Damar Medical Administration Apprenticeships
Damar has pioneered the development of a specialist apprenticeship for medical administrators within the NHS and other healthcare organisations, which includes the intermediate award in medical terminology.
Using the Level 3 Business Administrator Standard we have created a medical admin training course by embedding the specialist knowledge, skills and behaviours required of administrators, secretaries and receptionists working in healthcare. The final exam of the medical terminology qualification can now be undertaken remotely, making this apprenticeship accessible to organisations in any region of England.
Roles undertaken by Damar’s medical admin apprentices include:
- Ward clerk
- Administrator
- Medical secretary
- Medical receptionist
- PA
Apprentices undertaking this apprenticeship gain a highly transferable set of knowledge, skills and behaviours that can be applied across the healthcare sector. In addition to learning how to develop, implement, maintain and improve administrative services in their organisation, they will develop key skills and behaviours to support their own progression towards management responsibilities.
For the medical training course, apprentices learn the basics of medical terminology including areas such as prescription abbreviations, anatomical names and cancer terminology. The apprenticeship will provide them with a basic knowledge of the structure of National Health Service and an understanding of health and safety, employment legislation and the principles of data protection.
Apprentices must deliver their responsibilities efficiently and with integrity – showing a positive attitude. As part of the apprenticeship they will develop and demonstrate strong communication skills and adopt a proactive approach to developing skills. The apprentice is also expected to show initiative, managing priorities and own time, problem-solving skills, decision-making and the potential for people management responsibilities.
Interested in recruiting an apprentice
or using apprenticeships to upskill existing staff?
The Damar Difference
Our Medical Administration Apprenticeships have many unique features which maximise the benefits of apprenticeship training for healthcare organisations:
- We have extensive experience in working with healthcare organisations, including the NHS
- We are able to match each apprentice with the most relevant coaches and subject specialists to help them achieve their full potential
- We offer an account managed service, with employers able to view and track the progress of all of their apprentices
- We provide the opportunity for apprentices to engage with each other, through the use of group workshops and discussion forums
Medical Administration Training Delivery Model
The business admin apprenticeship takes around 15 months to complete. Medical admin apprentices may then require additional time at the end after gateway/EPA to complete the required medical terminology modules. Apprentices will have a coach who will help students and their employer to design their programme and keep the apprentice on track with their learning goals.
The delivery will be a blend of:
- Online content supporting the development of relevant knowledge, behaviours and skills
- 1:1 and group coaching sessions with expert input, to underpin the e-learning content
- Review visits with their Damar coach
Over the course of the apprenticeship, students will build an electronic portfolio of evidence that showcases their knowledge, skills and behaviours. If students do not already have maths and English at level 2 or above they will also study these as part of the apprenticeship.
The specialist content includes:
- Medical Terminology: This will teach apprentices the meanings of medical terminology relating to medical specialities and the various pharmaceutical abbreviations:
- Medical Administration: This will teach apprentices to understand the roles and responsibilities of the Medical Administrator:
- Managing Communication in a Medical Environment: This focuses on administering meetings, understanding oral communication and in turn summarising and presenting data to be used in a medical environment.
People of all ages and educational backgrounds can undertake Medical Administration Apprenticeships, but there are some restrictions, the most important of which are:
- The employer and the training provider must ascertain that the apprenticeship will allow the individual to gain substantive new skills. The training therefore needs to be materially different from any prior qualification or previous apprenticeship;
- The apprentice must be employed, usually for 30+ hours a week, and work more than 50% of their time in England;
- The period of teaching and learning must be at least 12 months and, during this time, apprentices are expected to spend at least six hours per week (on average) on “off the job” training.
Employers that pay the Apprenticeship Levy are able to pay all of the training costs from their Apprenticeship Levy account.
Employers that do not pay the levy, as well as large employers who have spent their levy budget, pay just 5% of the overall cost, with the government paying the balance. For employers with fewer than 50 employees the 5% contribution is waived for apprentices aged 16-18.
There is never any cost to the apprentice, although apprentices’ salaries may reflect the investment being made by the employer.
Medical Administrator Apprentices can go onto higher level qualifications such as an apprenticeship in team leading and management or a part-time management degree.
Mediterm Training have supported Damar for a number of years, most recently offering the intermediate award in Medical Terminology training as part of the Business Administration Apprenticeship.
Mediterm also offer the following courses:
- 4 hour Introduction to Medical Terminology course delivered via Zoom
- Level 2 award in Medical Terminology, delivered over 12 weeks online
- Level 3 award in Medical Terminology, delivered over 20 weeks online
For further information on these commercial courses, please visit www.meditermtraining.com.
“We’ve worked closely with Damar to develop our youth academy and a robust programme which delivers
business admin and medical terminology qualifications, with a
streamlined onboarding process.”
Julie Wilson
Apprentice Co-ordinator,
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
The Benefits of Medical Administration Apprenticeships
Healthcare organisations can gain many benefits from using this apprenticeship standard to recruit new staff or upskill existing employees:
- Improve customer service and patient care
- Increase staff loyalty and retention
- Increase capacity of medical staff by reducing their admin duties
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