What Can You Do With a Medical Transcriptionist Certification?
There are many medical procedures that need to be recorded for patient histories and medical record keeping. Medical terminologists are responsible for taking the spoken notes made by doctors and surgeons and then transcribing them to be archived. This field is expanding and provides a unique career opportunity for anyone interested.
What is a Medical Transcriptionist?
A medical transcriptionist is responsible for transcribing the medical information. Some of the information medical transcriptionists work with include:
One of the great thing about working in medical transcriptionist jobs is that you can do it at home. While you can get a job in an office or hospital, there are many opportunities to work at home.
Why Should I Become a Medical Transcriptionist?
- Rewarding salary ranges: A medical transcriptionist salary ranges between $25,000 to $34,000 per year, and those with greater experience can hit the $45,000/year mark.
- Work from home: Do you want the ultimate flexibility in your job while holding down another job or raising your children? This is one of the few jobs with a high enough income to help you to achieve your goals.
- Quick time in school: don’t flounder in school for years working on a degree – get just the training you need in months from one of our partner schools in our School Finder.
- Rapid growth career: jobs are in extremely high demand and growing every year. Branch out into more advanced positions with greater experience.
How Do I Become a Medical transcriptionist?
Becoming a medical transcriptionist takes some training, but it doesn’t have to take a long time. By following a few simple steps, you’ll be on your away to becoming a medical transcriptionist before you know it.
- The most straightforward way to become a medical transcriptionist is to take a course. Medical transcriptionist classes will teach you how to process medical records, use computer programs to handle medical information, and use the specialized words and terminology you’ll need during your job. Simply put, taking medical transcriptionist courses are the best, most direct way to entering this career field. While there are many well-respected programs available, the only accredited course on medical terminology comes from the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT).
- Learn medical terminology on your own. You can do this by reading books or checking internet resources. The reason this is a good idea is that if you already know medical terminology, you may be able to get a job in a hospital or medical office where you can receive training on the job itself. This can be a good way to enter the field without having to take courses or go through a special program.
- Find a job part-time in a medical or dental office that already has a medical transcriptionist employed. It could be possible to receive on-the-job training from the medical transcriptionist if they are willing to tutor you.
- Once you’ve learned the necessary skills, another way to get a job as a medical transcriptionist is to go around to local medical offices, dental offices, and hospitals and hand out your resume. You can offer to add to the services they already have employed such as last-minute transcriptions or even surplus work.
Additionally, by taking medical transcriptionist courses, you can often make connections and network yourself into a job.
What Kinds of Classes and Training Should I Receive?
To become a certified medical transcriptionist, you should enroll in a program accredited by the AAMT. During your certification course, you can expect to take classes in the following areas:
- Medical terminology
- Legal terminology
- Medical transcription
You should research local medical transcriptionist schools to know exactly what you will take during your transcription program. The actual course load you have will depend on how quickly you want to become certified. If you take a six month certification program, you can expect to take more courses at the same time than if you were to take a one year course. It is recommended that you take as many courses as possible during your program. For example, if you don’t need to work full-time during your training, you should consider taking courses full-time. If you need to work, you can take courses part-time.
Once you’ve completed your coursework, you will need to pass an exam to become a registered medical transcriptionist. Usually, your classes will help you prepare for this exam.
After passing your exam, you’ll need to work for two years as a transcriptionist and deal with a wide variety of formats, types of reports, and more. Once you have two years of experience, you can take an exam by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity in order to become a certified medical transcriptionist.
While the process of becoming certified can take some time, it’s a good idea because it leads to better pay and more job opportunities. Working as a medical transcription is a rewarding, enjoyable career. Look up medical transcriptionist training programs in your area to learn more about how you can start becoming a medical transcriptionist.
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