How Long Does It Take?
It takes most students about one year to complete the program, although some take a little longer. Our self-paced course includes 3,412 minutes of dictation time and 1,048 reports including specialties. Students are required to transcribe 2122 minutes of dictated material; however, we have over 1500 additional optional minutes of dictated material available for our students who want even more transcription experience before they are ready to go to work. Remember that transcription time is not the same as dictation time. It often takes 4 times the dictation time to transcribe a report. Others can do it in 3 times. A highly effective and experienced medical transcriptionist may be able to transcribe one hour of dictated material in two hours.
Our students also receive valuable training in the use and benefits of medical transcription macros or expander programs. These programs can almost double the amount of work a medical transcriptionist is able to do.
Our "no-nonsense" medical transcription program produces medical transcriptionists who are able to get started quickly in a rewarding career as a medical transcriptionist. We believe that simply "putting in time" does not make one a medical transcriptionist. Medical transcriptionists must be able to do something with all of that terminology and anatomy. Just knowing a lot of medical terms is not enough!
Medical transcription service owners and supervisors often describe our program as being so comprehensive that our graduates compare favorably with some of the more experienced medical transcriptionists. Please realize that when you finish our program you won't actually be as good as the seasoned medical transcriptionists who have been doing quality work for many years. Those transcriptionists often encourage our new graduates, helping them develop their knowledge and skills. Employers who have tested our students tell us they rank many of our new graduates at the salary level set for those with experience.
Successful medical transcription training results from a combination of knowledge, skills, and effective transcription experience, along with careful assessment and evaluation by professional and caring instructors. Throughout training, instructors must identify areas where students have achieved marketable skills and other areas which require more attention.
We strongly recommend that our students wait until they are finished with the program before applying to work in the medical transcription field. Serious problems can arise when those who are not yet prepared attempt to work as medical transcriptionists. Wait until you are ready.
We would like to welcome you to the interesting and challenging world of medical transcription. Call or send me an E-mail message when you want to get started or if you have some questions we have not yet answered for you.