Introverts are often overlooked in the healthcare industry, but they have a lot to offer.
If you’re an introvert, you may be surprised to learn that there are many healthcare careers for you! If you’ve been thinking about pursuing a career in the healthcare field but haven’t found one that suits your personality, here are some options for you.
- Medical Transcriptionist
As a medical transcriptionist, you work from home and transcribe audio recordings from doctors and other medical professionals into written reports. This can be done remotely (at home) or on-site at hospitals or clinics. The job requires excellent attention to detail and listening skills—and it also requires a lot of independent time working alone. In addition to listening carefully during the recording process, you’ll need to spend time reviewing patient files and researching medical terminology before writing up your report.
- Medical Secretary/Administrative Assistant
Another option is becoming a medical secretary or administrative assistant. These positions allow you to work in an office environment with others around so it won’t be as isolating as working at home would be with transcription work. You’ll usually work directly with patients on scheduling appointments, answering phones during clinic hours, helping doctors get through paperwork related to their patients’ care.
Healthcare Careers For Introverts
- Medical transcriptionist
National average salary: $28,918 per year
Primary duties: Medical transcriptionists are responsible for listening to voice recordings of medical findings and treatment plans from healthcare providers and writing them as text-based records. After listening to the provider’s dictation, the medical transcriptionist types a written translation and returns it to the provider. This allows physicians and other providers to be more efficient and treat more patients. This position requires an understanding of medical terminology and strict adherence to confidentiality.
Read more: Learn About Being a Medical Scribe
- Billing specialist
National average salary: $30,609 per year
Primary duties: A medical billing specialist is responsible for liaising between a hospital and medical insurance companies or the government to ensure that patients or their insurances pay the patient’s bills. This position requires skills with numbers and billing software, as well as timeliness and attention to detail. Some positions may not require education beyond a high school diploma, while others may require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
Read more: Learn About Being a Billing Specialist
- Health information technician
National average salary: $45,080 per year
Primary duties: A health information technician is a healthcare professional responsible for checking the accuracy and accessibility of patient medical records. They’re responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of health information while also organizing and storing this data. This job may require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, as well as certification.
Read more: Learn About Being a Medical Records Clerk
- Coding specialist
National average salary: $47,468 per year
Primary duties: A medical coding specialist is responsible for correctly representing healthcare activities as codes for billing and insurance purposes. This means they must have a good understanding of medical procedures and terminology. This position requires certification or an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.
Sometimes, the same person does both medical billing and coding, combining the duties of a coding specialist with those of a medical billing specialist. In that case, the position would be a billing and coding specialist.
Read more: Learn About Being a Medical Coder
- Lab technician
National average salary: $49,976 per year
Primary duties: A lab technician performs laboratory tests ordered by healthcare providers. This job involves processing samples, such as blood or swabs, and accurately performing any requested tests, such as drug screenings, blood cell counts and bacterial cultures, before reporting the results to the provider. This job may require an associate’s degree or certification.
Read more: Learn About Being a Lab Technician
- Medical equipment repairer
National average salary: $53,138 per year
Primary duties: A medical equipment repairer is responsible for identifying the cause of hospital or laboratory equipment problems and correcting those problems. The medical equipment repairer may work with specific brands or types of equipment. Alternatively, they may work with a variety of equipment throughout the hospital. They may also perform ongoing equipment maintenance. Depending on the type of equipment involved, this job may not require specific education, degrees or certification.
- X-ray technician
National average salary: $56,698 per year
Primary duties: Also called radiologic technicians, X-ray technicians are responsible for collecting X-ray images by positioning patients and choosing the appropriate settings on the X-ray machine. They also inspect and clean the X-ray equipment and ensure that the hospital performs any needed repairs. During their work, they ensure patient and staff radiation safety by having staff stand an appropriate distance from the machinery and by providing patients and staff with protective coverings. This job requires an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree.
Read more: Learn About Being an X-ray Technician
- Cytotechnologist
National average salary: $69,361 per year
Primary duties: Cytotechnologists work in a laboratory and analyze cells microscopically. They look for abnormalities that can help a pathologist potentially diagnose patients with diseases like infections or cancers. This position requires a bachelor’s degree and may also require certification.
- Surgical technician
National average salary: $69,956 per year
Primary duties: Surgical technicians, or surgical technologists, are responsible for preparing the operating room before a patient undergoes surgery. They clean and prepare medical instruments and ensure that everything is operating correctly. They may also directly assist the surgeon during surgery by helping them put on sterile gloves and handing them instruments. This job requires an understanding of medical equipment and tolerance for observing surgical procedures. Surgical technicians must also have certificates or associate’s degrees, with different educational qualification requirements depending on the employer.
Read more: Learn About Being a Surgical Technician
- Prosthetist
National average salary: $75,004 per year
Primary duties: A prosthetist makes prostheses and ensures their fit and function. The patients of a prosthetist include people who are missing all or part of a limb and people who have other functional limitations of their limbs. This position requires a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree and certification.
- MRI technologist
National average salary: $79,709 per year
Primary duties: An MRI technologist is responsible for running a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and ensuring the correct settings and patient positioning. This process can help medical staff achieve the best possible images for diagnosis. This position requires an associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree and certification.
Read more: Learn About Being an MRI Technician
- Nuclear medicine technologist
National average salary: $89,998 per year
Primary duties: Nuclear medicine technologists work with patients undergoing imaging studies, such as computed tomography (CT) or MRI. These healthcare professionals may administer drugs to their patients and ensure that the patients remain comfortable and clinically stable throughout their imaging experience. They also ensure that the images are of good quality so the patient’s physician can interpret them. This position requires attention to radiation safety, and it usually requires an associate’s or bachelor’s degree and certification.
- Biostatistician
National average salary: $142,640 per year
Primary duties: Biostatisticians are responsible for evaluating the data that researchers collect during medical studies or trials for statistical significance. They may help design research and make predictions, such as how effective a drug may be, with their predictions supported by the data collected from that research. This position requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, but a master’s or doctorate degree is often necessary for you to be hired as a biostatistician.
