Mayo has such a reputation -- when I called my professor from my college in Montana and told her I got a job at Mayo Clinic, she was so proud. She couldn't wait to tell the rest of the college that one of her students is working at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Typically, I come in the morning and read my e-mail and then request the medical records of patients who have been discharged from the hospital. I pull out all of the medical treatment information for the time they were hospitalized and I read the hospital notes written by the care providers. My job is to code the surgical procedures, doctor visits and treatments with a charge price that is used by insurance companies. The majority of my day is spent on the computer entering data into the system, using our code books, which is where we get all the diagnosis codes and pricing guidelines. A student interested in this job would have to be willing to sit at a desk for most of the day, which many people can't handle.

My job is really personal -- you don't get to meet the patients, but in a way, you do because you read what they went through and what their hospital stay was like -- it's hard when you read that the patient was in critical condition and the records say that the family is taking things hard. However, in the end, when Mayo Clinic has been able to provide the family with answers and results, it is very heart-warming.

A major benefit of being a billing representative is flexibility. We can work various shifts with permission from our supervisors. If you want to come in at 5 a.m., that can be worked out. If you don't want to come in until 10 a.m., that's possible too.