Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants

Moderate Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (1)

Lower estimated automation risk

Medical Assistants
30% automation risk | Low Risk
Higher growth
26.9 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Clinic procedures, scheduling, terminology, patient intake, and records support are strong overlaps.

Alternative careers

Related career paths that build on similar skills and experience

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
59% automation risk | Moderate Risk
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Why it fits

Document preparation, scheduling, correspondence, and office systems transfer to broader administration.

Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan
52% automation risk | Moderate Risk
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Why it fits

Patient intake, structured questions, records checks, and information accuracy support interviewing work.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
3.2/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

57% (Moderate Risk)

Moderate Risk (41-60%): This occupation may be meaningfully affected by automation. Some parts of the role may be suitable for AI, software, or robotics, while others still rely on human skill, judgement, trust, or real-world context. People in this range may benefit from building skills that complement automation and reduce replacement risk.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Working directly with the public

Very important
Why this matters
The job involves face-to-face interaction with customers, clients, or guests—answering questions, handling requests, and managing service situations in real time. Roles with frequent public interaction are harder to replace end-to-end because they rely on trust, communication, and adapting to unpredictable human needs.
Jobs that also use this strength

Assisting and caring for others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide hands-on help, emotional support, or personal care to people—work that depends on empathy, trust, and responding to individual needs in the moment.
Jobs that also use this strength

Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
Jobs that also use this strength

Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
Jobs that also use this strength

Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
Jobs that also use this strength

What users think

Based on 56 votes

78% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted that it's probable this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 57% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

Very low paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants was $44,640 ($21 per hour).

The median annual wage for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants was 9.8% lower than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Fast growth relative to other professions

The number of 'Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants' job openings is expected to rise 4.2% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Significantly greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 830,760 people employed as 'Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants' within the United States.

This represents around 0.5% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 185 people are employed as 'Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants'.

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What people are saying (2)

jan (No chance)
28 Mar 2025 12:28
Try getting a robot to calm an anxious patient down
Mari
31 Jul 2023 23:44
There are some parts which can be automated like scheduling appointments, but depending on the medical center or doctor's office things will be different. I am honestly 50 50 on this one.
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Job description

Perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Duties may include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence.

O*NET-SOC code: 43-6013.00