Medical Transcription Books And Reference Manuals You Must Own
As you get started in the medical transcription field, there are some reference materials that you will find it very beneficial to own. While you have probably purchased a lot of different books while in school, there are still some other types of reference materials that you are going to need. These are the medical transcription books that will make your job easier as they will make sure that you have all the answers that you need, whenever you need them.
The #1 Must Have Medical Transcription Books: Stedman’s Medical Dictionary
This should be the first reference material you purchase. You will find that this dictionary is advertised on a lot of different websites and owned by a lot of medical transcriptionists. It is officially titled, “Stedman’s Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing, Illustrated, Sixth Edition (Stedman’s Concise Medical Dictionary).”
Stedman’s medical dictionary features more than 54,000 entries that are used in more than 30 different health professions today. There are also 1,000 colored images and photographs, 68 appendices and tabs for quick referencing. A team of 46 leading medical consultants has compiled all of this, and this is our #1 recommendation of all the medical transcription books.
#2 Must Have Medical Transcription Books: Medical Abbreviations
You will also need a book of medical abbreviations for referencing as needed. This will be helpful since you don’t always need to type out the entire word. For instance, instead of typing “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” you can simply type “COPD” (4 keystrokes vs. 34). This is important whenever it comes to earning money as a medical transcriptionist.
Fortunately, Stedman also makes a book for this as well. It is entitled “Stedman’s Medical Abbreviations, Acronyms and Symbols (Stedman’s Abbreviations, Acronyms & Symbols).”
This is a quick, easy way to access more than 75,000 medical abbreviations, acronyms and symbols. There are also 14 appendices included. You will also find a section entitled, “Do Not Use.” Here you will find some abbreviations that are considered slang and thus should not be used.
#3 Must Have Medical Transcription Books: Books Containing Lists Of Medications
It is also a good idea to have a book that contains medication lists. This is because the person who sends you dictation will list medications in almost every report that you type. If you type the wrong medication, it can be a matter of life and death to the patient. However, due to the fact that our understanding of diseases constantly changes, and new medications being developed to treat them, medical lists will go out of date quickly. Fortunately, the authors of the “American Medical Association Family Medical Guide, 4th Edition” understand this and revise their books frequently. They also include photographs and illustrations so that the material is easier to understand.
Other Important Medical Transcription Books
The AAMT Book Of Style
The AAMT Book Of Style for Medical Transcription contains everything that you need to know about punctuation, grammar, editing and formatting. There is an extensive amount of cross-referencing in this book too, which makes this 500-page book (plus extensive appendices) a lot easier to use. The author of this book, Claudia Tessier, is a nationally renowned expert in this field, holding several credentials (i.e. CAE, CMT, RRA).
Medical Transcriptionist’s Desk Reference
Midland’s Technical College in Columbia, South Carolina also publishes a medical transcriptionist’s desk reference that will answer all of the most common transcription questions. It is really easy to find this information too since it is organized according to the type of problem or situation that you are dealing with. Furthermore, it also reflects the AAMT style guidelines so that you can rest assured that what you are doing is correct.