The need to study medical transcription before you can get a job as a medical transcriptionist can be frustrating, especially if you think that all you have to do is type up what the doctor says, or you feel you have a solid enough medical background that you know enough to plunge straight into your career. There’s certainly a kernel of truth to such perspectives, but that doesn’t change the need to learn more than you think you need to. The larger part of being a medical transcriptionist is more complex than many others realize.

That doesn’t mean you’re entirely wrong to want to study medical transcription online quickly. If you can handle the speed and really learn everything a medical transcriptionist needs to learn, go for it. But don’t take a course saying you only need eight weeks or something. Take a self paced online medical transcriptionist course and see how long it takes you.

If you can finish it quickly and do the work well, wonderful! Most times it will still take at least four months to complete a self paced course, but at least you aren’t having to wait for classmates to catch up with you, or for an instructor who won’t let you work ahead even when you’re ready to go. The parts you know you can go through quickly. The parts that are less familiar and more challenging you can take the time you need.

Your typical reputable medical transcription course online won’t promise you that you can finish it all that quickly. There’s a wide range of times that are considered normal in a good, self paced course. The fast students or ones with some medical background may finish in four months or so. Students with less time to work on their school work or who don’t pick up the skills so quickly may take nine months, a year or more to get it all done.

The beauty of self paced courses is that it doesn’t matter which sort of student you are, and if something slows you down for a little, as life has a way of doing, you can keep going as time permits. So long as you don’t go past the time frame allowed by the school for completing the course overall, you should be in good shape.

The simple truth is that some parts of the curriculum will take a significant amount of time. There’s only so much you can do about the amount of time required for transcription practice. It’s one of the biggest parts of the online course, and very time consuming. It’s a vital skill to your eventual success as a medical transcriptionist, and not one to be skimped on while you train, especially as it may relate to what you earn. Per line pay rates are quite common in medical transcription, and if you didn’t master the skill, you aren’t going to earn that much.

Remember, you’re training for a new career. You want to impress whichever employers you end up applying with. You won’t impress anyone if you rush through your training so fast that you don’t learn the skills a medical transcriptionist must have.

Get free information from Career Step about their online medical transcriptionist training.