Question: I am looking for jobs I can do from home. A friend suggested medical transcription. Are there jobs available? What do I need to do to qualify?
— Jean

Response: Medical transcriptionists create text records of a patient's medical information that is dictated or recorded by a physician or other healthcare personnel.

Fast typing, good grammar and punctuation skills are a given. Plus, understanding anatomy, medical terminology and surgical procedures is necessary to accurately convey patient history, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.

The American Association for Medical Transcription recommends gaining experience in a healthcare facility or working for qualified medical transcriptionists before considering a home-based business.

Little change in growth is projected through 2006 for this profession.

Training Options and Costs
There are training programs at community colleges and regional occupational centers that you could enroll in to learn medical transcribing and complete a certificate, including the following:
Mt. San Antonio College
1100 N. Grand Avenue
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 594-5611
www.mtsac.edu
The Office Technology Department offers a 30 unit Medical Transcriptionist certificate program with coursework including Beginning Medical Transcription, Medical Terminology, and Transcription Techniques. The cost is $11 per unit.
East Los Angeles College
1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(323) 265-8650
www.elac.cc.ca.us
The Life Science Department offers a 30-unit Medical Transcriptionist program with coursework including Medical Terminology, Machine Transcription, and Advanced Medical Transcription. The cost is $11 per unit.
Glendale Community College
1122 E. Garfield
Glendale, CA 91205
www.glendale.cc.ca.us
The Continuity and Community Training Center offers a variety of courses relevant to medical transcription including Medical Terminology, Medical Transcription Techniques, and Medisoft for Windows.
Los Angeles City College
855 N. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 953-4000
www.lacitycollege.edu
The Computer Applications-Office Technology Department offers a variety of courses relevant to medical transcription including Machine Transcription, which instructs students on the operation of transcribing machines and how to develop good listening skills, and Medical Terminology, which instructs students on word roots, prefixes, and suffixes used in medical terminology.
West Valley Occupational Center
6200 Winnetka Avenue
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 346-3540
www.lausd.k12.ca.us
The business department offers Medical Transcribing, which instructs students on how to transcribe medical documents from dictated records using Microsoft Word, and Medical Terminology, which instructs students on medical words relating to anatomy and physiology and on the use of medical reference books. Course cost is $45 or $55, depending on whether the course is offered in the day or evening.
Southern California Regional Occupation Center
2300 Crenshaw Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 224-4200
Fax (310) 782-1589
www.scroc.com
The center offers a medical transcription course titled Medical Transcription, which instructs students on basic medical information, medical terminology, and transcribing medical dictation at a computer. The cost of the course is $225.

Earnings
Medical transciptionists who are independent contractors type 50 to 60 words per minute or five to six pages per hour and charge $4.00 to $5.00 per page, earning $20.00 to $30.00 per hour. Pay for transcriptionists who subcontract to transcribing services starts at approximately $10.00 per hour. Some experienced transcriptionists with full-time businesses earn up to $50,000 per year.

Job Resources
The following employment agencies in the Los Angeles County area place healthcare personnel, including medical transcriptionists:
Doctor's Corner Personnel Service
South Bay
(310) 373-0931
www.doctorscornerpersonnel.com
This is a medical staffing agency that places for a variety of positions including medical transcriptionists. Candidates can fax their resume and are contacted by a recruiter to schedule an office appointment.
All's Well Healthcare Staffing
12215 Telegraph Road, Suite 111
Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
(562) 777-1708
Fax (562) 777-1726
www.medworknow.com
This is a specialized medical staffing agency for a variety of positions including medical transcriptionist. According to a representative, candidates must have at least one year of experience. Candidates can fax their resume to the attention of Melissa.

Professional Association
American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT)
100 Sycamore Avenue
Modesto, CA 95354
(800) 982-2182
Fax (209) 527-9633
www.aamt.org
This is an association for the medical transcription industry. Membership benefits include online listing of job opportunities, industry updates through a journal publication, listing as a medical transcriptionist on an online referral directory, and networking opportunities at conferences and through an online member directory.

An additional benefit of joining is the opportunity to become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist by taking a two-part examination. Part 1 of the Medical Transcription Certification Examination is a multiple-choice test. A passing score is required in order to take Part 2, which involves transcribing, proofreading, and printing approximately 15 minutes worth of dictation from a variety of reports.

AAMT offers self-assessment self-study workbooks and tapes for the examination at a cost of $98.16. The exam fee for Part 1 is $150 and the fee for Part 2 is also $150. The exams are offered at a test site in the Glendale area.

Annual practitioner membership dues are $158 and annual student membership dues are $79.

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Susan W. Miller, M.A., is a National Certified Career Counselor, a Certified Vocational Evaluation Specialist and holds diplomate status on the American Board of Vocational Experts. She heads California Career Services, a private practice career counseling firm in Los Angeles.

E-mail career questions you'd like answered in this column to info@californiacareerservices.com or visit California Career Services at www.californiacareerservices.com.