How to become a medical transcriptionist

A medical transcriptionist is someone who interprets dictations by medical professionals such as doctors, physicians and other health care professionals. In effect, their role is to summarise written documents, often in the form of brief reports, in a comprehensive and professional manner.

It has to be written in a way that one would assume it was written by a healthcare professional, given that it has to be very precise with use of medical terminology.

A medical transcriptionist requires a very thorough grasp of the medical lingual such as the various procedures, human anatomy and the various terminologies associated with

There is often an impression that a medical transcriptionist is similarly qualified to a receptionist at a hospital or a physician's office when, in fact, a medical transcriptionist is required to have substantial technical (not practical) knowledge of terminology, procedures, etc.

Qualifications required

Because a medical transcriptionist is required to convey information in very well written reports, it is goes without saying high levels of grammar and punctuation is a necessity.

• A degree in medical transcription education as offered by many universities. Also, there are host of colleges offering specialist courses that aim to cover the technical aspects of becoming employable in medical transcription.

• A qualification to become a Certified Medical Transcriptionist is awarded to those passing exams accredited by the American Association of Medical Transcription.

• Qualifications required could also vary depending on the requirements of the role that you apply for.

Getting qualifications online

It is possible to do online courses accredited by the American Association of Medical Transcription. Be sure also to do a course that is provided by an accredited online college, preferably a traditional college/university that also provides online courses rather than simply an internet based organization.

It is also possible to become a medical transcriptionist through demonstrating transferable skills. Someone working within another field in the healthcare profession e.g. a nurse is able to fast track him/herself into medical transcription. This is because they are already expected to have some of the core knowledge required for a medical transcriptionist that they were able to demonstrate earlier. However, they must take

Medical transcription employment

Job opportunities for a well-qualified medical transcriptionist are quite abundant. Firstly, there is the opportunity to work directly with organizations providing the healthcare such as hospitals.

A career in medical transcription provides the opportunity for promotion. A new recruit in medical transcription that can demonstrate good knowledge and ability can gain promotion and get a position with more seniority within medical transcription profession, such as doing operative reports.

Salary

A medical transcriptionist salary varies based on the type of organization you work for, the type of contract that you have i.e. hourly/by the number of reports transcribed, some may also earn a fixed monthly salary. However, the salary scale is anything between $10 to around $30 an hour. The lower salary is typically for new entrants with very little experience, most can expect to earn significantly more than that.

Medical transcriptionist jobs at home

Given the nature of the job, it is quite feasible for medical transcriptionist to work from home without impeding their ability to work to their full potential because a medical transcriptionist principally works with recorded messages that can be transmitted over the internet and there is no need for external collaboration i.e. consultation with the professional for whom the report is being prepared.

However, it will depend a lot on the organization involved. Some may outsource this type of work, while others may not.

It is unlikely that medical transcriptionist will be allowed to work from home until they have at least demonstrated their experience and capabilities, so long as of course, the organization is open to the idea of using home based transcriptionists.