Medical writer to medical records clerk
A medical writer already meets 16% of what the medical records clerk role asks for. The move turns on 25 required skills not yet in the profile.
86.1/ 100
1 How much of what a medical records clerk is expected to do is already part of a medical writer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the medical records clerk role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A medical records clerk role treats 5 of its required skills as things a medical writer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- clinical coding
- medical informatics
- medical terminology
- professional documentation in health care
- work in multidisciplinary health teams
What stands in the way is 25 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 7 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A medical records clerk role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a medical writer background worth leading with.
- already held clinical coding health and welfare
- already held medical studies health and welfare
- already held professional documentation in health care health and welfare
- already held medical informatics health and welfare
- already held pharmacology natural sciences, mathematics and statistics
- already held medical terminology health and welfare
All 7 carried skills, including the 5 the medical records clerk role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 39 missing skills fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn deliver case notes required
- still to learn archive healthcare users' records required
- still to learn collect healthcare user's general data required
- still to learn collect statistics on medical records required
- still to learn manage digital archives required
- still to learn perform clinical coding procedures required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- still to learn process data required
- still to learn type on electronic devices required
- optional, not held participate in medical records' auditing activities optional
- optional, not held review patient's medical data optional
- optional, not held transfer medical information optional
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn maintain healthcare user data confidentiality required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
- optional, not held answer patients' questions optional
- still to learn administrative tasks in a medical environment required
- still to learn health records management required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held customer service optional
- still to learn perform backups required
- still to learn use electronic health records management system required
- optional, not held manage digital documents optional
- optional, not held use databases optional
- still to learn identify patients' medical records required
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- optional, not held handle paperwork optional
- still to learn data storage required
- still to learn database required
4 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a medical records clerk role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 deliver case notes practise this
- 02 administrative tasks in a medical environment study this
- 03 archive healthcare users' records practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 7 skills that carry over
- already held clinical coding knowledge
- already held medical informatics knowledge
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held professional documentation in health care knowledge
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held medical studies knowledge
- already held pharmacology knowledge
The 4 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn display medical problems required
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held communicate in healthcare optional
- optional, not held communicate with customers optional
- optional, not held use communication techniques optional
- optional, not held work in a multicultural environment in health care optional
- still to learn health care system required
- still to learn document management required
- optional, not held send samples to laboratory optional
14 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held answer patients' questions optional
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held participate in medical records' auditing activities optional
- optional, not held review patient's medical data optional
- optional, not held transfer medical information optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held communicate in healthcare optional
- optional, not held communicate with customers optional
- optional, not held handle paperwork optional
- optional, not held manage digital documents optional
- optional, not held send samples to laboratory optional
- optional, not held use communication techniques optional
- optional, not held use databases optional
- optional, not held work in a multicultural environment in health care optional
16 held skills the medical records clerk role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role archive scientific documentation skill
- not needed by the target role biomedical science knowledge
- not needed by the target role biomedical scientists' role in health care system knowledge
- not needed by the target role clinical reports knowledge
- not needed by the target role clinical science knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct health related research skill
- not needed by the target role develop scientific research protocols skill
- not needed by the target role draft scientific or academic papers and technical documentation skill
- not needed by the target role draw up professional texts skill
- not needed by the target role evidence-based approach in general practice knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage schedule of tasks skill
- not needed by the target role multi-professional cooperation in health care knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare scientific reports skill
- not needed by the target role provide written content skill
- not needed by the target role report the results of treatment skill
- not needed by the target role write scientific publications skill
8 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn administrative tasks in a medical environment required
- still to learn data storage required
- still to learn document management required
- still to learn health records management required
- still to learn database required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- still to learn health care system required
- optional, not held customer service optional
Other moves recorded from medical writer
Common questions about this move
Can a medical writer become a medical records clerk?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A medical writer already covers 16% of what a medical records clerk is expected to do: 7 skills carry over, 5 of which the medical records clerk role treats as required.
What skills does a medical writer need to become a medical records clerk?
25 required skills are missing, plus 14 optional ones. They fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is deliver case notes.
How hard is the move from medical writer to medical records clerk?
Its learning distance is 86.1 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.