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What does it take to be a Medical Transcriptionist?
Medical transcription is not for everyone. Medical transcription can be a very rewarding career; however you do need to have an interest in the medical field to succeed as an MT. The MTs that are successful are usually very organized and very self-sufficient. They do not require someone looking over their shoulder telling them when to get the work done or how to do it. Successful MTs need to have the ability to do research on medical terms, drug names, and any other medical related information pertaining to the dictation that they are transcribing. A lot of this research can be done through the use of the Internet and other types of research can be done through having the correct reference books at hand. Medical transcription can be a very interesting and rewarding career for those that have an interest in the medical field. Anyone considering becoming a medical transcriptionist should do their research to make sure that this is the right career option for them. You want to know as much as you can about the Medical Transcription Career. How does a Medical Transcriptionist get paid?
When you’re getting paid by the character line is important that you are able to type at a minimum of 65 wpm or better. However, your typing speed is not as important as your accuracy percentage. Your typing speed is what is going to help determine your average pay per hour; yet if you have a low accuracy percentage you will have a hard time keeping a job as an MT. There are programs out there to help increase your typing speed. You can use a medical text expander that will help you get more work done in less time. The way medical expanders work is that you can create abbreviation shortcuts that will expand out complete medical phrases, terms, and even report templates. These programs can range anywhere between a hundred dollars to several hundred dollars or more. There is one program that we do recommend called Speed Type that is reasonably priced and works very well for MTs. You can also create macros, templates, and styles in Microsoft Word that will help increase your performance as a medical transcriptionist. A well-trained medical transcriptionist can make up to $50,000 or more a year. This
will depend on your medical transcription knowledge, how fast you type, your experience, and your
medical transcription credentials. Overtime you can increase your credentials by taking exams
through AHDI. Most new MTs will not start out at the high the pay rate per year. However, you can
make a nice living working at home as a medical transcriptionist even during your first year. It is
the same thing if you went to college and got a degree specializing in a certain career field; you
would not expect for your first job to be at the highest pay range. That would come with time and
experience. The same thing holds true for new MTS. It will take a little time to reach the higher
pay rate scale. The average hourly pay is between $12 and $17 an hour for new MTS. This will depend
on your typing speed, knowledge, and how much the doctor is paying you per character line. New MTs
that are averaging on the higher pay scale are usually using tools to help them produce more work
in less time such as medical text expanders. What is a medical transcriptionist expected to know?
In our medical transcription training courses we require that each student have the AHDI books and a medical dictionary. These are very important items that every successful medical transcriptionist should have loaded in their computer or have on their desk. It is important to know the medical transcription is like any other medical career field, successful MTs need to keep up with any changes in the medical field that pertain to their career. Physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals are always increasing their knowledge of any new prescription medications, medical conditions, HIPAA laws or other important information that pertains to their career. The same is true for the medical transcriptionist; it is important that you keep up with any medical information for your career in which you are required to know. What are the different types of Medical Transcription Credentials?
RMT- A person that has taken a medical transcription course with proper training receives a certificate of completion and has taken the RMT (registered medical transcription) exam through AHDI and passed. Once they pass the RMT exam they can put the RMT after their name. For example: Katie Robertson, RMT CMT - An MT or RMT that has worked in the medical transcription career field for at least two years and then has taken the CMT exam through AHDI and passed. Once they pass the CMT exam they can put the credentials of CMT after their name. For example: Katie Robinson, CMT Many MTs will take their career further by becoming RMT or CMT. We recommend to our students that they work as an MT for at least 3 to 6 months before taking the RMT exam to gain more hands-on experience. To become a CMT you will need to have taken a medical transcription course as described above and have worked as an MT or an RMT for at least two years to meet the AHDI requirements for taking the CMT exam. Increasing your credentials in the medical transcription career field is much like
a nurse going from an LVN to an RN. Increasing your credentials not only shows that you are serious
about your career is also shows your potential employers that you are up to date on the knowledge
that medical transcriptionist should have. What is the first step in becoming a medical transcriptionist?
We do recommend doing research on the different medical transcription schools available to you. It is important to research different schools and information on the career field when making such an important decision for your future. Even though we are rated one of the best medical transcription schools online, there are several reputable schools that train in medical transcription. Just be cautious when doing your research because there are also scams out there. You want to make sure that the school you choose has been around for a while and is registered as an Accredited Business with the BBB. You also want to make sure that they offer you support throughout your medical transcription training, and offer proper training with job assistance support once you complete your medical transcription class. The medical transcription school should follow the AHDI standards for medical transcription. This is very important! AHDI formally known as the American Association for medical transcription (AAMT) are the health documentation experts and all doctors will expect MTs to know AHDI’s standards. These standards are in the AHDI Book of Style that we mentioned above. One of the most important factors in choosing a medical transcription school is to make sure they offer training with Authentic Dr. Dictations in the different medical fields. Some schools have been known to have dictations that are read from a script and not a real doctor. The reason why it is important to have Authentic Dr. Dictations is because doctors are known to speak fast, mumble and even eat food while they are dictating the patient report. Some of them may even have accents that are little hard to understand. Training with authentic dictation will give you the hands on experience of learning how to understand what the doctor is saying so you can properly transcribe the reports. If you are listening to a dictation that is read from a script you will not get the hands-on experience of all the different types of situations you can run into when working as a medical transcriptionist. To see the MTatHome medical transcription course syllabus of what you will learn when taking your medical transcription training through us click here.If you have any questions about the medical transcription career field or our medical transcription training course please fill free to contact us. You can contact us by phone, live support from our website, e-mail, or you can fill out an information request form online. One of our student advisors will be happy to answer any of your questions. Our school office is open from 9 AM to 9 PM Central standard Time.
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