The career of a medical transcriptionist means being part of the exciting and ever-
expanding health care industry. The growth of this industry, as a whole, means more opportunities and a greater demand for medical transcriptionists. That translates into competitive pay, greater job selection and the ability to create one’s own hours. Getting an exciting start as a medical transcriptionist also does not require years of expensive schooling.
Medical Transcription Career Overview
The health care industry relies a great deal on medical transcriptionists, who carry out the task of converting audio recordings into reports and documents that reflect every word of that dictation with 100% accuracy. Health care professionals and doctors do not have the time to write down all the important elements of their work. To compensate for that lack of time, they make numerous audio recordings while conducting their work. That leaves a buildup of audio that needs to be transcribed. That is where California medical transcriptionists step in and utilize their broad range of skills.
California medical transcriptionists are capable of typing a high number of words-per-minute that greatly exceeds the general average. However, those keyboarding skills are not the sole function of their job. There is also the ability to identify the terminology used by doctors and health care professionals. To accomplish this part of the job, California medical transcriptionists are active listeners who are capable of identifying key medical terms, abbreviations and jargon. A medical transcriptionist in California recognizes everything a health care professional is saying in their respective audio recordings.
This kind of knowledge is acquired through certification programs that prepare medical transcriptionists to take on job assignments in the state of California. That has enabled medical transcriptionists to become full-time employees in all kinds of settings, including hospitals, medical centers, clinics, diagnostic labs and many other environments.
California medical transcriptionists have no problems complying with strict deadlines and also have the capability to work independently. A meticulous attention to detail is another common characteristic found in California medical transcriptionists as there is a high emphasis placed on accuracy. That means continually checking for proper grammar, context, consistency and clarity.
Medical Transcriptionist Certification Requirements in California
The process of obtaining a medical transcriptionist certification in California goes through any one of the state’s accredited post-secondary schools. California vocational schools, technical institutes and select community colleges offer certification programs for medical transcriptionists. These programs generally last one year and include comprehensive coursework in medical transcription. It must also be noted that in order for a certification to be credible, it must be obtained from an accredited post-secondary school.
A certification from an accredited California post-secondary school is usually the top job requirement to work as a medical transcriptionist throughout the state. Companies typically list a certification as its first job requirement when listing a job opening. An Associate’s Degree with a concentration in medical transcription also qualifies as an acceptable form of certification. On average, an Associate’s Degree takes twice as long to complete as a certification program offered by one of the state’s accredited post-secondary schools.
The state of California does not require medical transcriptionists to hold a certification, although it is far more difficult to obtain full-time employment without one. Each health care facility and transcription service sets its own guidelines during the hiring process, although the most common job qualification is an accredited certification.
Medical Transcription Training and Education Requirements
The state of California requires medical transcriptionists to be at least 18 years old. To start down this career path, a high school diploma or GED equivalency is required. Drug tests and criminal background checks are given to prospective medical transcriptionists. Failing either one of those will be cause for exclusion from an educational program. There are no post-secondary credits needed to start out medical transcriptionist education in California.
Medical Transcriptionist Licensing Requirements in California
The state of California has not drafted up any statewide rule that stipulates medical transcriptionists should hold any kind of license. Some medical professionals need to maintain an updated license in California, although there are no indications that medical transcriptionists will join that contingent.
Job Prospects and Potential Pay in California
The state of California boasts the highest average salary of any state for medical transcriptionists. The average medical transcriptionist salary in the state of California is $45,360 annually. The highest reported medical transcriptionist salaries in California also top the highest in any other state. Top end medical transcriptionists in California have reported earning more than $61,000 per year. The health care industry continues to grow in California and with that growth, there have been more job opportunities opening up for medical transcriptionists.
Resources
Medical Transcriptionist Salaries in California
See how much medical transcriptionists earn in California as it is the highest-paying state in this profession. This website shows how much money can be made on an annual basis in California.
Medical Transcriptionist Jobs in California
Search through this long list of medical transcriptionist job openings throughout the state of California.
Job Openings for California Medical Transcriptionists
This medical-oriented website is designed for medical professionals looking for work and lists an abundance of medical transcriptionist job openings in California.
Hospital Medical Transcriptionist Jobs in California
Take a look at all the job openings for medical transcriptionists in hospitals throughout the state of California.
California Health Associations
This website provides an extensive list of California health associations, complete with clickable links.