Candidate Prerequisites
Minimum Age: 18 years of age.
Education: You must have a high school diploma or GED. Please submit a copy with your enrollment forms.
Home Office & Equipment: You must have a 32-bit PC or laptop with MS Word or WordPerfect installed. MS Works is not sufficient. If you are working off a laptop, it is recommended that you use a standard sized keyboard (plug in or wireless) to keep your wrists in ergonomic positioning. For the internship, you will need to create a private work area in your home where other members of the household will not casually or accidentally view confidential medical information.
Minimum System Requirements for the Course Software and Internship: Computer: Pentium-class PC with 100+ MHz processor speed, 100+ MB of hard drive space, 64+ MB RAM. Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista. CD-ROM Drive: 4X or higher. Monitor: SVGA with minimum screen resolution of 800x600 with 16-bit high color; 1024x768 preferred. Sound: SoundBlaster-compatible, 16-bit or higher, sound card. Speakers with headset jack recommended, but optional since headset can be plugged directly into the sound card in most cases.
Skills to be Successful
Commitment & Time Management: Because transcription requires focus and concentration, it is important for you to assess the commitments you currently have to ensure that adequate time and energy will be spent on the course. You will be completing various reading and homework assignments, transcribing the entire practice CDs, as well as drafting a research project. You can expect to spend as many as 10-15 hours at home each week completing this program. The program is self paced and most people complete it within 12 months. We allow you up to 18 months to complete our medical transcription program.
Language Skills: The candidate should have solid knowledge of English comprehension, spelling, and usage competency (spoken and written) equivalent to that of a high school graduate. You should be familiar with all aspects of grammar including subject-object agreement, pronoun usage, compound modifiers, verb tense and conjugation, etc. You also should demonstrate facility with style and notation to include the use of standard abbreviations, how to correctly organize run-on clauses, the proper use of numerical conventions, etc. In short, transcribing involves turning speech into the typewritten word, and you should be able to edit sentences effectively while balancing the competing goals of accuracy and clarity.
Listening Skills: The candidate should have a normal level of audiometric (hearing) acuity.
Typing/Word Processing Skills: The ability to type accurately at a steady rate (40 to 60 words per minute) is more important in the context of transcription than raw typing speed. You cannot be a stranger to the keyboard and be successful in this field. The candidate should have intermediate word processing skills, including the ability to create, save, format, and copy and paste documents.
Computer Skills: The candidate should have intermediate computer skills including the ability to troubleshoot basic computer problems, install software, manage files, send and receive emails with attachments, and utilize the Internet for research purposes.
