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Medical Transcription 101
Medical transcription is a health career focusing on transcribing or transliterating recorded dictations.
Dictations may come from a physician or from any healthcare professional.
In most cases, doctors prefer those transcriptions that are stored electronically such as those saved in the
computer's hard disk. Doctors prefer "soft copy" because it is more accessible for them to check.
A medical transcriptionist is a person whose task is to document what is said (if he is there in the room) or what
is heard (if he's listening to audio tapes). Medical transcribers are the gadgets or devices used while conducting
medical transcription.
If you are planning to be a medical transcriptionist, you must be aware of correct spellings, correct medical
terminologies, document editing, and most importantly, medical rules and procedures. You must have a background of
the subject matter for you to write about it.
Medical transcriptions also serve as medical records. These medical evidences also serve as medical bills
indicating the compensations or benefits of the patient.
There are no formal educational courses for medical transcriptionists. Yes, an "education" is obtained but these
trainings or diploma programs can be done in a shorter period compared to a college education.
Some countries offer a set minimum requirement of 6 months to a maximum two years-in-depth training for those who
are interested to become medical transcriptionists.
The skills required from professional medical transcriptionists are: 1.) expertise on what he or she does, 2.)
accurate documenting skills, 3.) fluent writing technique, and above all, 4.) the ability to write or type fast
just in case the material is to be obtained from listening.
Most transcriptionists are those who are interested about medicine. Some are even working students. They are
medical transcriptionists by day and medical students by night. It is like hitting two birds with one stone.
If you're curious what the workplace is like, medical transcriptionists are usually based in health care type
settings like hospitals, clinics, physician's offices, nursing homes, public health agencies, or home health care
agencies.
Obtaining certification for becoming a medical transciptionist is optional. However, it is highly recommended for
the sake of credibility. Transcriptionists who pass the national exam given by the American Association for Medical
Transcription or the AAMT earn the title Certified Medical Transcriptionists.
Every three years, CMTs must attain continuing education credits in order to be recertified.
According to the US Department of Labor, the average salary for transcriptionists is around $25,000.
One can start looking for medical transcriptionist job leads through job boards, online forums, and work-at-home
blogs that post these telecommute job openings every now and then. Aside from learning a bunch of information from
the basics to updates about the MT industry, job openings are posted on online medical transcription forums such as
MTStars.com, MTetc.net, MTjobs.com, etc. You can even try to send cover letters to MT companies since the boom of
this industry made transcriptionists ever in-demand.
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