I have worked as a transcriptionist for more than 35 years and currently work for a regional company, but I've also worked for small offices, large clinics, hospitals and local and national transcription services.
Below is a list of medical and nonmedical reference books that I use everyday or have been highly recommended to me. If a transcriptionist is going to work at home, rather than in a clinic or hospital setting, it is ESSENTIAL that you have good reference materials. Not only do you need these to accomplish your work with good quality, but having them will give you the confidence that you can work independently at home.
You can probably get by without some of these books now that the Internet is such a vast repository of information. For instance, it is probably not necessary to buy the expensive PDR any more, as you can look up information about drug usage, available dosage, etc. on the Internet. That being said, I still included the information about everything I do use on a daily basis.
~ The medical books ~
1. The AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcription
Please note: This book is #1 on this list for a reason - I get more questions about things that are included in this book than almost anything else. I would love to be able to have the entire content of this book on my site, but I cannot legally do that. I do have some "bits" on the "formatting, style, English usage" page. But if you are a working transcriptionist, you really need to get yourself a copy of this book. Pretty much all transcription companies use this as their rules for style, so it will not matter who you are working for, they will most likely follow these rules. It is in your best interest to have this book in your library.
Published by AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation and Integrity) -- formerly known as AAMT, Association for Medical Transcription. Third Edition 2008.
Cost New: Best source is directly through ahdionline.org. It is $60 ($40 for members of AHDI). This new edition was published June 2008 and became available about August 2008. The descriptive blurb about the book from the AHDI site says "The Book of Style for Medical Transcription, 3rd edition, includes a streamlined and strategically reorganized flow of critical data, enhanced explanation of standards and practical application, robust examples taken from clinical medicine settings, and so much more. The 3rd edition will not come with a CD or .pdf file, however, we have released of a subscription-based web access electronic version of this edition."
ISBN: 978-0-935229-58-5
Comment: This is the gold standard for transcription as far as what is required for punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, etc. All transcription companies use it as their basis for proofing and quality control. The cost of the third edition is much less than previous editions (although edition 2 did come with a CD and edition 3 does not) and it is well worth the money. I strongly urge every transcriptionist to have this book in their reference library. It can be purchased directly from the ADHI site (ahdi.org) for $60.
The major book sellers do not seem to have this book available new, and because it is fairly new, there are only a few "used" copies available (may be actually new, but listed as "used" in the book markets of places like Barnes and Noble and Alibris), but so far these "used" copies are much higher than $60.00, so directly from AHDI is your best place to buy this book at this time.
2. Physicians Desk Reference (PDR)
Approximate Cost New: $95. Available at most major book stores. When the new edition comes out each year, you can usually get the previous year's edition at a steep discount at some book stores or used book stores.
Comment: Published annually, but you do not need to update every year, just manually add in new drugs. This is more comprehensive than the books that just list the drugs (see #3 below) because oftentimes you need to look up uses or dosages to see if you have the right drug. But this may be an unnecessary expense nowadays, as many reputable sites on the Internet can provide you with that same information for free.
3. Pharmaceutical Word Book by Drake and Drake. Newest edition published by W. B. Saunders Co. is 2008 Edition (Published 2007)
Approximate Cost New: $40. Used copies available for as little as $7 (per search of directtextbook.com) Available at most major book stores.
ISBN: 1416037695
Comment: I do not have this book, so cannot comment on it personally, but it is highly recommended. Note: Just like the PDR, you might think you could eliminate this book and use the Internet instead, which you could. But it's really inconvenient to have to look up the spelling of a drug through a web site when you could just have a hard copy book and flip to it in seconds, and then you'll have it on paper for future reference. You'll have to add new drugs in manually to the book to keep it updated (they don't come out with an updated version every year), but it's worth the little extra time to manually update as you go along.
4. Sloane's Medical Word Book by Ellen Drake, CMT. Published by W. B. Saunders Co. Fourth edition, May 2001.
Approximate Cost New: $49. Used copies for as little as $15 (per search of directtextbook.com) Available at most major book stores.
ISBN: 072167626X
Comment: Fourth edition now includes a dental section. Make sure you get this edition or later so can have the dental section. If you get an older edition, you will probably need to find yourself a dental book as well.
5. The Surgical Word Book by Claudia Tessier. Published W. B. Saunders Co. Fourth edition, 2007.
ISBN: 0781775221
Approximate Cost New: $40. Used copies available for about $15 (per search of directtextbook.com) Available at most major book stores.
6. A Pocket Guide To Physical Examination and History Taking by Barbara Bates. Published by J.B. Lippincott Company. Sixth edition, 2008.
Approximate Cost New: $45. You can find new and used copies for about $25 (per search of directtextbook.com). I bought mine new at my college bookstore new. Available at most major book stores.
ISBN: 0781780667
Comment: I think this book is invaluable to the new transcriptionist to help figure out what should be included in each body system.
7. Illustrated Guide To Diagnostic Tests Published by Springhouse Corporation. Second edition 1998.
Approximate Cost New: $46. You can get used copies of this book for as little as $5 (per search of directtextbook.com) I bought at mine new my college bookstore. Available at most major book stores.
ISBN: 087434882X
Comment: I think this book (or something similar) is a must-have for new transcriptionists.
8. Clinical Handbook: Maternal Newborn Nursing by Sally B. Olds, RNC,MS. Published by Prentice Hall. Eighth edition, 2008.
ISBN: 0132324415
Approximate Cost New: $28. You can get used copies for about $15 (per search on directtextbook.com) Available at most major books stores.
9. Pocket Guide To The Operating Room by Maxine A. Goldman. Published by F. A. Davis Company. Thoroughly updated third edition 2008
Approximate Cost New: $46 for the newly updated third edition. You can get new or used copies for around $29 (per search of directtextbooks.com) I bought my second edition at my community college bookstore. Available at many major book stores or you can buy directly from F.A. Davis Company at fadavis.com.
ISBN: 978-0-8036-1226-6
Comment: This book really helps if you do any operative reports and a book with this kind of content is scarce. I took a look at the third edition and was very impressed with the updated procedures from the second edition, and the 100 new surgeries that are included. Kudos to Maxine Goldman to continue to offer this scarce content which proved so valuable to me when typing operative reports.
10. Webster's Medical Speller Published by Merriam-Webster Inc. Edition 1995.
Approximate Cost New: $6.50. Used copies for around $3 (per search of directtextbook.com) Available at most major book stores.
ISBN: 0877792739
Comment: I'm sure most people would think this book is a lightweight and too old, but, if for nothing else, it's really handy as a quick source for checking plurals. But again, you could probably get by without this by using the medical spellcheckers on line.
11. Abbreviations, Acronyms and Symbols by Stedman. Published by Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. Fourth edition, 2007.
ISBN: 0781772613
Approximate Cost New: $40. Can get used copies for around $29 (per search of directtextbook.com) Available at most major book stores.
Comment: I don't have this book, so can't comment on it personally, but it is highly recommended by other transcriptionists. Again, you can get information like this on web sites, but it is still good to have hard copy of this material in case you lose access to the Internet for some reason.
12. Stedman's Plastic Surgery/ENT/DentistryWords. Published by Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. July 2005.
ISBN: 0781790018
Approximate Cost New: $40. You can get new and used copies for around $34 (per search of directtextbook.com) Available at major book stores.
Comment: I don't have this book, but I certainly could have used it in the past. However, now that the Sloane's Medical Word Book has a dental section, I am getting by with that. This book is useful to have for the dentistry words if you don't have the Fourth Edition or later of the Sloane's Medical Word Book.
STEDMAN'S WORD BOOK SERIES: Stedman's has a huge library of medical word books. They are all good, but it would run you a lot of money if you got every one of their specialty books. Sloane's Medical Word Book covers much of what multiple Stedman books cover. I would only invest in specialty Stedman's books if you are going to type for a particular specialty and would like to have it for completeness.
~ The Nonmedical Books ~
13. Get a new English dictionary if you don't already have one. A pocket one is fine. I also use it as a handy and central place to add words that are nonmedical but don't often show up in the English dictionary, like martial arts names, names of foreign languages, foreign foods, people and places in the news, etc. Lots of online dictionaries available, but a hard-copy book is still my rule of thumb for backup.
14. Pocket Geographical Dictionary. Published by Merriam-Webster Inc.
Approximate Cost New: $5. Available at major book stores.
ISBN: 0877795061
Comment: This is just a list of places (cities, rivers, mountains, countries) around the world, but, more importantly, it has what the people are called in a country, the former name of the country, etc. It would be nice if they would update this, as it is now more than 10 years old, but it's still valuable for the price. Again,there are sites on the Internet that will give you this information, but hard copy backup is good to have in case you lose your Internet access.
15. Rand McNally's Quick Reference World Atlas
Approximate Cost New: $7
Comment: An 8.5 x 11-inch, 64-page soft cover book that I picked up at Office Depot. Kind of goes along with the geographical pocket book. This is not a must-have, but I do use it. Internet map sites can help you here too, but again, my rule of thumb is have backup in case you lose your Internet access.
16. Rand McNally Road Atlas
Approximate Cost New: Large size is around $18, mid size around $10. Available at all major book stores. But you can pick these up at a steep discount at Costco, Wal-Mart and other discount stores.
Comment: Doesn't have to be this brand, of course; but again, dictators refer to towns in USA that they don't spell, and so far I have been able to find them all in the atlas. Lots of Internet sites to find locations, but this is your backup in case of loss of Internet access.
17. Minimum Essentials of English by Fred Obrecht. Published by Barron's Educational Series Inc. Second edition, 1999.
ISBN: 0764107453
Approximate Cost New: $6.95. You can find used copies for about $4.50 (per search of directtextbook.com) Available at some book stores, but you may have to special order it.
Comment: An easy reference help with grammar, punctuation, capitalization. A quick resource to remind yourself about things like subject-verb agreement. Again, you could have a heavy tome about English, but this is quick and easy to use. It's in an 8-1/2 x 11-inch format, 3-hole punched for putting in a notebook. Kind of hard to find. Search for it by ISBN #
~ Where to buy your books ~
Using a site like directtextbook.com can save you a lot of time, as they search over 200 online stores for you, including eBay. The places I usually buy are Barnes and Noble for new and used; and Alibris for used. Directtextbook.com searches those sites and many others, so it makes sense to just to one stop shopping. Check my page "Suggested site for book purchases" to search directly from my site.
I bought many of my books at my community college bookstore. College bookstores can be a great source of medical books, especially if, like mine, you have a nursing school or other medical training (medical school, PA school or echocardiography school) on your college campus.
But be aware that not all medical books are created equal as far as the transcriptionist is concerned. For instance, I found many textbooks on obstetrics but most of them wouldn't make good reference sources. You have to look through them and see if they have some basic material on exams, lab tests, abbreviations, complications, etc. Many are just set up as question/answer type book for the nursing student.
~ In summary ~
I know the above sounds like a lot of books, but I think the new transcriptionist would have confidence to work at home with these materials on the shelf. You will have to pay about $250 for a good general reference library if you buy used when available.
