Medical Transcription

 

Types of Degrees Medical Transcription Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many medical transcription/transcriptionist graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	69
Undergraduate Certificate	10
Associate Degree	4

What Medical Transcription Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to medical transcription/transcriptionist were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Skills for Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist Majors

medical transcription/transcriptionist majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Time Management - Managing one’s own time and the time of others.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist Majors

A major in medical transcription/transcriptionist will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Medical Transcription?

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of medical transcription/transcriptionist majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	2
Black or African American	0
Hispanic or Latino	0
White	2
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	0

How Much Do Medical Transcription Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

The median salary for someone in a career related to medical transcription/transcriptionist is $36,350. This median refers to all degree levels, so you may expect those with a more advanced degree to make more while those with less advanced degrees will typically make less.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Medical Transcription

Some careers associated with medical transcription/transcriptionist require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for medical transcription/transcriptionist careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	11.2%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	55.5%
Some College Courses	25.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.7%

Online Medical Transcription Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	38	8
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	10	2
Bachelor’s Degree	0	0
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	0	0
Post-Master’s	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Medical Transcription Worth It?

The median salary for a medical transcription/transcriptionist grad is $36,350 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

Trades Related to Medical Transcription

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to medical transcription/transcriptionist.

Major	Number of Grads
Health Care Management	30,702
Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder	10,541
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	10,010
Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller	9,004
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant & Medical Secretary	7,581
Medical Office Assistant/Specialist	4,981
Hospital & Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,981
Medical Office Management/Administration	3,470
Health Information Management	2,942
Other Health & Medical Administrative Services	2,251
Medical/Health Management & Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,257
Medical Reception/Receptionist	730
Clinical Research Coordinator	291
Long Term Care Administration/Management	221
Healthcare Innovation	193
Medical Office Computer Specialist/Assistant	118
Health Unit Coordinator/Ward Clerk	109
Regulatory Science/Affairs	73
Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician	25
Disease Registry Data Management	15
Health Unit Manager/Ward Supervisor	11
Healthcare Information Privacy Assurance and Security	7
Health/Medical Claims Examiner	4

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.