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Medical Office Computer Specialist

A program that prepares individuals to apply computer programming, troubleshooting, and information technology skills to the installation, maintenance, and upgrade of standard, customized, or proprietary medical software and associated hardware. Includes instruction in computer programming, systems analysis, networking, telecommunications, medical records and informatics software applications, information technology, systems administration, computer security, and applicable regulations and certifications or licenses.

Types of Degrees Medical Office Computer Specialist Majors Are Earning

Students pursuing Medical Office Computer Specialist may pursue degrees at several award levels.

Award Level	Graduates
Certificate	100
Associate’s Degree	5
Master’s Degree	12

What Medical Office Computer Specialist Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Medical Office Computer Specialist develop a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Medical Office Computer Specialist graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

Coursework in Medical Office Computer Specialist emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Computers and Electronics — Importance 4.9 / 5; level 6.1 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 4.0 / 7.
• Engineering and Technology — Importance 3.5 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Administration and Management — Importance 3.4 / 5; level 3.3 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

Skills developed in a Medical Office Computer Specialist program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Active Listening — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Programming — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 3.8 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.
• Complex Problem Solving — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.6 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 3.6 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to Medical Office Computer Specialist careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Written Comprehension — Importance 4 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4 / 7.
• Near Vision — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 3.8 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.7 / 7.
• Information Ordering — Importance 3.7 / 5; level 3.9 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Medical Office Computer Specialist graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Working with Computers	4.9 / 7
Getting Information	4.5 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.4 / 7
Processing Information	4.4 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.2 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.2 / 7
Analyzing Data or Information	4.1 / 7
Thinking Creatively	4.0 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.0 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	3.9 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Medical Office Computer Specialist professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Hewlett Packard HP-UX	Operating system software	—
Tax software	Accounting software	—
Apache Hadoop	Data base management system software	—
Amazon Web Services AWS software	Data base user interface and query software	—
Apache Tomcat	Web platform development software	—
UNIX Shell	Operating system software	—
Oracle Java	Object or component oriented development software	✓
Adobe Dreamweaver	Web page creation and editing software	—
Swift	Object or component oriented development software	—
Objective C	Object or component oriented development software	—
Apache Kafka	Development environment software	—
Eclipse IDE	Development environment software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Medical Office Computer Specialist graduates include:

• Application Programmer Analyst
• Database Programmer
• White Hat Hacker
• Internet Programmer
• Website Programmer
• Game Programmer
• Automation Programmer
• Computer Language Coder
• Java Developer
• Cloud Engineer
• Statistical Programmer
• Java Programmer
• Systems Programmer
• Software Programmer
• Beta Tester

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Medical Office Computer Specialist graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Bachelor’s degree	72.1%
Postsecondary certificate	12.7%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	10.9%
Some college courses	2.3%
First professional degree	1.6%
Master’s degree	0.4%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.1%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

Who Is Earning a Degree in Medical Office Computer Specialist?

Gender Distribution

This field skews predominantly female, with women earning 92.3% of Medical Office Computer Specialist degrees.

Gender	Graduates	Share
Women	108	92.3%
Men	9	7.7%

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the national level, the racial-ethnic distribution of Medical Office Computer Specialist graduates is as follows:

Race / Ethnicity	Graduates	Share
White	9	7.7%
Asian	3	2.6%
Hispanic or Latino	101	86.3%
Black or African American	1	0.9%
Two or More Races	1	0.9%
International Students	2	1.7%

^{See minority definition below.}

How Much Do Medical Office Computer Specialist Graduates Earn?

Federal data tracks median earnings of Medical Office Computer Specialist graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Wages typically rise steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$36,041
4 years	$36,054
5 years	$40,847

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $40,847 — roughly 13% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Medical Office Computer Specialist Programs

Distance learning is tracked by IPEDS for Medical Office Computer Specialist. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Associate’s	1	0
Bachelor’s	1	0

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Medical Office Computer Specialist Worth It?

Looking purely at the federal earnings tracker, Medical Office Computer Specialist graduates earn a median of $36,054 four years after completion — about 5% below the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000). On earnings alone, this program does not show an income premium over the baseline; non-financial outcomes (career interests, certification requirements, advancement potential) are typically the stronger argument for fields in this range.

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Health and Medical Administrative Services	90,166
Health/Health Care Administration/Management	28,347
Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller	11,963
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	11,828
Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder	10,171
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant and Medical Secretary	7,771
Hospital and Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,494
Health and Medical Administrative Services, Other	3,168
Medical Office Management/Administration	2,900
Health Information/Medical Records Administration/Administrator	2,781
Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,195
Medical Reception/Receptionist	844

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.