Medical transcription is a profession where one transcribes medical records dictated by doctors and nurses who work at hospitals, clinics, laboratories, rehabilitation centers, etc. Whenever a patient sees a doctor or other medical practitioner a medical report of the visit is entered into their patient records. Medical transcription can be a work at home job or in-house which means going in to an office every day.
The medical transcriptionist, also known as an MT, transcribes the oral dictation of the visit into a medical record to be placed either as a hard copy or digital copy into the patient’s records depending on how the doctor keeps his patient records. Many hospitals use a computer program for medical records which enables other doctors to pull up the patient files when needed.
Good listening skills, good grammar skills and knowledge of medical terminology are all required to become an MT and if you are going to work at home, self discipline is another skill required. An MT also must know how to type, although speed is not a big factor when starting out. Speed automatically improves with practice.
Some people will tell you that education is not required but it is our firm belief that it is required if a person is looking for a legitimate job working at home as a medical transcriptionist either part time or full time for a hospital or transcription company. There are jobs one can get without an education but the pay will be less, it will be much harder to learn the different formats and the medical vocabulary thus making starting a new job that much more stressful. The only people that you may find that will hire without an education or experience will be doctors at a local clinic or maybe some of the smaller transcription companies.
Most, if not all, hospitals and transcription companies require at least 2 years and more often 5 years of experience before they will test you. There are some transcription companies that will test a recent graduate from an accredited school. Even then, compared with how many are out there, the percentage is small for those willing to let a graduate in the door. A list of companies both in the US and Canada that test new graduates will be available soon to members. This is why we believe that an education from an accredited school gives a person the very best chance of finding a real work at home job where they can earn a full time income or maybe a second income. It is the very purpose of this website to guide anyone who wishes to become a transcriptionist and work at home how to do that legitimately so that they are not taken advantage of and do not end up being scammed or ripped off in any way.
