How To Become A Medical Language Specialist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical language specialist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Medical language specialists are experts that specialize in converting obscure pronouncements made by doctors or other medical professionals. Medical language specialists are also referred to as medical transcriptionists. You are to employ your knowledge of medical terms to create and edit documents. Primarily, you have to transcribe physician recordings. These recordings could be doctor's notes, diagnostic summaries, or a patient's history. Sometimes when reviewing a client's claim, insurance companies could request a summary of the patient's medical history or note. It is your duty to create these notes. In addition, you are responsible for typing other medical documents such as patient welcome letters for new patients or patient referral letters, etc.

You necessarily do not need a college degree to be hired for this role. You can apply with a high school diploma. Some employers, however, prefer to hire the candidate with post-secondary training in transcription. Having few years of experience could also be advantageous. You must possess in-depth knowledge of medical terminologies as well as editing practice. Excellent written communication skills are also required. You will earn an average of $36,609 annually.

ScoreMedical Language SpecialistUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,117

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.44%

Asian 7.89%

Black or African American 7.88%

Hispanic or Latino 13.76%

Unknown 4.39%

White 64.65%

Gender

female 92.71%

male 7.29%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.2

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.6

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical language specialist

Explore medical language specialist education requirements

Most common medical language specialist degrees

Associate

39.8 %

Bachelor's

28.9 %

Diploma

10.9 %

Start to develop specific medical language specialist skills

Skills	Percentages
Transcription	10.66%
Discharge Summaries	8.37%
Dictation	8.01%
Patient Histories	5.24%
Medical Reports	5.06%

Complete relevant medical language specialist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical language specialists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical language specialist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical language specialist resumes.

Gain additional medical language specialist certifications

Medical language specialist certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific medical language specialist certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for medical language specialists include Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) and Medical Assistant.

More About Certifications

Research medical language specialist duties and responsibilities

Prepare budget and manage department's employees' time, attendance and payroll process.
Create documentation education classes to general surgery residents, increasing the leveling of reporting which lead to increase revenues.
Transcribe and edit for specialties including: cardiology, pulmonology, urology, pediatrics, psychiatry, oncology, etc.
Utilize extensive knowledge of medical terminology while following AAMT and HIPAA guidelines.

Prepare your medical language specialist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical language specialist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical language specialist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical language specialist resume templates

Build a professional medical language specialist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical language specialist resume.