Taking the medical transcription test, also known as the certification exam, is simply a matter of personal preference. You should not be required to be certified or registered to obtain work as a medical transcriptionist. Although that may change in the future.

Taking and passing a formal exam is will be necessary in order for you to become either a registered medical transcriptionist (RMT), someone with less than 2 years of acute-care 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, that certification must be renewed every three years. Recertification is accomplished by paying a fee and by earning a required number of continuing education credits during the 3-year cycle. The number and type varies depending upon whether it is for the RMT or CMT portion of the exam.

Obtaining certification does have certain advantages. First, only someone who has passed the medical transcription exam has the right to call themselves either a registered or certified medical transcriptionist, and has the ability to put the initials RMT or CMT after their name. There are also some companies that will require their transcriptionists be certified, or they may pay their certified transcriptionists a premium rate for having taken the exam. Passing the medical transcription test has the potential to open more doors of opportunity in your medical transcription career.

However, those benefits do come at a premium. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) offers the certification exam and administers the recertification process as well. You must pay an application fee of $10. The CMT portion of the test costs $195 for AHDI members and $275 for nonmembers. The cost for the RMT test is $120 for AHDI members and $200 for nonmembers. There is then the recertification fee every 3 years as well as often costs associated with continuing education.

There are two parts to the certification exam, a written portion and a transcription section. The written portion of the test has multiple choice questions based on subjects including anatomy and physiology and medical terminology as well as sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and sentence composition. The practical portion will require transcription of medical dictation.

Six hours is allowed for an applicant to take the exam. However, it should not take the entire 6 hours. The exam encompasses all areas of the transcription field, and many medical transcriptionists take a formal review course and/or obtain a review guide to prepare themselves for the exam. Taking the review course could require an additional fee which increases the cost of taking 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.

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