Deciding whether or not to take the medical transcription test, also known as the certification exam, is a matter of personal choice. In most instances you do not need to be registered or certified to obtain work as a medical transcriptionist. At least not yet.
It is necessary to pass a formal exam to become a registered medical transcriptionist (RMT), that is, someone with less than 2 years transcription experience, or a certified medical transcriptionist (CMT), someone with at least 2 years of acute care transcription experience. If you do choose to obtain certification, at this point in time the certification must be renewed every three years. Recertification is obtained through paying a fee as well as earning a required number of continuing education credits during the 3-year cycle. The number and type of the continuing education credits will vary whether you took the RMT or CMT portion of the exam.
Obtaining certification does have advantages. Only someone who has passed the medical transcription exam can legally call themselves a registered or certified medical transcriptionist. They also have the right to put the initials RMT or CMT after their name. There are some companies which require transcriptionists they hire to be certified, or they may pay their certified transcriptionists a premium rate. Passing the medical transcription test can help create more opportunity in your medical transcription career.
However, those benefits do come at a price. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) offers the certification exam and charges for the opportunity to do so. First you pay an application fee of $10. For the CMT portion of the test, the cost is $195 for AHDI members and $275 for nonmembers. The fee for the RMT portion of the test is $120 for AHDI members and $200 for nonmembers. Then there is the recurring recertification fee as well as sometimes costs associated with continuing education.
The certification exam is taken in two parts, a written test and transcription test. The written test is multiple choice covering subjects like anatomy and physiology and medical terminology along with language-related subjects such as grammar, punctuation and sentence structure and composition. The practical section of the exam consists of the transcription of medical dictation.
Every applicant will be given 6 hours to finish the test, although you do not need to take the entire 6 hours, and should not need it. The exam looks at all areas of the field. Therefore many transcriptionists elect to take a prep exam or review course to prepare themselves for taking the test. The review course and guide will require an additional fee which increases the end cost of the medical transcription exam.
While completing the medical transcription test comes with benefits, it is not necessary to succeed in a career in medical transcription. Many highly paid and experienced medical transcriptionists are not certified and have no plans to be.
However, taking the medical transcription test could be a wise move if you have the interest as well as the time and money to spare. Having done so, you then have proof of your skills and abilities as a medical transcriptionist. The medical transcription test and subsequent certification will be a personal achievement and could help you advance in your profession.
