Become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist
Transcribing is a part of human history. From as early as the cave-dwelling days, humans have resorted to recording information in physical space. Transcription is soon becoming a preferred occupation especially for those who cannot work in an office environment or find it difficult to commute or work outside their home environment. Transcription can be done at any place and the work can be scheduled at a time of your preference based on your daily responsibilities. While a certification in transcription is not a necessity in most spheres, when it comes to transcription of medical records a certified medical transcriptionist is highly recommended.
What it means to be a medical transcriptionist
Medical transcriptionists are primarily responsible for transcribing reports and other documents from the dictated recording of healthcare professionals or administrative heads in a hospital or medical institution. Using a headset and foot pedal, a transcriptionist must listen to voice recordings of physicians and other healthcare professionals, and translate these into written form. Such work must be edited as per the requirement and checked for grammatical or errors in spellings. Transcriptionists are required to understand medical terms, their meanings and pronunciation in addition to skills in computer applications and English language composition and grammar and courses for certification are specifically made to train you in these areas. This is why certified medical transcriptionist is preferred.
How to get certified
Medical transcription programs are usually 6 months or 2 year certification courses.
The two main medical transcription certification awarded by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) are the Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) designation and the Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) designation.
The RMT certification is the more basic of the two and is intended for fresh graduates and for those with less than two years of work experience.
The designation Certified Medical Transcriptionist is meant for those with over two years of experience in medical transcription or possess an RMT certification. It can be earned only upon passing the national exam conducted by AHDI and such certified transcriptionists are required to recertify themselves every 3 years.
