Credentialing: - Association for Healthcare Documentation

Component Spotlight
Navigating a Path to Success
Sherry L. Martin, CMT
The Greater Jacksonville Chapter (GJC) has had a
Certification Connector for several years, but we have
had particularly great success with this initiative over
the last two to three years. I think one major reason that
we have been so successful is that individuals in management
roles outside of medical transcription, such as
clinic administrators and hospital health information
management (HIM) directors, have taken a keen interest
in what we really do and the important role we play in
healthcare documentation. That interest and willingness
to help us pursue our continuing education and certification
has made all the difference in how successful we
have been. Because some of our local chapter members
had the opportunity and were willing to speak at meetings
about certification when both medical transcriptionists
(MTs) and HIM administration were present, it has
opened doors for us that may have otherwise remained
closed. The willingness of our chapter members to seize
this opportunity to advance the profession has been
instrumental in our success.
I want to tell you a little about what we have done in
the past and things that we have adapted and changed
as we have moved forward and continue to advance the
profession.
I joined GJC in 2002, shortly after I passed the “old”
CMT exam. At that time, I didn’t know that there was a
certification connector, let alone that there were other
people out there that I might have been able to prepare
with. But, I was hopeful that someday I might be able to
help someone else who was willing to move forward in
their career to study and take the CMT exam. Not too
long after I passed my test, AAMT changed the format
of the exam and it became even more critical to prepare
well in advance to successfully pass the new version of
the exam. GJC had acquired several transcribers, SUM
practice tapes, study guides, and other materials over
the years that anyone could check out to help them
prepare for the exam. Several members over the years
have taken advantage of this and studied on their own.
Some were successful; others were not. Study groups
were formed and met on the weekends at a neighbor-
hood library or other locations, but they tended to fizzle
out due to apathy or just plain running out of available
time. Many people never moved forward with actually
taking the exam for one reason or another. Things
became rather stagnant.
Then we had a breakthrough. Lea Sims, CMT,
AHDI-F, and Kristin Wall, AHDI-F, were invited to speak
to the transcription department at Nemours Children’s
Clinic in Jacksonville for MT Week. They talked about
the chapter, which several MTs didn’t even know existed,
The willingness of our chapter members to
seize this opportunity to advance the profession has been
instrumental in our success.
the national organization, and the importance of obtaining
their CMT credential and elevating the professionalism
of our industry. Attendees were encouraged to look
at medical transcription not just as a “job” but a profession,
because so many in the medical field still weren’t
aware of the knowledge base and skill sets involved in
being a certified medical transcriptionist and the key
role we play in healthcare documentation. Besides the
transcription manager, also in attendance at that meeting
were the HIM manager and the Nemours Children’s
Clinic Jacksonville administrator. Both of them were very
intrigued by the information presented by the speakers.
That particular clinic stresses continuing education for
all of their medical professionals, and when they realized
that transcription also offered continuing education
opportunities and a certification program, they were very
excited and pursued it proactively.
Nemours made their MTs an offer. They said they
would purchase selected study books for anyone who
wanted to participate in the CMT study group. These
study books included the CMT Review Guide, The
Volume 5 • Issue 6 noVemBeR 2009
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