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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is common knowledge the health care industry has been growing very rapidly these past few years. With this rapid growth there has been a huge increase in demand for health care professionals like medical coders and billers, physician’s assistants, nurses and medical transcriptionists. There is a direct ratio between the number of patients and the demand for medical transcriptionists. It stands to reason that the more patients there are the more notes doctors are going to have and thus there will be a need for more transcriptionists to transcribe these notes. And we all know about the exponential growth of the human population in recent years.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Career Prospects for Medical Transcriptionists Are Looking Up</b></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is good news. Because it simply means that the job market for health care professionals is now wide open. Medical transcriptionist jobs have been estimated by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics to grow by 8% which is considered the average growth rate for most job markets.<sup>1</sup></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">You may not think 8% is much. Perhaps these statistics will help to paint a better picture: </span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As of 2012 the American Hospital Association (AHA) reported 5723 registered hospitals in the U.S with a total of 920,829 beds.<sup> 2</sup> In Canada there are 600 registered hospitals with 74,284 beds.<sup> 3</sup> My point being, lots of beds equal lots of patients. Lots of patients equal lots of patient records. And lots of patient records obviously means a lot of medical transcriptionists are required. </span></span></p>
<p lang="en-US" align="justify"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.collegequest.com/wp-content/uploads/how-to-become-a-medical-transcriptionist.jpg" alt="" width="437" height="292" /></p>
<p align="left"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">While the prospects in Canada are not as high. http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/qc/job_futures/statistics/1244.shtml#outlook</span></span><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">,</span></span><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> many hospitals in the United States outsource the work to agencies who hire work-from-home medical transcriptionists. </span></span></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>How Can I Move towards Becoming A Medical Transcriptionist?</b></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is actually pretty easy to become a medical transcriptionist. Now don’t get me wrong, when I say easy I don’t mean that it will not challenge you. What I mean is the process is pretty simple. All you have to do is enroll in an online school that offers a course in medical transcription. There are schools out there like Career Step in Canada<b> </b>that offer a large range of courses in health care. </span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once you have enrolled you have to complete the course work and submit assignments in a timely fashion and within 4 months you will be a certified medical transcriptionist. No degree or prior experience required. Just a sharp mind and a quick memory; the world will be your oyster.</span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Why Should I Look for Medical Transcription Jobs in Canada or in the US?</b></span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Besides there being a sudden increase in medical transcription editor jobs, there are a few reasons why medical transcription in Canada as well as the United States would be a great opportunity for you.</span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The average annual income of a medical transcriptionist in the United States is $34,020 as of 2012.<sup>4</sup> Canada, being a nation that has universal health care, is way ahead of the U.S.</span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Whether you are in the U.S. or in Canada, medical transcriptionists need not go in to work every day. You can do a medical transcription job from home and you can also find online medical transcription jobs.</span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most online schools will hook you up with interviews or at the very least give you opportunities to build your own network before you finish the course. This allows for hassle-free job hunting.</span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Any market or economic crisis does not affect the health care industry and therefore medical transcriptionists need not live in fear of losing their jobs.</span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As long as there are people and hospitals, medical transcriptionists will always have jobs.</span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So now that you have it all laid out, only one question remains—are you ready to step up to the plate?</span></span></p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Resources</span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-transcriptionists.htm </span></span></span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.aha.org/research/rc/stat-studies/fast-facts.shtml </span></span></span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">https://secure.cihi.ca/estore/productFamily.htm?pf=PFC2608&;lang=fr&;media=0 </span></span></span></span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-transcriptionists.htm" rel="nofollow"><span style="font-family: Bitstream Charter,serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-transcriptionists.htm</span></span></a></span></span></p>
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