The primary job function of a medical transcriptionist is to listen to recordings made by 
health care professionals and transform those recordings into written documents. Medical transcriptionists are expected to type these recordings word for word. Medical transcriptionists also review documents that have been created with speech recognition software and are expected to edit those documents for errors.
Medical Transcriptionist Career Overview
A Mississippi medical transcriptionist should possess an extreme attention to detail and a command of the English language, along with the ability to type quickly and accurately. A transcriptionist is well-versed in medical terminology as well as all the appropriate abbreviations used in the medical field. Medical transcriptionists are also familiar with a patient’s discharge summary and the details that go into a patient’s medical history. Medical transcriptionists routinely convert surgery, operative and radiology reports from oral to document form.
A medical transcriptionist can work in a hospital, doctor’s office, clinic, medical facility, research laboratory, or for a third-party transcription company. They can even be self-employed, providing service on an as-needed basis.
All Mississippi medical transcriptionists are capable of completing dictation assignments with a near-perfect accuracy rate. Medical transcriptionists are expected to recognize mistakes when it comes to medical terms, in addition to identifying homonyms and medical jargon.
Medical Transcription Training and Education Requirements in Mississippi
To become a medical transcriptionist in Mississippi, candidates must have a high school diploma or GED equivalency. Students must be at least 18 years of age and pass a criminal background check. Students must also pass a drug test. A positive result in that drug test will exclude them from participating in an accredited medical transcription program.
Medical Transcription Certification Requirements
There is a medical transcriptionist certification exam that is recommended to be completed in the state of Mississippi. A medical transcriptionist in Mississippi does not need to possess a Bachelor’s Degree. However, Mississippi requires either an Associate’s Degree from an accredited post-secondary school, or medical transcription certificate from a one-year program specializing in this discipline.The classes that go into receiving an Associate’s Degree in Medical Transcription cover a wide range of subjects, which include keyboarding, grammar and medical terminology. Passing the state certification exam requires a firm grasp of all those subject areas.
Certifications lead to higher salaries and more job prospects. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) offers advanced certifications for medical transcriptionists with prior experience.
Medical transcriptionists have the option of choosing from two different certifications. The first is a certification for Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialist (RHDS) while the other choice is to be certified as a Healthcare Documentation Specialist (CHDS). Each of these certifications requires a passing score on the certification exam and future retesting as part of ongoing education. That CHDS certification also requires at least two years of experience.
Mississippi Licensing Requirements
The previously-mentioned certifications serve a similar purpose to that of state licensing. There is no required state license to operate as a medical transcriptionist in the state of Mississippi. However, certain state certifications require previous work experience and are strongly recommended.
Job Prospects and Potential Pay in Mississippi
In the state of Mississippi, there are close to 1,000 medical transcriptionists working in various capacities. The average salary of a medical transcriptionist in Mississippi is $29,000 per year. Higher salaries are offered in Jackson, Mississippi, which climb close to $50,000 per year. The demand for medical transcription in Mississippi continues to grow and the national average is expected to increase by 11.2% over the next decade.
How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist Resources
Medical Transcription Jobs in Mississippi
This listing updates some of the latest medical transcriptionist jobs in the state of Mississippi. The jobs are listed according to city.
This is a complete list of all the hospitals in Mississippi, with clickable links to each individual hospital website. Medical transcriptionists can use this site as a valuable resource.
Mississippi Medical Transcriptionist Jobs
A detailed listing of all the available medical transcriptionist jobs in Mississippi provides contact information and job details, along with average salary and growth rate.
A full listing of the state’s medical clinics, this also includes a breakdown of the clinics by their geographic location.
Medical Transcriptionist Salaries in Mississippi
See what a medical transcriptionist can make in the state of Mississippi in terms of experience.