Medical Dictation

A medical transcription job can be an exciting career choice. A person that performs medical transcription is known as a medical transcriptionist.   Often, you will see the job name abbreviated as MT.  Before we discuss the job, let’s first make sure we have some vocabulary usage correct.

Sometimes, people mistakenly refer to an MT as a transcriber.  That is not correct.  The equipment used by the transcriptionist is termed a medical transcriber, or simply a transcriber.  The person using the transcriber is known as a transcriptionist.

A person employed in a medical transcription job is involved in converting the patient’s medical records from recorded voice recordings to text.  They will use equipment (transcriber) such as a cassette player with pedals to control the playback.  A transciber can also be entirely on the computer, the voice recordings may have been phoned into the the system and the doctor’s voice recorded digitally and stored on the computer itself.  The transcriptionist will then listen to the recording on the computer, and will normally still use foot pedals to control the playback of the audio.

Medical transcription jobs can be found in a number of venues.  Medical transcriptionist can be hired by a hospital or other medical facility, or may work for a third-party that specializes in providing medical dictation to the medical field.

The transcriptionist may work physically at the hospital, but many transcriptionist work from home.  Third-party transcriptionist can be anywhere!  Much like call center workers are often located in other countries, so it is with transcriptionist.  With the use of the Internet, the voice recordings can be listened to, and transcribed just about anywhere.

The fact that medical transcriptionist can work from home provides a compelling reason for many mothers with young children to pursue this field.  I personally know a woman that works as a medical transcriptionist from home.  She is employed by a local hospital, and enjoys the flexible schedule.  She has a second job that she can also do from home, using the computer.  Working from home, with it’s distractions can be difficult for some.  However, if you can train yourself, and your family to recognize your need for quiet time while transcribing, you may just find a perfect job for you.

The actual job requires special abilities.  For example, one must be a very attentive listener.  A transcriptionist must be able to simultaneously listen and type.  In addition, she will need to control the transcriber to play back audio that was difficult to understand,  or to listen again to ensure accurate dictation.

Another aspect of the medical transcription job is mastery of medical terms.  The medical field has it’s own jargon.  Doctor’s expect the medical transcriptionist to understand what is being said.  Many times, the transcriptionist is not only listening and transcribing, but also performing real-time editing too.   Medical transcription is not like court transcription.  Court transcriptionist transcribe exactly what is said.  In the medical transcription process, the doctor’s input is transcribed into a ”readable”" text with careful attention to accuracy as well.

There are a number of ways by which one may enter medical transcription jobs.  Training may be obtained through local certificate or diploma training programs.  Distance learning is another possible approach.  Some hospitals offer on-the-job training as well.    The woman I mentioned earlier, that works from home,  is a nurse.  She is already well versed in the medical terminology, and is a very fast typist (about 160 words per minute).  She wanted more time at home with her family, and used her past training, and exceptional typing skills to obtain a job she enjoys.

Some countries are competing strongly for medical transcription jobs.  To gain credibility in the field they may require 18 – 24 months of training for their medical transcriptionists.  It takes awhile to gain mastery of today’s medical terminology and the way it is used in the medical professions.  For countries with english as a second-language, it is even more demanding for students to acquire the necessary proficiency.