Should I quit this unprofessional clinic?
I(26) just got hired as a medical receptionist, and I have never worked in the medical field. The interview alone gave me a bad taste, and I regret saying yes. The job was listed as an office assistant, but it was definitely described as a receptionist role. Once hired, I was scheduled for one day of training in their main clinic and would then transfer to the location closer to me. The training was essentially a shadow shift. The following day, I started at the location where I would be staying and was essentially thrown to the wolves. For preface, this clinic chain takes established patients and walk-ins, even for non-established patients. I've never handled insurance verification, patient check-in, or medical calls. So when we get new patients, I handle their intake form and need to verify their insurance. In this office, nothing is streamlined. When you check in a patient, you verify the insurance, place the copay in the chart system, write it down in the payment sheet, and then type the amount into the pos system to collect the actual payment. After a few times, I got the hang of it, but because this clinic takes walk-ins, every doctor will place two patients in a 15-minute time slot. So check-in times can accumilate real fast. The office manager is kinda rude; she is irritated by every question I ask. I often need help verifying insurance, and she frequently reminds me that I should be able to keep up with everything on my own. This non-helpful attitude has been draining over the last few days. A patient called wanting to make an appointment because he had blood in his stool and wanted to know if it was because of his medication. So I placed him on hold and asked the office manager who I should transfer the call to. She then said, "You don't need to transfer; look it up." I was dumbfounded. I've never worked in this field, and I didn't even know what to make up. So I just scheduled an appointment for the following morning. There have been multiple occurrences of this. The MAs are super catty and scoff when I do something wrong. I try to remind myself that I'm doing the best I can with what I was taught. I have cried everyday ive been here, and it is only five days in. I need the money, but I feel like it's costing my sanity. So I need to know if this is standard medical office practice, and it won't get much better, or if, with time, it does get better. Ask any questions you may need, but appreciate any advice I can get.
Posted Mar 14, 2026, 7:10 AM UTC