Mississippi Medical Transcription Training and Schools

About Medical Transcription Careers in Mississippi

Mississippi Medical Transcription Training and Schools are available to residents of Mississippi of all ages and backgrounds who desire to increase their skills and employment prospects through learning this interesting and valuable skill.

Mississippi boasts strong populations of both retirees and young people, making it a vibrant medical center, especially with the strong presence of the medical school, dental school, pharmacy school, and many allied health programs at the University of Mississippi in Jackson. The University of Mississippi’s Medical Center has drawn many eminent physicians to its four specialty hospitals, including its top-level trauma center, and the state now serves both Mississipians and those from surrounding states through these state-of-the-art facilities.

Mississippi has a high number of other hospitals and clinics as well, each employing medical transcriptionists. And with so many physicians in private practice, the medical transcription field is both lucrative and stable — and even growing — within the state. In fact, despite the national recession, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, which employs over 8,500 staff, continues to expand.

Those interested in the medical transcription field will not be surprised to learn that this valuable skill is difficult to obtain without a formal program. Luckily for residents of Mississippi, there are several programs available in-state, each affiliated with a university or college.

Online Universities Offering Medical Transcription Courses

Kaplan University Kaplan University offers students a great deal of benefits, including career placement assistance, financial aid for those who qualify, and day and evening classes for added convenience. Kaplan University’s high-quality, caring instructors want to give students the training they need to be successful in their respective fields and the education they need to stand out to potential employers.
Career Step Career Step offers two medical transcription education Diploma programs. The full Medical Transcription Editor program is a vocational course designed for students without medical transcription knowledge and skills, while the Medical Transcription Editor supplemental program is designed for those who have a solid foundation of medical transcription knowledge and skills. The Medical Transcription Editor program is estimated at 640 completion hours and the Medical Transcription training program is estimated at 570 completion hours, but both programs are completely self-paced and can be completed in as little as four months.
Medical Transcription Education Center Medical Transcription Education Center’s Certificate program is designed for the novice with no prior medical training. This diploma-level program offers approximately 940 clock hours of optimum training in many specialties, for home-based and on-site positions. The program is an online home-study course that provides beginning, intermediate, and advanced training.  M-TEC’s program is designed to be completed in 12 months; however, students are expected to commit a minimum of 25 hours per week toward their studies.

Correspondence Universities Offering Medical Transcription Courses

Allied Schools Allied Schools recognize the vital need for a quality curriculum in medical transcription education. Students will find focused training modules that provide the college-level education they need to become medical transcriptionists. Through Allied Schools’ 685-hour Medical Transcriptionist Certificate program, students are prepared with a comprehensive education that provides hands-on, practical experience.
Ashworth College The Medical Transcription Course is comprised of 18 comprehensive lessons that give students the skills you need in less than 6 months. This comprehensive program covers basic medical procedures and terminology, a study of the human body, how diseases are diagnosed and treated, as well as real-world transcription practice. Students can start at anytime, study online at their own pace, and move ahead as quickly as they like. Graduates of the Medical Transcription Diploma program are prepared for a flexible and rewarding position as qualified medical transcriptionists.
US Career Institute US Career Institute offers a Certificate program in medical transcription that can be completed in as little as four month. After enrollment, students are sent course materials and are allowed to work at their own pace. Once the course is completed, graduates will be ready to work as medical transcriptionists.

Financial Help Is Available

Many in Mississippi are interested in attending one of these programs and entering the prestigious work world associated with the medical field. But how can these programs be financed? Some students will self-pay, meaning they will either have the money saved up already, or will work while attending school. Others may ask family or friends to help with the cost of attending these programs.

A lack of ready funds need not hinder those who have the desire and intelligence to pursue this training. There are financial aid officers available in each of the Mississippi schools mentioned, and these individuals are very knowledgeable about local, state, and federal funding options. And they are glad to speak with prospective students about financial aid.

Traditional ways to finance medical transcription training available to Mississippi students include local, state, and national scholarships, Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), which includes PLUS Loans and Stafford Loans, and work-study programs.

Federal loans and grants are disbursed just to those students able to go to these traditional school programs at least half-time. Those who choose to attend less than full-time or half-time, due to family obligations, health, or work reasons, do have options and need not abandon the idea of obtaining training in medical transcription in Mississippi.

Private loans are available, and are legitimate ways to finance an education. SLM Corporation, usually known as Sallie Mae, is the biggest private provider of student loans in the nation, and is a legitimate organization. Sallie Mae typically provides long-term loans for non-traditional routes to an education, such as programs offered through trade schools or vocational schools. They also provide loans for those unable to attend the traditional programs at least half-time. Sallie Mae loans usually cover not only tuition, but books, computers, tools, and other required items for these programs. Many times, a college or school will also offer students a low-cost loan program so that they can attend.

Worth the Training

Gaining skill in the field of medical transcription is not easy. It takes effort, time, and money to obtain this skill. But the stability, opportunities, and wages earned make such an effort a smart move. More and more of our economy – whether or not medical reform legislation passes – is tied in with the medical field. There will always be a need for medical transcriptionists, and this is a field where “offshoring” has not lessened the number of workers needed in the U.S. In fact, employment in this field, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is increasing and will continue to do so.

One of the most desirable aspects of the medical transcription field is the flexibility, not only in hours, but in choice of where to work. Medical transcriptionists can work directly for physicians, clinics, dentists, physical therapists, and others in the medical field. Or, they can find employment at area hospitals, where they also receive benefits. Approximately 36 percent of medical transcriptionists work at hospital. About 23 percent find employment in physician’s (and dentist’s) clinics or offices. Approximately 39 percent choose to work as telecommuters — as employees of large national transcription service providers, or as independent contractors for these service providers.

And transcription is a field where the workers can increase their pay as they increase their skills. Many transcriptionists begin careers at local hospitals or clinics, then leave after gaining speed and accuracy through their local experience. Some go on to establish medical transcription services that provide transcribing to state and national clients. With everything now done digitally, through email, there are no geographic limits. Nor are special licenses required in medical transcription in order to work with out-of-state physicians, as is the case in some fields.

As a medical transcriptionist in Mississippi, earnings depend primarily on skill, speed, and attitude. Overnight shifts in transcription are in high demand, due to the fact that physicians send in their reports after clinic hours, and need them returned, transcribed properly, by morning. And the overnight shifts pay more, too. But daytime shifts can also be very profitable for the medical transcriptionist. Through the use of free “expander” software, all transcriptionists can learn how to use abbreviations to quickly call up long, difficult medical terms, increasing their line count and cutting their time, and thus earning more.

In typical terms, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hospital-based transcriptionsits earn approximately $15 per hour. Those telecommuting from home, for a transcription service provider, earn between $10 and $20 each hour worked.

Future transcriptionists in Mississippi have many programs to chose from, each leading to gaining skill in this prestigious and stable medical field that is only set to grow and expand as our population ages and the medical field as a whole expands through new technologies and greater outreach.