Medical Transcriptionist SchoolsWhy medical transcriptionist schools? Medical transcription has become a popular career choice for many people in the last couple of years. According to the US Department of Labor, almost 40% of the medical transcriptionists are associated with or working in hospitals; 30% of them are working at the office of physicians; while the remaining 30% are associated with different types of business support services or are self-employed. Other places where you can work as a medical transcriptionist includes different types of health care centers like medical center, nursing homes, diagnostic laboratories, clinics, outpatient care centers, health care agencies, and even medical libraries. There are several key areas that all medical transcriptionists have to work within. The most important area of work is listening to dictated medical recordings and creating a transcript from the dictation. These dictations are normally made by health care professionals, doctors, medical researchers, physicians and even medical professors. After listening to the dictated medical recordings, you will have to use the content for preparing medical correspondence, medical reports, and various administrative materials. This is where practical and theoretical knowledge gained at medical transcriptionist schools will come in handy. In order to understand the dictation and to accurately transcribe you need to know and understand basic as well as advanced medical terminologies. You need to also have knowledge of diagnostic procedures, physiology and anatomy, treatment assessments, and pharmacology. An important aspect of medical transcription is translation of medical jargon as well as related abbreviations to their expanded forms. There are several courses offered by medical transcriptionist schools across the US that are geared to help you identify medical jargons, medical terms and help increase your awareness and knowledge of the medical profession. As a medical transcriptionist, you will be required to comply with specific and high standards, which are applicable to the existing style of medical documentation and records. You will also be bound by various legal as well as ethical requirements ensuring the confidentiality of patient information. There are several medical transcriptionist schools in the US to choose from. Some of the schools require physical attendance while others offer online as well as accelerated courses. One of the important things to consider while looking for medical transcriptionist schools in your state is that of accreditation. If you opt for online courses in medical transcription then ensure that the college or school you have chosen is accredited by Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Some of the top and accredited online medical transcriptionist schools include Allied schools, Ashworth College, US Career Institute, Kaplan University (offers a campus course as well), and Rasmussen College (offers a campus course as well). If you are gearing up for campus study then the top colleges include Mountain State College, Antonelli College, Brown Mackie College, Empire College, and National College. Medical transcriptionists are well paid and the median hourly earnings vary from $12.17 and $20.15. The median hourly earnings for medical transcriptionists are the highest in medical and diagnostic laboratories as they pay approximately $15.68 followed by general medical and surgical hospitals paying $14.62 and business support services paying $14.34. |