Is there any open courseware available for online medical transcription courses?

Although, it is unlikely that you will find free online classes for medical transcription, there are several open courses offered through notable universities that will help you complete your degree or certificate.

One of the key requirements for students in traditional or online classes is gaining an accurate medical vocabulary. Des Moines University has a great class entitled “Medical Terminology” to help you learn the basic terms for each part of the human body as well as pathological diseases.

University of California, Berkeley offers a similar class, “General Human Anatomy,” through video lecture, which may be a good supplement for your studies. Although this is not the best online course to get you familiarized with transcription terminology, it immerses you in the language of human body systems, which can help you understand procedures and diagnoses from physicians.

If you are in medical transcription courses online or on campus, you know that an understanding of diseases and their functions is a necessary part of your program. “Principle and Practice of Human Pathology” is a graduate level course provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology that goes into the mechanisms of disease, common ailments of major organ systems and appropriate diagnosis. While this is a very advanced class, knowing pathologies is required by most traditional and online programs.

What blogs or other online resources might be useful in my medical transcription courses?

Although many students are seeking training online or want to work in transcription from home, there are few reliable online resources to consult. Many are created by companies offering transcription services and provide very little real information.

ADVANCE for Healthcare Professionals, however, is an exception. Its blog offers valuable insight into current practices, changing technologies and expected quality standards of the medical transcription field. Regardless of the advertising slant, it is a good place for students in medical transcription classes online or on campus to get insider information from currently employed transcriptionists.

One resource that you should get well acquainted with if you are taking online courses is the Monthly Prescribing Reference. This online publication not only informs you of the most recent changes to pharmaceutical codes but also provides medical abbreviations, medical transcription online classes and a huge database organized by body system to make coding for certain pathologies easier. In order to be more competitive for medical transcription jobs, you must stay up to date on changes to codes.

What magazines or journals can I read while I study in my offline or online medical transcription classes?

Many medical transcription professional journals are available online. For the Record is one of the preeminent journals on transcription, offering a whole online section dedicated to medical transcriptionist work. This free weekly publication covers a variety of topics for health information professionals including current research, personal stories and employment issues.

The Journal of American Health Information Management Association also provides a number of its articles online. This long-established organization keeps you updated on the most relevant information in the transcription world including the new ICD-10 coding system, the Stage 2 Certification Rule and HIPAA rules for physician texting. This site is especially helpful for students in medical transcription online classes as it provides a college reference database, allowing you to verify that you are enrolled in an accredited online medical transcription course.

One of the best reference journals, regardless of whether you are taking a course online or on campus, is the Journal of Healthcare Information Management. Not only does this journal provide articles concerning influential systems and research in the medical information world, it offers medical transcription online classes through its eLearning Academy, scholarship and career opportunities for members and state-by-state policies that will affect your work.