Medical Transcription Training and Careers

Medical Transcription Jobs

Your medical transcription training will prepare you to enter the workforce as a medical transcriptionist. Your job will be to listen to dictated recordings made by physicians and other health care professionals and transcribe them into medical reports, correspondence and other materials. Because these documents eventually become part of patients' permanent health records, a trained transcriptionist's ability to understand and correctly transcribe patient assessments and treatment records reduces the chance of patients receiving ineffective or even harmful treatments. It is a well-paying career in high demand that offers work-from-home or self-employment opportunities for skilled workers who have been through medical transcription training.

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Medical Transcription Duties

Medical transcriptionists typically produce the following types of documents:

• Discharge summaries
• Health histories
• Physical examination reports
• Operative reports
• Consultation reports
• Diagnostic imaging studies
• Progress notes
• Referral letters and other correspondence

Generally, transcriptionists listen to recordings on a headset and key the text into a computer or word processor. While most transcribe from digital or analog recordings, the Internet is growing more popular as a mode for transmitting dictation, because it enables quick turn around. Speech recognition software is further speeding up the process by automatically translating recordings into text. When using this technology, transcriptionists listen to dictation while reading a software-created draft and edit the text on screen.

Although their transcribed documents are reviewed and corrected by the physicians or other health care professionals who dictated them, an experienced medical transcriptionist will create accurate drafts by understanding medical terminology and jargon, medical abbreviations, anatomy and physiology, diagnostic procedures, pharmacology and treatment assessments, and by consulting standard medical reference materials. They must conform reports to style requirements of medical records and comply with legal and ethical requirements governing patient confidentiality.

Medical transcriptionists working in physicians' offices may have additional duties such as receiving patients, scheduling appointments, answering phones and handling mail.

Medical Transcription Workplace

About four in 10 medical transcriptionists work for hospitals, and another three in 10 work for physicians' offices. Others work for business support services, laboratories, outpatient care centers, and in offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists and audiologists. Most enjoy comfortable, quiet surroundings that are usually far removed from the examining rooms and hospital floors where health care is provided. Most full-time transcriptionists work a 40-hour week.

Some medical transcriptionists telecommute from home-based offices as employees or subcontractors or as self-employed, independent contractors. Self-employed medical transcriptionists are more likely to work irregular hours, including part time, evenings, weekends or on call.

A detail-oriented personality is a good fit for the job. Work in this occupation can present hazards from extended sitting and repetitive motion injuries, and the constant pressure to be accurate and productive can be challenging.

Medical Transcription Training and Education

Employers prefer to hire transcriptionists who have completed one to two years of postsecondary medical transcription training offered by many vocational schools, community colleges and distance-learning programs. Course work includes anatomy, medical terminology, legal issues, computer skills, and English grammar and punctuation. Many programs include on-the-job experience. Prospective transcriptionists familiar with medical terminology from previous experience as a nurse or medical secretary may become proficient through refresher courses.

Medical Transcription Licensing and Certification

The American Association for Medical Transcription awards the voluntary designation Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) to those who pass a certification examination. Because medicine is constantly evolving, medical transcriptionists are encouraged to update their skills regularly. Every three years, CMTs must earn continuing education credits to be recertified.