Online Medical Transcription Degrees
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Medical transcription is an exciting career for individuals who want to make their mark in the medical field without becoming a doctor or nurse. Individuals get to work in a very hands-on, fast-paced atmosphere that will leave them feeling accomplished at the end of each work day. Medical transcriptionists work one-on-one with medical professionals and transcribe an necessary recordings into very important medical records. These medical records play a crucial role in the treatment of patients; therefore the job of an excellent medical transcriptionists is vital.
The documents handled by medical transcriptionists include vital information about the patient including examination reports, discharge information, autopsy reports, and overall medical history. This information is pertinent to the patient, doctors, and health insurance companies.
Students studying to be a medical transcriptionists will learn how to listen to these recordings on a headset and then physically type the documents up. They must have great spelling, grammar, and hearing skills in order to master this process.
It is vital that the medical transcriptionist have vast knowledge of medical terminology, medical abbreviations, diagnostic procedure, and anatomy. This will be a main focus of their studies for this program. Due to current advancements in technology, some medical transcriptionists now work using the Internet and digital or analog dictating programs that allow them to get a transcriptions done very quickly and have them prepared for patients and doctors in a timely manner.
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Featured Accredited Schools Offering Online Medical Transcription Degrees
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Learn more about Kaplan University - Healthcare Programs
Career Specializations
There are no available concentrations within the field of medical transcription. Training for transcriptionists is broad enough to prepare them for work with the gamut of common medical conditions.
Degree Levels Available for Medical Transcription
Associate Degree in Medical Transcription - This is a two year program that will fully prepare individuals for their future career in medical transcription.
Certification in Medical Transcription - This is a one year program that puts emphasis upon medical anatomy, terminology, legal issues, and English and grammar skills.
(United States Department of Labor.)
Education and Certification Requirements
In order to be employed by a hospital, doctor's office, or clinic as a medical transcriptionist, individuals must complete either a certification program or associate degree program in medical transcription. The information that students will learn during these programs is pertinent to their success as a medical transcriptionist.
The certification program will offer a more brief overview of the important information, while the associate program will go more in depth with everything. Overall, students will be learning medical terminology, medical anatomy, medical legal issues, and an emphasis will be put upon proper English grammar and punctuation.
There are two types of certification awarded by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity. Transcriptionists with less than two years' experience may qualify for the Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) designation, and those with greater than two years' experience can become Certified Medical Transcriptionists (CMTs). In both cases, candidates must pass an exam administered by the AHDI.
Certification is voluntary and does not necessarily correlate with higher pay. It does, however, provide a significant edge when competing with other qualified applicants.
Sometimes, individuals who have been working in the medical industry in a different position can be certified through the hospital by taking specific refresher courses. Additionally, since technology is always changing and advancing, medical transcriptionists need to keep up with these changes and learn how to adapt to an evolving industry. Refresher courses can also be given to these individuals who have been on the job, but just need to learn new technological information.
(United States Department of Labor.)
Salary Information
Overall, whether the individual has earned a certification or associate in medical transcription, the salary will be in the same bracket. Just like any career, the salary that a person receives for their work highly depends upon their location, experience, education, and the company that they are working for. In the case of the medical transcriptionist, this depends on which hospital, clinic, of medical office that they are working in.
The average yearly salary for a medical transcriptionist according to the United States Department of Labor is between $22,000 and $46,000.
Job Outlook
According to the United States Department of Labor, the employment rate of medical transcriptionists is growing at about an average pace. The job outlook should be good for people who are certified in this field and have the education necessary for the position they are seeking.
The job outlook is expected to grow an additional 11% throughout the decade of 2008-2018, which provides a promising future for individuals who are now graduating with a degree in this field or just about to start the program.
The dynamics resulting in average growth for this field involve the aging population, which is culminating in a hugely understaffed healthcare industry as the Boomer generation begins to require more care, tempered by improving technology which automates some aspects of the transcription process. Even still, professionals are needed to correct errors, edit documents, and resolve any issues that have occurred in speech recognition devices.
(United States Department of Labor.)
Related Careers
Medical Assistants - Medical assistants are in charge of performing both clinical as well as administrative tasks under the supervision of physicians, doctors, nurses, etc. The actual day to day tasks of these individuals vary from different places of employment and depends on the size of the office or hospital. They have the option of specializing in different areas such as administrative, clinical, and ophthalmic.
Court Reporters - Court reporters are in charge of transcribing everything that happens in a courtroom and turning it into legal documents. These written documents are a vital part of many legal proceedings, therefore their job is very important. They do this reporting through different methods that include electronic reporting, stenographic reporting, or voice writing.
Administrative Assistants - These individuals are in charge of handling paperwork for a variety of applications, directing phone calls, greeting visitors and clients, and sometimes performing secretarial duties such as note-taking and transcription at meetings. This position requires a high degree of familiarity with a particular office or company and an outstanding ability to multitask.
