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Medical Transcription
Blackstone’s Medical Transcription Career Training Program teaches you how to master medical transcription practice using modern transcription equipment. You’ll gain a working knowledge of medical terminology, medical diagnoses and procedures, laboratory procedures, and more. You’ll also get online access to BenchMark KB with all the latest tools you’ll need to work efficiently as a transcriptionist—the AHDI Book of Style, Quick Look Drug Book, medical abbreviations, and more! Graduates of Blackstone’s Medical Transcription program are qualified to sit for the Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialist (RHDS) exam, administered by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI). After gaining work experience, graduates can take the AHDI’s Certified Healthcare Documentation Specialist (CHDS) exam. Certification provides further assurance of skills and knowledge to employers.
- Prerequisite: High School or General Equivalency Diploma
- Study Method: E-books with online study guides and exams
- Program Length: Completion time ranges from 4-12 months, with students given the option of up to 18 months if needed. Students must satisfy all academic and financial obligations to graduate from their program.
After completing the Child Care Provider Career Training Program, students will be able to:
- To identify common learning strategies
- To identify and describe common healthcare and medical reports
- To explain the purpose and describe the components of a healthcare record
- To demonstrate knowledge of guidelines for grammar, punctuation, editing, and transcription
- To identify and define common medical prefixes, suffixes, and roots
- To identify common diseases, diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory tests, and drugs used to treat disorders and diseases related to dermatology, cardiology, pulmonary medicine, endocrinology, orthopedics, urology, gastroenterology, obstetrics and gynecology, otorhinolaryngology, ophthalmology, neurology, psychiatry, pathology, and radiology
- To demonstrate knowledge of proper business etiquette
- To define and explain the importance of medical ethics
- To explain the difference between a healthcare record and a medical report
- To describe the process for writing effective resumes and cover-letters
- To describe how to proactively search for work as a medical transcriptionist
Why Become a Medical Transcriptionist?
Medical transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings made by physicians and other healthcare professionals using a transcribing machine and create corresponding reports on paper or as electronic files. It is also the medical transcriptionist’s responsibility to edit when necessary for grammar and clarity.
The demand for professionals trained to work in a medical transcription career is expected to increase, reflecting the rapid growth in the health care industry due to a population that is increasing in number as well as climbing in age.
Medical Transcription Career Opportunities
Working in the medical transcription career offers a variety of healthcare settings, including doctors’ offices, public and private hospitals, teaching hospitals, medical transcription businesses, clinics, laboratories, radiology and pathology departments, insurance companies, medical libraries, government medical facilities, rehabilitation centers, legal offices, research centers, veterinary medical facilities, and associations representing the healthcare industry.
The medical transcription career offers the opportunity to work with physicians and surgeons in multiple specialties. Transcriptionists work with pharmacists, therapists, technicians, nurses, dieticians, social workers, psychologists, and other medical personnel. All of these healthcare providers rely on information that is received, documented, and dispersed by the medical transcriptionist.
Some transcriptionists choose to work from home as employees of transcription businesses or hospitals. Others in the medical transcription career provide services as independent contractors.
Qualified medical transcriptionists who wish to expand their professional responsibilities may become quality assurance specialists, supervisors, managers, department heads, or owners of medical transcription businesses.
Experienced medical transcriptionists may become instructors working in schools to educate those working toward a medical transcription career.
What You Can Earn Working in a Medical Transcription Career
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, medical transcriptionists can earn up to $46,220 annually. It also lists the middle 50 percent of medical transcriptonists earning $32,900. High production employees have the potential of earning more in this field.
Our accredited online Medical Transcription Career Training Program prepares you for an entry level position as a medical transcriptionist in a medical office, clinic hospital or home. Our lessons present the fundamentals of the medical transcription profession including:
- Medical terminology
- Disease processes
- Medical pharmacology
- Finding a job in healthcare
View Curriculum Details
Unit I: Blackstone’s Skills for Success
Chapter 1
Covers learning styles; intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation; self-efficacy and self-determination; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners; and field dependence versus field independence.
Chapter 2
Covers study skills, including choosing a place to study; scheduling time; goal setting; monitoring your study sessions; and avoiding procrastination.
Chapter 3
Covers learning strategies, including SQ3R; note-taking skills; memory tricks; references; and how to take multiple choice tests.
Unit II: Introduction to Computers, Keyboarding and Office Technology
Chapter 1
Covers how computers are used in the office today, the different types of computers, and the parts of a computer system.
Chapter 2
Covers basic keyboarding skills using Blackstone’s Online Typing Tutor.
Chapter 3
Covers the Internet, the World Wide Web, URLs, the different types of Internet connections, search engines, email, and other uses for the Internet.
Chapter 4
Covers other types of office technology, including different types of telephone calls; fax machines; photocopiers; multipurpose machines; transcribers; digital cameras; and wireless communication.
Unit III: Anatomy and Medical Terminology 1: An Introduction
Chapter 1
Explains how medical terms are constructed and analyzed to determine meaning; discusses types of medical terms; explains the function of combining vowels and how terms are pluralized.
Chapter 2
Covers prefixes relating to number, size, color, negation, position and direction, as well as those with the same meaning or opposite meaning.
Chapter 3
Covers common roots and combining vowels as well as suffixes which indicate the word’s part of speech; also discusses suffixes related to pathologic conditions, diagnoses, and surgical incisions.
Chapter 4
Introduces the body cavities, body planes, and directional terms.
Unit IV: Anatomy and Medical Terminology 2
Chapter 5
Discusses the anatomy and physiology of the skeletal system, including the bones; the axial and appendicular skeletons; and the joints and ligaments; also provides a list of relevant medical terms.
Chapter 6
Covers the muscular system, including the types of muscles and their functions, and related diseases and disorders; lists relevant medical terms.
Chapter 7
Provides an overview of the integumentary system, including the skin, hair and nails; discusses diseases and disorders as well as lists relevant medical terms.
Chapter 8
Covers the respiratory system—including the nose, pharynx and lungs—as well as diseases and disorders related to this system; lists relevant medical terms.
Unit V: English Usage and Written Communication
Chapter 1
Covers the parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
Chapter 2
Covers the parts of a sentence, including the subject, predicate, direct and indirect objects, subject complements, phrases, and clauses.
Chapter 3
Covers pronoun/antecedent agreement and pronoun usage; explains how pronouns are used in sentences; covers subject/verb agreement.
Chapter 4
Covers sentence types and sentence punctuation.
Chapter 5
Covers fundamentals of written communication, including using active versus passive voice; writing unified and coherent paragraphs, and writing topic sentences for paragraphs. Discusses common types of business communication, including business letters and memorandums.
Unit VI: Time & Stress Management
Chapter 1
Discusses determining personal values through assessment activities and making decisions based on personal values.
Chapter 2
Covers creating new habits and patterns of behavior.
Chapter 3
Explores setting realistic goals and objectives to achieve desirable outcomes.
Chapter 4
Discusses prioritizing activities, projects and to-do items.
Chapter 5
Covers effective planning and scheduling.
Chapter 6
Explores how to analyze and deal with interruptions.
Chapter 7
Introduces the use of daily TimeLogs.
Chapter 8
Covers tips and tools to use in personal and work settings that assist with time management.
Chapter 9
Explores how self-esteem influences productivity.
Chapter 10
Provides tips for controlling stress at home and in the workplace.
Unit VII: Anatomy and Medical Terminology 3
Chapter 9
Covers the cardiovascular system, including the structure of the heart, function of blood vessels, and related disorders and diseases; lists relevant medical terms.
Chapter 10
Discusses the function and parts of the urinary system, including kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra; covers related diseases and disorders as well as medical terminology.
Chapter 11
Introduces the digestive system, including the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, intestines, and accessory organs; covers related diseases and disorders as well as medical terminology.
Chapter 12
Covers the peripheral and central nervous systems, their function, related diseases and disorders, and medical terminology.
Unit VIII: Anatomy and Medical Terminology 4
Chapter 13
Discusses the glands that make up the endocrine system as well as related diseases and disorders; also lists relevant medical terms.
Chapter 14
Provides an overview of the anatomy of both the eyes and the ears (the sensory system); covers related diseases and disorders as well as medical terminology.
Chapter 15
Covers the blood, lymphatic, and immune systems and their functions; discusses relevant diseases and disorders as well as medical terminology.
Chapter 16
Provides an overview of both the male and female reproductive systems; covers related diseases and disorders as well as medical terminology.
Unit IX: Introduction to Pharmacology
Chapter 1
Covers consumer safety and drug regulations; discusses drug laws, the FDA, DEA, and laws affecting healthcare workers.
Chapter 2
Covers drug names and references; discusses classifications, drug names, legal terms relating to drugs, and terms indicating drug actions, drug references, and drug cards.
Chapter 3
Covers sources and bodily effects of drugs; discusses how drugs are processed by the body; explains absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and other variables, and unexpected responses to drugs.
Chapter 4
Covers medication preparation and supplies; discusses standard drug forms and supplies.
Chapter 5
Lists and discusses abbreviations and systems of measurement.
Unit X: Critical Thinking Skills
Chapter 1
Provides an introduction to the critical thinking process, explores the importance of critical thinking skills and characteristics of critical thinkers, and describes a method to use for critical decision making.
Chapter 2
Covers schema, inference, and judgment and how these apply to critical thought.
Chapter 3
Discusses metacognition, the process of thinking about thinking, and how it builds critical thinking skills.
Chapter 4
Explains how consequences, assumptions, stereotypes, connotation and impulsive thinking affect critical thought, as well as how to identify strong conclusions to critical issues.
Chapter 5
Provides analyses of persuasive strategies that help develop arguments, including ethos, pathos and logos.
Chapter 6
Explores how to interpret and use three main critical theories—Marxist, Feminist and Deconstruction.
Chapter 7
Covers deductive reasoning, establishing premises and validity in critical thought, and interpreting and creating syllogisms.
Chapter 8
Defines emotional intelligence and explains its role in the critical thought process.
Unit XI: Fundamentals of Medical Transcription
Chapter 1
Covers the medical transcription profession; the medical report and the healthcare record; technology; references; work environments; medical readings: history and physical examination; laboratory tests and pharmacology.
Chapter 2
Covers ethics and professionalism; transcribing foreign accents; employment issues; job searching; employment enigmas and avoiding work-related injuries.
Chapter 3
Covers grammar, punctuation and style; acronyms and abbreviations; brief forms and medical slang; eponyms; flagging reports; and editing.
Unit XII: Disease Processes and Transcription Practice 1
Chapter 4
Covers dermatology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 5
Covers otorhinolaryngology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 6
Covers opthamology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; vision charts; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Unit XIII: Disease Processes and Transcription Practice 2
Chapter 7
Covers pulmonary medicine, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 8
Covers cardiology and hematology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; a doctor’s view: cardiology and cardiovascular surgery; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 9
Covers gastroenterology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; a doctor’s view: a surgeon’s view of gastroenterology and practice; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 10
Covers endocrinology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings; history and physical examination; a doctor’s view: metabolism and nutrition; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Unit XIV: Professional Development and Medicolegal Ethics
Chapter 1
Discusses how to maintain a professional appearance through attire and good grooming habits, as well as attitude and self-esteem; covers verbal and nonverbal communication, proper introductions, and business etiquette.
Chapter 2
Discusses medicolegal ethics in healthcare; covers the code of ethics; discusses aspects pertaining to the healthcare record including the purpose of ownership, how to correct mistakes, and the importance of timeliness.
Chapter 3
Guides allied health students through the HIPAA guidelines, discussing the Privacy and Security Rules, Protected Health Information, access control, de-identified information, and work area security.
Unit XV: Disease Processes and Transcription Practice 3
Chapter 11
Covers urology and nephrology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 12
Covers obstetrics and gynecology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; a doctor’s view: a brief look at STDs in women; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 13
Covers orthopedics, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; a doctor’s view: common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Unit XVI: Disease Processes and Transcription Practice 4
Chapter 14
Covers neurology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; common diseases; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 15
Covers psychiatry, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: history and physical examination; a doctor’s view: depression; common diseases; diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 16
Covers pathology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings: pathology reports; a doctor’s view: gross and microscopic examination of tissue; diagnostic and surgical procedures, laboratory procedures and pharmacology.
Chapter 17
Covers radiology, including anatomy in brief; terminology review; medical readings; a doctor’s view: diagnostic radiology; common diseases; pharmacology.
Unit XVII: Creating an Effective Workplace Environment
Chapter 1
Discusses the various types of knowledge, types of goals used in the workplace, different means of providing feedback, incentives common to the workplace, and the different roles exhibited in the workplace.
Chapter 2
Explains techniques that promote effective nonverbal communication, listening and speaking. Explains proper technological communication techniques.
Chapter 3
Explores the concept of culture, the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace, and overcoming barriers caused by diversity.
Chapter 4
Covers attributes of successful teamwork, the role of the team leader, and overcoming barriers to effective teamwork.
Unit XVIII: How to Find a Job in Healthcare
Chapter 1
Covers job search correspondence including resumes and cover letters.
Chapter 2
Discusses job-search techniques such as networking and using online employment search engines.
Chapter 3
Discusses job interviews; explains how to dress for an interview, what to bring to an interview, what to expect during an interview; discusses common questions asked during an interview and how to follow up after an interview.
Blackstone will provide you with the following tools for success in your online Medical Transcriptionist training course, all of which are included in your tuition:
- Comprehensive textbook and study guide materials
- 24/7 access to Blackstone’s Online Student Center
- Dedicated academic and customer support
- Additional online content and resources via Blackstone’s social media
*All Materials included in tuition price.*
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