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A Career In Medical Transcription: Is It For You?
By: John Travers
You've very likely heard of someone who is making a good living
as a medical transcriptionist. He or she might even be working
from the comfort of their home. And you've probably asked
yourself if this might be a career option for you.
It may well be. Let's take a look at the facts.
What exactly is medical transcription? In the course of their
work, doctors and other healthcare professionals make dictated
recordings of various things including physical examination
observations, patient history, operative reports, referral
letters, discharge summaries, observations regarding imaging
data and so on.
A medical transcriptionist listens to these recordings and
transcribes them into medical reports, correspondence, etc. She
listens to a segment of recording, pauses the playback and keys
in what is said before moving on to the next segment. She may do
some editing for better grammar and clarity.
The transcribed document is sent back to the health care
provider who then reviews it for accuracy and gets it signed.
These documents become part of the patient's medical history
records and perhaps insurance records.
To be effective at this job, you should understand medical
terminology well. That includes anatomy, pharmacology,
diagnostic procedures, treatment assessments and more.
Many distance education programs, colleges and vocational
schools offer post-secondary training in medical transcription.
Having a degree is not essential. With a home-study course, you
can usually pick up the necessary knowledge within a year, often
in less than nine months.
You can find work in hospitals, laboratories, physician's
offices, firms offering transcription services, government
medical facilities and so on. Working from home is also a
possibility and many employers offer work-at-home options for
transcriptionists. Apart from that, many individuals work as
independent contractors.
With experience, it is possible to move into supervisory
positions, which include editing work, teaching, consulting,
etc.
What equipment would you need, if you wanted to do medical
transcription at home? Not very much -- a computer with a
medical spellchecker, printer, a transcriber and reference books
are about all you need. To help you save on the actual typing, a
word expander utility might help. If you are on a tight budget,
buy second hand equipment will do just as well.
Medical transcription work does call for certain skills and
mindset. Apart from basic computer skills, you must be detail
oriented. If detail work bores you to tears, this might not be
the career for you.
You must know typing, although speed will come with practice.
You should also have excellent listening skills and grammar
skills.
If you're planning to work from home, it is essential to be
comfortable with working alone and meeting deadlines. You must
be a self-starter who can work consistently without being driven
by a boss.
Given the growth in health practices and hospitals and the need
for standardization of records, the demand for medical
transcription services is likely to keep growing. You should
carefully analyze the pros and cons of this field before
venturing into it. Medical transcription provides a rewarding
and fulfilling career for many people and it can do the same for
you too.
About the author:
John Travers is a business consultant who has written about medical transcription, other business
transcription services and related topics.
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