Is A Career In
Medical Transcription For You? Submitted By: Gray Rollins If you have
an interest in the medical field and enjoy office work, you should
consider a career in medical transcription. Demand in this field continues
to grow and each year there are more job opportunities.Medical transcription
clerks quickly and accurately transcribe medical records that are
dictated by doctors and other medical professionals.
You will be working with clinic notes, physical reports, office notes,
consultation reports, operative reports, psychiatric evaluations,
laboratory results, pathology reports, and x-ray results to name just
some of the record types.The clerk receives the information on a dictation
tape which is then listened to using a Dictaphone machine and transcribed
into a word processing program. Different doctors use different word
processing software but all have medical dictionaries.
There are several that are required including medications, medical
definitions, and abbreviations. In order to do this job you must have
good computer and language skills. You must also be well versed in
medical terminology, laboratory terms, surgical terms, procedures,
and abbreviations. Medical transcription clerks must be accurate as
they are responsible for correctly transcribing patient medical records.
You can complete a Medical Transcription certification program online.
The length of programs varies depending on the level of training you
undertake, but on average they take anywhere from 6 months to 9 months
to complete. You will then be qualified to work in a hospital or medical
office as a transcriptionist. There are also job opportunities in
the field becoming available online. In the United States you can
expect to earn around $10.00 per hour to start,
with just a few years experience this can jump to $20.00 per hour or
more. National transcription companies require 2-5 years of hospital
experience, but they pay substantially better! Online, in a self employed
environment, you can earn up to $40.00 per hour.Although membership
in a professional association is not required, it is recommended. Click
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