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

What is a medical transcriber and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a medical transcriber. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.5 an hour? That's $34,320 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -7% and produce -3,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a medical transcriber?

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

Medical Assistant Program Director, Website

To maximize salary for a medical assistant obtaining certification from one of the credentialing organizations such as American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) can make a new hire more competitive. Continuing educations along with developing any specialized skills such as phlebotomy. Demonstrating professionalism initiative and reliability, along with gaining a strong reference from previous employers.

ScoreMedical TranscriberUS Average

Salary

2.7

Avg. Salary $34,320

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

3.6

Growth rate -7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.15%

Asian 14.40%

Black or African American 6.66%

Hispanic or Latino 8.86%

Unknown 4.66%

White 65.27%

Gender

female 88.89%

male 11.11%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

3.6

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical transcriber

Explore medical transcriber education requirements

Most common medical transcriber degrees

Bachelor's

35.7 %

Associate

23.3 %

High School Diploma

17.1 %

Start to develop specific medical transcriber skills

Skills	Percentages
Transcription	16.02%
Medical Reports	13.44%
Patients	10.93%
Patient Histories	10.80%
Dictation	8.51%

Complete relevant medical transcriber training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical transcribers 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 transcriber based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical transcriber resumes.

Research medical transcriber duties and responsibilities

Manage audits using transcribe reports with preoperative and postoperative documentation within the EMR.
Transcribe reality footage and interviews.
Transcribe interviews shoot for various programs including reality shows and documentaries.
Transcribe medical records, reports and letters, maintaining information accuracy in terminology and integrity in accordance with HIPAA standards.

Prepare your medical transcriber resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical transcriber 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 transcriber 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 transcriber resume templates

Build a professional medical transcriber 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 transcriber resume.