How To Become A Surgical Coordinator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a surgical coordinator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Surgical coordinators work with surgeons in a hospital or their practice and take care of the administrative work involved with running a practice. They act as a liaison between the surgeon, patients, and insurance companies so that the surgeon can focus on performing life-saving surgeries. Surgical coordinators take care of organizational tasks like scheduling patients for appointments, keeping their records, and billing a patient or their insurance. They also communicate with patients about their appointments in-person, over the phone, or via email.

Surgical coordinators need to be highly organized in order to manage the vast amounts of paperwork that come with running a surgery. However, compassion and excellent communication skills are just as important. Surgical coordinators are often the face of the practice for patients since surgeons are so busy. They answer any questions that the patient may have and comfort them as they face scary surgical procedures.

Although some surgical coordinators have bachelor's degrees, many are successful with only a high school diploma or associate's degree. The skills needed to succeed, such as data entry and medical records, can be learned on the job or at previous clerical jobs. Surgical coordinators earn an average annual salary of $36,671.

ScoreSurgical CoordinatorUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,765

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.98%

Black or African American 10.68%

Hispanic or Latino 9.41%

Unknown 4.29%

White 66.20%

Gender

female 90.76%

male 9.24%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.1

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

7.8

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a surgical coordinator

Explore surgical coordinator education requirements

Most common surgical coordinator degrees

Bachelor's

37.3 %

Associate

26.4 %

High School Diploma

14.8 %

Start to develop specific surgical coordinator skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	34.78%
Surgical Procedures	12.18%
Patient Care	5.55%
Medical Terminology	4.89%
Patient Demographics	3.16%

Complete relevant surgical coordinator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New surgical coordinators 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 surgical coordinator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real surgical coordinator resumes.

Gain additional surgical coordinator certifications

Surgical coordinator 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 surgical coordinator certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for surgical coordinators include Certified Medical Office Manager (CMOM) and Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (NHA).

More About Certifications

Research surgical coordinator duties and responsibilities

Manage patient pre-op responsibilities, and generate all necessary paperwork.
Input medical procedures and diagnosis using ICD-9 and CPT medical codes to generate claims for insurance and patient billing.
Recommend optimization of patient flow for office visits and HIPAA policy enhancements.
Coordinate meetings, schedule surgeries/procedures, verify insurance coverage, ensure HIPAA compliance.

Prepare your surgical coordinator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your surgical coordinator 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 surgical coordinator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Surgical Coordinator Resume templates

Build a professional Surgical Coordinator 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 Surgical Coordinator resume.

Apply for surgical coordinator jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a surgical coordinator 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 surgical coordinators rate their job?

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Surgical Coordinator reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019

Pros

There is never a hiring moment always busy, helping people, good team work environment. Meeting new people daily.