vital because you have to talk to adults, children, teenagers and elderly people - sometimes all at once. We also do immigration x-rays, which often involves finding out a lot of information from people with limited English language skills.

At the most basic level we have to do a number of things right in this job. The patients should be dealt with courteously and appropriately; their information should be dealt with in the right way; and their results sent to the right place. Customer focus is now an important part of our work and it helps if you enjoy this aspect of reception work.