Medical Transcriptionist

Medical Transcriptionist Training And Career Opportunities

A medical transcriptionist is a health care documentation professional.  Medical transcriptionist training provides skills in documenting dictated medical information as typewritten medical records.  The transcriptionist uses equipment such as a computer fitted with a headset and a USB-connected foot pedal, micro-cassette recorders and telephone systems.

Medical Transcriptionist Training Programs

Medical transcriptionist training courses have two main components.  These are knowledge areas and transcription practice.

For basic courses in medical transcription programs, these are the subjects in the knowledge component.

•           Anatomy and Physiology
•           Medical Terminology (including pronunciation and etymologies)
•           Human Diseases
•           Medical Treatment Procedures
•           Laboratory Test Procedures
•           Pharmacology

Transcription practice consists of these topics.

•           Proofreading and Editing
•           Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation
•           Word Processing

Training courses usually include practice drills using dictation from physicians with regional accents, dialects and varying speech rates.  Students are taught how to operate transcription software and the USB-connected footpedal.

Medical transcriptionists document all patient medical records such as  emergency room reports, history and physical examination reports, surgery reports, consultation reports, diagnostic imaging reports, discharge summaries and other medical records.

Online Medical Transcriptionist Courses

There are several training programs on the internet for entry-level positions and reviews for practicing transcriptionists.  These programs include online resources for study references and discussion boards for students and instructors.  Students have access to instructors through phone, email and live chat. These are some examples of online medical transcription schools.

The University of California Riverside Extension offers the Online Professional Study Program. Students are taught keyboard basics, medical vocabulary and medical word building.  Human body systems and the diseases associated with them are also discussed.

Specialized vocabulary used by healthcare providers including word differentiation, abbreviations, plurals, foreign terms, slang and medical jargon are included in the course coverage.  There is transcription practice training in basic hospital reports and basic and advanced acute care dictation files.  This program con be completed in six months.

The Pierpont  Community and Technical College online medical transcription course was designed by transcriptionists, editors, trainers and service owners. The course includes exercises in grammar, typing and areas of terminology such as anatomy and physiology, abbreviations, Latin plurals, medical specialties and more.

There is an audio library containing over 700 actual medical dictations to practice on. Tuition includes the PC foot pedal and software, 15 months access to BenchmarkKB, an online knowledge base application, and a 15-month AHDI membership. The course may be completed in four to nine months.

Medical Transcription Colleges with Degree Offerings

Several medical transcription schools offer medical transcription associate degrees.  This is one such program.

Rasmussen College offers a medical transcription degree online or on campus. The program covers the use of medical language and terminology and computer transcription software.

These are some course subjects.

•           Medical Office Procedures
•           Field Trip : Hospital Transcription
•           Field Trip : Clinic Transcription
•           Field Trip : Transcription service company
•           Field Trip : Technology Demonstration and Exploration
•           Professional Communication
•           Computer Information Systems
•           Structure and Function of the Human Body
•           Medical Office Procedures
•           Medical Law and Ethics

These medical transcription subjects are combined with General Education subjects in English, Math, Humanities and the Social Sciences to fulfill requirements for an associate degree. The final quarters of the program provides practical experience in a workplace or simulated setting.

Becoming a Certified Medical Transcriptionist

Certification for medical transcriptionists is optional and not an employment requirement. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) offers a voluntary certification exam to those who wish to become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT).

A certification, whether for transcriptionist employees in companies or home medical transcription businesses can be a major professional advantage. AHDI promotes this credential to protect the public interest by encouraging high professional and ethical standards to improve the medical transcription practice. Every three years, CMTs must earn continuing education credits for re-certification.

Medical Transcription Pay Rates

Medical transcription salary figures, depend on individual employers, location and productivity. Many employers pay an hourly rate.  Most online medical transcription services pay by the line.

Recent graduates are generally paid lower than experienced medical transcriptionists. The US Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics has these salary records for 2009. Medical transcriptionists had median hourly earnings of $15.68. The mean annual salary was reported at $33,350.

New medications, new surgical procedures and new treatments make medical transcription a continuously developing field.  Flexible schedules and work-at-home opportunities and the rapid growth of the healthcare industry also increase opportunities. Becoming a medical transcriptionist is a profitable and challenging career option.

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