A medical transcriptionist listens to dictated recordings made by physicians and other health care professionals and transcribes the recordings, creating medical reports that eventually become part of patients' permanent files. In the Medical Transcriptionist Online Training Program, you'll gain the ability to transcribe medical reports and learn the skills you need to obtain an entry-level position as a medical transcriptionist.

Included in the Medical Transcription program are 10 inpatient case studies, 10 inpatient reports that are used as extra assignments, 25 outpatient reports, and 10 outpatient reports that are used as extra assignments. Each of these reports has been taken from hospital medical records. The reports include history and physical examinations, radiology reports, operative procedures, pathology reports, consultations, discharge summaries, a death summary, an autopsy report, and correspondence.

Reports are digitally recorded so that you can get the experience of transcribing them. Different regional accents and background noises, which duplicate real-life situations, are used in the recorded dictation, and the speed of the dialogue picks up as you go forward through the program. Transcription times will vary, depending on the length of the case study and your keyboarding skills, command of the English language, and knowledge of human anatomy and medical terminology.

You'll be able to check your work immediately, which gives you multiple opportunities to practice transcribing before you submit full reports for the instructor to grade.

To become a medical transcriptionist, it's important that you possess excellent editing and proofreading skills. You should have a basic understanding of a word-processing program and be proficient at keyboarding, creating documents, e-mailing, and printing. See the Prerequisites page for this course for more information.

To take this program, you should have a working knowledge of medical terminology. If you don't have this, please click here for information on the Medical Transcription + Medical Terminology program.

Upon registering, you're given an initial six months to complete the program. Should you need more time, you may request a six-month extension at no additional charge.

Upon successful completion of this program, you'll be able to:

• Describe the importance of the confidential nature of medical reports
• Transcribe medical reports using correct report format and correct capitalization, punctuation, abbreviations, symbols, and metric measurements
• Correctly spell the English and medical terms in addition to the abbreviations, either by memory or by using a dictionary or reference book
• Identify the knowledge, skills, abilities, and responsibilities required of medical transcriptionists

1. Introduction
2. Pre-transcription Phase
   1. Introduction
   2. Understanding Medical Records
   3. Language Basics
   4. Medical Transcription Basics
3. Transcription Phase 1
   1. Reproductive System
   2. Musculoskeletal System
   3. Cardiovascular System
   4. Integumentary System
   5. Urinary System
   6. Nervous System
   7. Digestive System
   8. Endocrine System
   9. Lymphatic System
   10. Respiratory System
4. Transcription Phase 2
   1. Report Type: Correspondence
   2. Operative Report
   3. Pathology Consult
   4. Discharge Summary
   5. Operative Report
   6. Radiology Report
   7. Oncology Consult
   8. Discharge Summary
   9. Death Summary
   10. Autopsy Report
5. Transcription Phase 3
   1. Gynecology Operative Report
   2. Pathology Report
   3. Cytology Report
   4. Oncology Consult
   5. Infectious Disease SOAP Note
   6. Pulmonology Procedure Note
   7. Oncology Consult
   8. Correspondence Report
   9. Infectious Disease Consult
   10. Pediatrics—Emergency Center Report
   11. Internal Medicine History and Physical
   12. Psychiatry Consult
   13. Radiology-Echocardiogram Report
   14. Colonoscopy Procedure Note
   15. Radiology—CT Scan of Abdomen
   16. Infectious Disease HPIP Note
   17. Radiology-Mammogram and CT Scan of the Abdomen
   18. Oncology Consult
   19. Correspondence Report
   20. Pulmonology—Sleep Study
   21. Psychiatry Consult
   22. Radiology—MRI
   23. Pediatrics—Emergency Center Report
   24. Hematology Consult
6. Transcription Phase 4
   1. Hematology Consult
   2. Oncology Consult
   3. History and Physical Exam
   4. Oncology Consult
   5. Radiology Report—Echocardiogram
   6. Infectious Disease Consult
   7. Oncology Consult
   8. Correspondence Report
   9. Orthopedic Consult
   10. Physical Therapy Consult
7. Post-transcription Phase
   1. Final Exam

To take this program, you'll need the following prerequisite skills:

• A working knowledge of medical terminology. If you haven't had medical terminology training, please click here for the Medical Transcription + Medical Terminology program.
• The ability to create documents using Microsoft Word (any version). All reports submitted to the instructor for grading must be created using Microsoft Word (MS Works, Corel Word Perfect, or other word processing programs are NOT compatible).
• Proficiency in keyboarding. Accuracy is most important at first, but some jobs pay based on production, so speed will become a factor.
• E-mail capabilities.
• Internet-browsing capabilities. You may need to use the Internet to look up information on medical terms, drugs, procedures, etc., when you can’t find them in your reference books.
• Knowledge of English grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. When changing the spoken word to the written word, all these aspects of language become even more vital.
• The ability to discern what is being said, and more importantly, what is meant, even if the person dictating has accented speech.
• The ability to comply with the student-led, self-motivated aspects of this program.

This program is for you if you possess the skills listed above and you're interested in gaining the education necessary to enter the medical transcription field.

This program is compatible with the Windows XP and later operating systems and IE 7 and later browsers.  You should have Microsoft Word installed. However, the ancillary CDs that accompany the primary textbook are not yet Windows Vista or Windows 7 or Mac compatible. We strongly recommended that students use PCs for this program.  This program is not Mac compatible.

ed2go provides each student with digital transcription equipment, which includes a headset, a foot pedal, and digital transcription software (available via free Internet download). The system requirements for the transcription equipment are:

• Microsoft Word (any version)
• Sound card or integrated sound support
• 32 MB RAM
• 25 MB hard-disk space (additional space required to store voice fields)
• Double-speed CD-ROM drive
• Available USB Port
• Internet access—a high-speed connection is recommended
• Active e-mail account
• Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Acrobat Reader (available via free Internet download)

edg2o also provides the required textbooks for this program. The following textbooks are included:

• Hillcrest Beginning Medical Transcription (with audio)
• Medical Abbreviations
• The Dictated Word
• Grammar and Punctuation Guide
• Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 28th ed

ed2go recommends, but does not require, that students purchase the following reference book for their own professional use. This book is not required for the program but will be a helpful reference for any professional in this field.

The Book of Style for Medical Transcription, 3rd edition (AHDI)

Lisa Israel, MBA, CMT, entered the medical transcription field in 1997 at the behest of her sister, a fellow transcriptionist, and found it to be the perfect use of her skills, loved the flexibility, and was encouraged by the multitude of opportunities. She's thrilled to be using her experience and education to help guide and mentor new transcriptionists! She's worked with small and large transcription companies, small and large facilities, and has experience with all work types. Lisa has mentored and supervised transcriptionists, and she enjoys teaching online transcription and health care administration courses.

Lisa earned her BA degree in speech communication from California State University, East Bay, and her MBA in e-business from University of Phoenix. She earned her Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) certification from the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity.

Carrie Stein, CMT, has been a medical transcriptionist since 1977 and was certified through the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (formerly AAMT) in 1981.

Carrie originally went to college to become an RHIA (it was called RRA back then) but the only job opening when she graduated was in medical transcription. She continued to transcribe because she loved it! Her first job was at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. It was a great learning experience because it is a worldwide referral center. She is currently employed by Nuance and has been a facilitator for ed2go for the past 9 years.

Carrie has been active at the local and state levels of AHDI. She served as a Texas delegate to the AHDI House of Delegates in 2000-2001 and is the former President of the Alamo Chapter of AHDI in San Antonio, Texas.