They also record simple medical histories, arrange for patients to be hospitalized, and order supplies. Most medical secretaries need to be familiar with insurance rules, billing practices, and hospital or laboratory procedures. Other technical secretaries who assist engineers or scientists may prepare correspondence, maintain the technical library, and gather and edit materials for scientific papers. Their jobs often involve sitting for long periods. If they spend a lot of time typing, particularly at a video display terminal, they may encounter problems of eyestrain, stress, and repetitive motion, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Office work can lend itself to alternative or flexible working arrangements, such as part time work.
A few participate in job sharing arrangements in which two people divide responsibility for a single job. Top Secretaries held about 3.2 million jobs in 1998, ranking among the largest occupations in the U.S. economy. The following tabulation shows the distribution of employment by secretarial specialty. Secretaries, total 3,195,000 Legal secretaries 285,000 Medical secretaries 219,000 Secretaries, except legal and medical 2,691,000 Secretaries are employed in organizations of every type. About 6 out of 10 secretaries are employed in firms providing services, ranging from education and health to legal and business services.