Least Expensive Medical Transcription Program?

Discussion in 'Nursing and medical-related degrees' started by Mollydog, Aug 1, 2015.

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  1. Mollydog

    Mollydog New Member

    I'm interested in transitioning into a medical transcription job as I currently work as a court transcriptionist. There are a number of programs but how do I sort through them and find the best/most affordable school?
     
  2. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Try Penn Foster at Medical Transcriptionist Training Online | Penn Foster Career School.

    Keep in mind, however, that an increasing number of physician offices are using automatic dictation - the physician dictates and the text automatically goes into the patient summary, to the chart, or to a surgical report. In other words, at least in large practices, medical transcriptionists are slowly but surely becoming obsolete when compared to court transcriptionists.
     
  3. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    OK, this is something I don't really know anything about so I've got a few questions. First, is there some sort of formal certification that you need in order to actually get that kind of job or is it just the school cert of completion? Second, if you're already a professional transcriber could you get by with just taking a course(s) in medical terminology? Finally, you said "best/most affordable." Sometimes you have to choose because the best is not very affordable. So what's your choice?
     
  4. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    Are you familiar with Mechanical Turk? It's an Amazon thing (named for a famous fraud involving a supposed autonomous chess playing machine that was actually manipulated by a hidden person).

    MTurk has a lot of transcription work. The requirement? Pass a brief written examination and transcribe the assignments without gouging your own eyes out. Much of the stuff on MTurk is useless. Get a penny for clicking a button.but the transcription work pays some OK wages. I tried it one weekend out of boredom. There is a lot of insurance company work (ever file an auto claim and have the adjuster start recording your statement on the phone call? That stuff). I tested it out for my mother-in-law who needed something to bring in income after she got laid off from her medical transcription job and, through a horrendous twist of fate, couldn't collect unemployment.

    Anyway, I bring this up because different people come to medical transcription for various reasons. It may not be the most appropriate thing for someone looking for full time work (and certainly not if you need benefits and such). But it has some pretty low barriers to entry and doesn't cost anything to start.
     

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