January 31st, 2010 
admin Medical Transcription is one area of medicine which plays a very important role in its own way. A popular notion is that a lot of people tend to think that anyone can work as a medical transcriptionist. However, having a professional degree in medical transcription adds more value to the profession in terms of giving a quality output as well as a greater income generation. Moreover, employers prefer hiring transcriptionists who have completed some proper MT course.
A formal degree leads to interaction with the medical fraternity that in turn directs to a better understanding of how medical records management, health care billing & coding and medical transcription – the process of converting the physician’s written and recorded notes into electronic files -Â is carried out.
There are many online courses and certifications available on medical transcription. These have a duration that range from a 6-month to 2-year certificate, diploma or associate degree programs that will teach make you adept in a range of skills. Most of these courses include subjects such as:
- Medical Terminology and Basic Medical Procedures
- Anatomy, Pathology and Physiology
- Health Care Law
- Ethics
- Business CommunicationsÂ
- Office Administration
- Word Processing
For people who are already actively involved in the field, there are two certifications for available for them to become certified in medical transcription:
- The Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) which is good for recent graduates of medical transcription programs or those who have less than 2 years experience in acute care medical transcription. They may become a RMT after passing the certification exam.
- The Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) which is earned after passing a certification examination and 2 years experience in acute care transcription including surgical transcription and the use of different report types. To keep certification current, continuing education credits must be earned every three years.
Having a MT degree will get an annual salary ranging from $33,000 and $40,000. Many MTs are paid on either hourly basis or on the volume of work they complete. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), medical transcriptionists can also go on to pursue careers like medical technicians, medical coders and other administrative workers.
The current economic scenario does not seem to have ebbed this particular industry as the BLS has predicted that medical transcription field will grow faster than the average occupation until at least 2014. Those planning to join an MT course need to thoroughly research the training companies, check their syllabus and job placement rates. Some “schools” are training centers that don’t really teach what needs to be known to land a decent medical transcription job.
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