How To Become A Medical Supervisor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical supervisor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

A medical supervisor, sometimes called a clinical supervisor, is in charge of managing the day-to-day activities at a clinic, doctor's office, or hospital. They wear many hats in order to fulfill all the responsibilities required to run a medical facility.

A medical supervisor is an administrator that takes care of all the organizational tasks, such as managing patient records and ensuring compliance with government privacy regulations. They also supervise other workers, such as medical assistants, and ensure that there are enough staff scheduled for each shift. In case of a medical emergency, they help doctors and nurses take care of patients.

The paths to becoming a medical supervisor are just as varied as their tasks. Some medical supervisors have bachelors or even masters degrees. However, many have only an associate's degree or a high school diploma.

Medical supervisors usually need some experience working in the medical field, such as a nurse or emergency medical technician. They earn an average salary of $64,086 a year.

What general advice would you give to a Medical Supervisor?

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

Medical Assistant Program Director, Website

To maximize salary for a medical assistant obtaining certification from one of the credentialing organizations such as American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) can make a new hire more competitive. Continuing educations along with developing any specialized skills such as phlebotomy. Demonstrating professionalism initiative and reliability, along with gaining a strong reference from previous employers.

ScoreMedical SupervisorUS Average

Salary

4.0

Avg. Salary $51,487

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.9

Growth Rate 16%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.82%

Asian 8.85%

Black or African American 11.26%

Hispanic or Latino 19.99%

Unknown 4.73%

White 54.35%

Gender

female 60.04%

male 39.96%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress Level

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.4

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.6

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical supervisor

Explore medical supervisor education requirements

Most common medical supervisor degrees

Bachelor's

39.3 %

Associate

28.0 %

High School Diploma

9.3 %

Start to develop specific medical supervisor skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	25.23%
Patient Care	11.29%
Medical Procedures	7.50%
CPT	5.76%
Medical Terminology	4.91%

Complete relevant medical supervisor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical supervisors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical supervisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical supervisor resumes.

Gain additional medical supervisor certifications

Medical supervisor certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific medical supervisor certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for medical supervisors include Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and Medical Assistant.

More About Certifications

Research medical supervisor duties and responsibilities

Manage GEMBA projects and maintain supply for general lab, microbiology and molecular departments.
Maintain department charge masters to include annual CPT updates.
Set office up for/scan in all patient documents for EMR.
Review charts and assign CPT and ICD-9-CM codes and claim rejections.

Prepare your medical supervisor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical supervisor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical supervisor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Medical Supervisor Resume templates

Build a professional Medical Supervisor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Medical Supervisor resume.

Apply for medical supervisor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a medical supervisor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do medical supervisors rate their job?

-/5

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Medical Supervisor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

Being able to incorporate my ideas and make positive changes

Cons

Everyone’s slack falls on me and I have to do the job of 4+ people and my own work gets neglected