Medical transcription programs prepare people to type verbatim reports from tapes recorded by doctors. Students learn medical terms and how to translate complex information. They also learn to use computers.

Everybody knows that doctors write prescriptions that are hard to read. Doctors don't have much time to write, so after they see a patient, they often dictate a recording that summarizes what they just saw and did. Just as pharmacists can read the prescriptions that don't make sense to us, likewise, medical transcriptionists can make sense of these often-rushed recordings.

Doctors use a lot of specialized terms to describe their work. So in this program you study medical terminology. You study the structures and functions of the human body. You learn the names of various diseases and disorders. You become familiar with procedures that doctors perform and the drugs they prescribe. Your goal is to understand medicine so well that you can spot when the doctor says something inconsistent with the case or forgets to mention something. In your training, you learn how to check with the doctor to make sure the record is correct.

The purpose of your work is to produce a document. So you improve your keyboard skills and learn how to word-process according to formats that are commonly used in medical records. You learn how to keep a computer in good running condition. And you learn how to work the device, often controlled by a foot pedal, that allows you to start and stop the recording as you transcribe the information.

Because you will work in a medical office, you learn about its various business functions. You study the computer software packages that are used in office management. You study the laws that apply to healthcare. Especially important are those that specify how patient records are to be kept confidential.

About 35 colleges offer an associate degree program in medical transcription. This normally takes two years of full-time study beyond high school. Some colleges offer a one-year or 18-month certificate program. So do many proprietary schools. About 50 of these are approved by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools.