Medical Transcriptionist Career

Want a career as a Medical Transcriptionist? Let me fill you in on the ups and downs and then you will have a better understanding of what you are getting yourself in for.

I have been a Medical transcriptionist for almost 20 years and it has been a very rewarding career. I started back when you self taught and there were no classes or certification to get you started. You learned by trial and error, however today there are endless aids to getting your career up and running in a timely manner. I would highly recommend taking the classes and getting certified first. This definitely ups your marketability. There are many reputable online or community college classes you could sign up for. Your typing skills need to be very speedy and accurate, grammar excellent and speed of completing a task in a timely manner and well organized a must. An added bonus would be some knowledge of medical terminology.

Personally I chose the radiology field to transcribe in because it is so interesting to me however you could do general transcription. The possibilities are endless.

One option is an online job agency who refers typing jobs to you from a particular source. This type of job you can to do from the comfort of your home. I have a few friends who do this and are very happy and successful. You have to be very disciplined and diligent to do this type of work especially if you want to make any money. Most of these jobs are paid by the line or report, so efficiency is the key to success here.

Other options are doctors offices, dentist offices, hospitals, medical schools, veterinary schools, veterinary offices, etc. This work is not as profitable as the type per line, but if you need the interaction and motivation of working a full time position in a typical job setting this may be the job for you. You are usually paid a base salary.

One aid available now is a program (though quite expensive) called Dragon Medical or Radiology. This program types as you talk. You must program it to your voice and basic commands. It is a tremendous help if you get fatigued and tired of typing after a while. The most obvious downside is it is best to use in a quite setting as it will pick up any type of outside noise and miss understand your commands very easily causing mistakes that must be corrected.

Medical transcription can be a very lucrative field however the competition varies by location and skills. More doctors offices are contracting out their typing so the online jobs are very busy now. The decision is ultimately yours, but you cannot go wrong by becoming a Medical Transcriptionist in this moderately competitive industry. You won’t get rich by typing but you will gain a lot of medical knowledge and always have steady work.