How long will it take?

Charles Thomson, Jr., BA

Charles Thomson, Jr., BA
"My kids are very busy with sports. My wife is very busy with work, so it made it real easy for me..."
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Yolanda Soto, BA

Yolanda Soto, BA
"Just because I decided to take that leap of faith to finish my degree, all these doors opened up..."
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Corinne Rao, BSBA

Corinne Rao, BSBA
"It was a 24-year course overall, but I've succeeded and it is the most important thing. It shows my children that I can do it, it shows my self that I can do it..."
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James Hooper, BA

James Hooper, BA
"It seems like I have been going to school for 25 years. Thomas Edison was such a great thing for me because I was able to transfer so many credits..."
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Farzana Haider, BA

Farzana Haider, BA
"I feel I am more competent now and that I can show my children how valuable education is. I'm setting the example for them..."
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Herbert Coleman, BA

Herbert Coleman, BA
"I was amazed to see how many credits this college accepted... I had amassed quite a few over the years...It means the world to me..."
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Barbara Becker, AAS & BSBA

Barbara Becker, AAS & BSBA
"My experience as a student at the college was very fulfilling. It was a nontraditional way..."
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Robey Reed, BSAST

Robey Reed, BSAST
"I looked at a lot of schools when I was in the military, and from what I saw..."
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Maureen Hennessey, BA

Maureen Hennessey, BA
"I don't like leaving things unfinished... and I've gone back to college a number of times..."
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Tanvi Kothari, BA

Tanvi Kothari, BA
"Thomas Edison State College made getting a degree very convenient. Thomas Edison also offered..."
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Jim Harrington, BA

Jim Harrington, BA
"I never dreamed I would have my degree at this age. I thought it was something..."
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Helene Loeb, BSHS

Helene Loeb, BSHS
"Thomas Edison really prepared me to become a leader and interact as well as instruct and support the nurses that are out on the unit.."
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Holly Pitti, BSBA

Holly Pitti, BSBA
"I wanted to show my kids that education was important. I have five children and the flexibility..."
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Maryanne Spatola, BS

Maryanne Spatola, BS
"Finishing my degree was a tremendous leg up for me in terms of marketability..."
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James V. McGuire IV, BSHS

James V. McGuire IV, BSHS
"My father always told me he wanted me to go to college. My father never finished high school..."
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Kristina Romero, BA

Kristina Romero, BA
"...the best thing about Thomas Edison... your workload is whatever you want to make it..."
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Ashley Pistorio, BSAST

Ashley Pistorio, BSAST
"I wasn't really sure what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I knew I needed a degree to go anywhere...."
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Rolondo Gorostiza, BSAST

Rolondo Gorostiza, BSAST
"My experiences as a student were nothing short of wonderful..."
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Michael Mendes, MAEdL

Michael Mendes, MAEdL
"I can tell my expectations were exceeded. The school did so much for me. It helped me get where I am now..."
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Irving Cintron, AAS

Irving Cintron, AAS
"I have done everything online which to me was exceptional..."
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Dailys Cintron, AA

Dailys Cintron, AA
"Thomas Edison State College accepted more of my credits from my other university..."
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Adam Bernstein, BA

Adam Bernstein, BA
"I was able to complete my degree in about a year… It’s been a good experience..."
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Rachel Moore, MSHRM

Rachel Moore, MSHRM
"I work in New York and have a long commute so the ability to work on my classwork when I had the time provided a good work-life balance..."
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Pedro Amaro, BSAST

Pedro Amaro, BSAST
"I have a demanding job and a family… Thomas Edison allowed me to pick me courses and that was best way for me to finish a little faster than if I went to a more traditional school..."
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Tiffany Jenkins, BSHS

Tiffany Jenkins, BSHS
"The mentors were awesome. They were always available. It really defied my stereotype of what it would be like to go to school online..."
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Dean Clemente, BSOL

Dean Clemente, BSOL
"You come across a lot of different people geographically… that interaction added a great deal of value because I was able to obtain a different dimension and perspective from other professionals..."
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Brian Fogarty, BSAST

Brian Fogarty, BSAST
"When I looked at schools, Thomas Edison really had the edge over all the other schools, even looking at private schools near my home outside of Philadelphia..."
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Vietthi Nguyen, BSAST

Vietthi Nguyen, BSAST
"As a military member, I am busy serving our country, protecting our freedom and serving my family… TESC was the number one pick for me because it offers flexibility..."
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Fakera Nazneen, MSM

Fakera Nazneen, MSM
"I liked the flexibility it offered and that the whole school is supportive of your goal..."
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Winfried Dzandu-Hedidor, BA

Winfried Dzandu-Hedidor, BA
"Some of the courses I took included Intercultural Relationships… for an organization like the UN, that lesson of how to communicate with people of varied back-ground assisted me a lot..."
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Jessica Vaz, BA

Jessica Vaz, BA
"I loved the flexibility the school offered and that is what made me chose Thomas Edison..."
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Arthur J. Pellerin, BA

Arthur J. Pellerin, BA
"I wanted to progress and show my kids that anyone can do it and prove the point to my soldiers as well..."
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Karen Hatcher, BA

Karen Hatcher, BA
"The prior learning assessment option for me was really amazing..."
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Joshua A. Grimm, MSM

Joshua A. Grimm, MSM
"Without the degree I would have been passed over for the management position..."
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Lauren Centrella, BA

Lauren Centrella, BA
"I've always worked and gone to school part-time at other universities...and I wanted to finally finish up my degree..."
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Sudesh Joshi-Chhibbar, BSN

Sudesh Joshi-Chhibbar, BSN
"Online courses are very helpful for busy nurses because we don't have to leave our home..."
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Jason Didomenico, BA

Jason Didomenico, BA
"I liked the curriculum and I liked this school is regionally accredited versus nationally..."
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Barbara A. Hare, BSBA

Barbara A. Hare, BSBA
"I was determined to remove an obstacle to success by actually starting to complete my bachelor's degree..."
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Bill Benson, BSAST

Bill Benson, BSAST
"Once I talked with the people here at Thomas Edison, they guided my through the process..."
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Annevictoria Palumbo, BSHS

Annevictoria Palumbo, BSHS
"The online was nice because it was flexible it gave me the flexibility of doing it when it was convenient for me..."
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John Kurzenberger, BA

John Kurzenberger, BA
"Coming to Thomas Edison State College was the only way I could complete my degree..."
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Cheryl Jefferson, MSM

Cheryl Jefferson, MSM
"The experience developed my leadership skills much more than I already had..."
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Saher Malik, BA

Saher Malik, BA
"Thomas Edison was very flexible and the professors were very accommodating and very helpful..."
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Dexter Trotter, BA

Dexter Trotter, BA
"My inspiration for going back and finishing my degree was my daughter and my family..."
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Towanda Edwards, BA

Towanda Edwards, BA
"I didn't want to be one of those parents who says you must to go to college but hadn't done so..."
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Julio Hoyos, BSBA

Julio Hoyos, BSBA
"I wanted to show my kids that no matter what, you can do it..."
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Benjamin Vonderreith, BSAST

Benjamin Vonderreith, BSAST
"One of the reasons I went to Thomas Edison is that they accepted so much of my Navy training..."
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Angela Gibson, BSBA

Angela Gibson, BSBA
"In order to get back out into the workforce, I had to complete my degree..."
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Anne Rudolph, BA

Anne Rudolph, BA
"I finally found a profession I was interested in and I had to have a degree within that field, so that was what inspired me to comeback..."
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Joyce Serdinsky, BA

Joyce Serdinsky, BA
"I had to say no to certain things and yes to my books, and it was worth it 100 percent..."
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Jennifer Consuegra, BS

Jennifer Consuegra, BS
"I think what I liked best about it was that I could make my own schedule..."
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Joan Martins, BA

Joan Martins, BA
"My inspiration for returning to college to finish my degree was a personal one. I needed to finish something I started before I had a family..."
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Patricia Stevens, BSN

Patricia Stevens, BSN
"I finally had the opportunity after my children were grown to fulfill my dream..."
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Kyle Robertson, BSBA

Kyle Robertson, BSBA
"My target was to graduate before my first child and he just turned 13, so I made it with some spare time..."
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Michele DeNoia, MSM

Michele DeNoia, MSM
"It was a wonderful experience..."
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Tambra Butler, BA

Tambra Butler, BA
"It was a goal of mine ever since I graduating high school 20 years ago...for my parents, and my dad especially..."
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Keisha Patrick, BSBA

Keisha Patrick, BSBA
"Pretty much I wanted to get my bachelor's degree to pursue other opportunities and because I have two teenage boys so I wanted for them to see that this is possible..."
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Mia Keay, BSBA

Mia Keay, BSBA
"I always wanted to get my degree but I started working right after high school and a certain point I realized I would probably not be able to advance in my career unless I had a four-year degree..."
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Tina Smith-Jeffries, BA

Tina Smith-Jeffries, BA
"it was challenging at times... There were long nights, large cups of coffee but it paid off in the end..."
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Hazel Gordon-Suppa, BSN

Hazel Gordon-Suppa, BSN
"It's about getting the patient care possible; the more knowledge you have, the better equipped you are to take care of the patients..."
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Daniel Palermo, BA

Daniel Palermo, BA
"I had to take the time for my children to go college, which they have successfully done, and I felt it was time with the military's assistance for me to return to school and accomplish my degree..."
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Victor Dent, BA

Victor Dent, BA
"It is very convenient taking classes online. You can do your studies over the weekend, at night or in the wee hours of the morning..."
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Job Outlook

The need for skilled Medical Transcriptionists has proven resilient, even in today’s troubling economic climate. Indeed, the medical transcription business in this country is estimated to be worth $10 to $25 billion annually and has been growing 15 percent each year. For this reason, projections for job openings remain optimistic. Demand for medical transcription services will continue to be spurred by a growing and aging population. Older age groups receive proportionally greater numbers of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that require documentation. A high level of demand for transcription services also will be sustained by the continued need for electronic documentation that can be shared easily among providers, third-party payers, regulators, consumers, and health information systems. And growing numbers of medical transcriptionists will be needed to amend patients’ records, edit documents from speech recognition systems, and identify discrepancies in medical reports.

36% of medical transcriptionists are employees in a hospital or are retained by hospitals as telecommuting employees. Other MTs work as independent contractors for an outsourced service that performs the work offsite under contract to a hospital, clinic, physician group or other healthcare provider. And in 23% of cases, MTs work directly for the providers of service (doctors or their group practices), either onsite or telecommuting as employees or contractors. In all these settings, medical transcriptionists are employed in comfortable surroundings, even those who telecommute from home-based offices. However, prospective medical transcriptionists should be aware that the work usually requires sitting in the same position for long periods.

Most medical transcriptionists work a standard 40-hour week although some may be on call at any time. Self-employed medical transcriptionists, of course, are more likely to work irregular hours—including part time, evenings, and weekends.

Compensation
Wage-and-salary medical transcriptionists had median hourly wages of $15.68 in May 2009 as reported by the US Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle 50 percent earned between $13.09 and $18.76 per hour. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $10.78, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $21.97.

Percentile wage estimates for this occupation:
 

Percentile 10% 25% 50%
(Median)
75% 90%
Hourly Wage $10.78 $13.09 $15.68 $18.76 $21.97
Annual Wage $22,430 $27,230 $32,600 $39,020 $45,700

 

Industries with the highest levels of employment in this occupation:


Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals 34,430 $16.58 $34,480
Offices of Physicians 22,310 $15.58 $32,410
Business Support Services 13,500 $14.92 $31,040
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories 2,530 $18.60 $38,680
Outpatient Care Centers 1,840 $15.80 $32,870

 

Compensation arrangements for medical transcriptionists vary. Some are paid on the basis of the number of hours they work or the number of lines they transcribe. Others receive a base pay per hour, with incentives for extra production. Employees of transcription services and independent contractors almost always receive production-based pay. Independent contractors earn more than do transcriptionists who work for others, but independent contractors have higher expenses than their corporate counterparts, receive no benefits, and may face a higher risk of termination than do wage-and-salary transcriptionists.

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for medical transcriptionists


Industry Employment Hourly mean wage Annual mean wage
Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories 2,530 $18.60 $38,680
Insurance Carriers 30 $18.26 $37,980
Scientific Research and Development Services 50 $17.44 $36,270
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services 320 $17.44 $36,260
Offices of Dentists 730 $17.39 $36,170

Lastly, it is interesting to note that New Jersey is among the five highest-paying states for this occupation in the country.