the Price of Career Training

I took an online class to learn to be a medical transcriptionist. This class was at your own pace and included 4 sections of training and practice. There were exams and I had to transcribe tapes from actual doctors to be reviewed. I had to learn terminology and formats for several situations. This is like learning a new language, and very intensive. The fee included the class notebook and the feedback from an instructor that graded my assignments. It did not include 3 medical reference books that were quite expensive. It also did not include the transcribing software and equipment.

The class materials were very well done. There is a lot of information to learn and it took me some time to get the hang of it. I was glad that it was not set to a specific time table, but to my own progress. That way I could take more time with the terminology as needed. The vocabulary was the hardest part for me, but it is the most important part, so I made myself learn it. I liked the way the instructor was the same for evaluating my work, that way they had a sense of my personal progress.

This is a difficult field to get into and you have to be serious about it or you will not finish the course. This is more work than I had expected, but in the end I was glad I completed it. To actually work as a transcriptionist, you would need at least one more course.