MedStar Georgetown University Hospital

The receptionist is often the first person a company’s customers and clients meet or speak to. As well as being the face of a business receptionists are often responsible for a range of administrative tasks.

What does a Receptionist do?
Welcome visitors to a company, answer phone calls which come through to the office, manage meeting room bookings, maintain relationships with suppliers and order supplies for the smooth running of the office in conjunction with the Office Manager.
How did your career progress and what training or requirements do you need?
 Training and belief in customer service skills, ability to work autonomously, and a solid work ethic are imperative. Personality attributes such as being polite and quick to act are also a major asset.
Describe a typical day...
A typical day at reception starts with getting the client facing side of the operation up and running. Next comes opening and delivery of mail, meeting room overview and allocation, switchboard operation, minor office management and admin duties such as fault reporting, filing/uploading data and ordering of supplies. Most of the day involves warmly welcoming client and candidates, seeing to their needs, taking them through paperwork and providing refreshments. As a receptionist, you are the go-to person for everyone in the office from the director to the cleaner, and facilitate all sorts of things that all have a big impact on the seamless running of the business!
What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to get into the field?
My piece of advice is to treat the role of receptionist as a profession. A great receptionist is an asset to a company, and we are often promoted to team administrators, secretarial and sometimes HR, and eventually to office managers. Create and manage your own networks and demonstrate the values of the company and you will be taken seriously and looked after.

The Hospital and the Billing Offices are at two different locations and the atmospheres are two different worlds. The billing offices are all about quotas. The quality of your work does not matter only the quantity. I can't count how many employees have left the billing offices to either join the hospital staff or find a new career all together. Management does not take the time to properly train you but you are still expected to perform accurately. They don't take into consideration that some processes take longer than others to complete; all they want to see is that their numbers were completed. They want you to make up any time that you take off from work even if you have accumulated the leave hours. I was marked as unscheduled leave when metro closed due to the snowy weather and so many hours of unscheduled leave gets you a write up. Metro was my only way to work so I should not have been punished for that. They all around abuse their power. Apply to the hospital in DC not the billing offices in Arlington VA.

For the many years that I worked there, I loved the family environment that the staff(Nurses and technologists) exhibited towards each other.  They cared about and helped each other whenever possible.

The department performs every possible procedure that any Interventional Radiology Department could provide.

The days are long and seam unending.  Sometimes the work flow moves so fast that you are barely able to complete your behind the scenes work between patients and when you don't finish or make mistakes with hurrying up, you are penalized or punished.

During the past three years, over half of the staff in the Interventional Radiology department has left, new hires and most of them don't stay long either due to bad management.

I do not recommend working for this department until the current management is replaced with a management group that considers employee safety and work environment.

Leadership seems strongly driven to improve patient experience and the hospital as a whole. They do, however, tend to tell people how to do the jobs they hired these folks to do. If your suggestion as the accountable/responsible associate does not fit their expectation, they will tell you how to do it, regardless of your initial plans or recommendations. Their motivations are pure, but execution tends to be dismal. 

Truly a patient first environment, but also pretty competitive. I have had multiple leaders who don't allow their direct reports to shine and thrive, instead they take the credit and micro-manage that person to be in the know about exactly what they are doing. 

Parking is also offsite in Roslyn for many associates (certainly all new associates) must park in a garage, walk to the shuttle bus stop, ride the bus to campus, and then either ride a golf cart or walk up a 1/4 mile hill to the hospital campus.

Overall rewarding work, but there's some frustration when your own leadership becomes an obstacle to success.

Overall, I like working a MGUH. My job in Central Scheduling wasn't difficult or too stressful (some days are busier then others).  I enjoyed working with everyone.  Honestly the only thing I can complain about is the lack of opportunities to grow and the fact that they don't give raises.  You have to work extremely hard for the quarterly bonus and they make it difficult to earn that as well.  Also you don't have a say in how your PTO is used.  They don't offer vacation or sick leave.  So if you have a family emergency, are sick or can't make it in then they deduct that from your PTO.  You can't even take off work in advance if you don't have the PTO saved in your bank which I feel is unfair.  They make it so its impossible to take off work, even when you are a good employee and come to work everyday.  Also they only offer 30 min lunch but expect you to sit at your desk for the rest of the day.  Its a good job to have if you just want to come to work everyday and be comfortable and have low expectations for career growth.

Times have definitely changed and will continue to do so. I suggest lookin for a position which is supported by the union or working for MGUH. But even they don't do that much to help when management does messed up things. They have great benefits.. They pay decent but most of the management is 👎🏾👎🏾 as they are in most healthcare facilities. Float pool is the easiest way to get into nursing but take note they don't get all of the same benefits as other people who are in the same positions that work on units. Float pool has no lockers or break room so keep your stuff in your car if you dont want it stolen, rummaged through or relocated by housekeeping. Oh and they'll fire you without giving you letting you exhaust all resources that you have the rights to, write up some fake termination letter and send it to another address... Float pool does some sneaky stuff. Also avoid 4 East that manager will make you want to quit!

My typical day at work is caring for special individuals battling breast cancer or just general breast health. I worked side by side assisting the United States most talented renowned breast surgeons. The hardest part of the job I would have to say is learning the difficulty of some patient's history and battle with breast cancer. At the same time being extremely compassionate and also strong enough to help those women/men going through their diagnosis and treatment. My department went through a lot of transitioning with employees but overall  I didn't let that affect my diligence in providing support and care to patients and providers. The most enjoyable part of my job was learning. There was never a day I didn't learn from my surgeons and providers but most of my patients. I am very grateful for my experience at Georgetown.

Management at this company is not good. They never follow up on issues many employees speak out about. Do not work at Central Scheduling Department. They give you multiple departments but do not compensate you for the departments they add onto your work. They will say that everyone has to have the same amount of departments but they don’t. They pick and choose who they can add more departments to instead of giving people one or two departments and hiring more workers. The less workers and more departments they give people the more money they safe. It’s better to go to another company where they will compensate you based on the amount of departments you handle than to be used and have a base pay regardless of the amount of departments you have.

As a current OB Tech working at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, I have come to grow and love some of the most wonderful people I work with. The entire staff is very caring and put the patients and their families first and foremost in every decision that they make. 

We work as a team and every effort is made to make sure that the patient's safety and the safety of her newborn child is accomplished. 

As an OB Tech, I work side by side with the nurses and doctors. I help obtain vital signs and help in assisting with other needs when asked. 

The most enjoyable part of the job is being able to have that one on one connection with the patient and her family. I can start off by helping in the delivery of her baby and then continuing with her care when transported to the Mother/Baby Unit. You get to the parents and the families and a bond is created. I may play a small part, but when you get a hug and they say thank you, it makes my small part seem huge.

Worked for 17 years there and enjoyed every bit of it. I loved my job and the people I worked with. My supervisor was the GREATEST!! I really appreciated him for everything he did for me. I worked with numerous patients of all aspects of the healthcare world. The hardest part about my job is that I wanted to go to Nursing School, but I worked so much that it didn't leave me any time for that, so I moved to Texas, where it was a better opportunity for me to complete my goals. If I had studied Nursing before hand I would have stayed at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital. All of the staff I worked with really made a difference in patients and their family members lives. I miss working there! But who knows once I finish Nursing School, I may take a Travel Assignment just to visit and see everyone  again.

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