When I first started medical transcription I would go and pick up tapes from the doctors and transcribe them at home on a transcription machine, then put them on a floppy disk and the next morning take the disk and tapes back to the clinic and pick up new ones.



Eventually my clinic started using dictation which could be transcribed via a WAV pedal. Now all I do is log into the clinic and download the doctor's voice dictation and transcribe it using the WAV pedal to hear the doctor's dictation.



Using the WAV pedal allows me to transcribe for transcription companies and clinics anywhere in the US without ever leaving my house. I can type in my slouchies, not bother with makeup unless I want to, have no wear and tear on my car, no large gas bills for my car, and even have time to surf the net in between dictations. Now this is what I call really working at home.



On top of all of that, this is a real career where my services as an experienced medical transcriptionist will always be in demand.



Marilyn Roberts

Medical Transcriptionist

There are a lot of medical transcription schools out there, so how do you know which one to choose, which one has the best program, which one will help you get a job when you graduate?



Some of the things you want to look for in choosing a school are:



1. Do they have a good support staff?



2. Do they have a good program for medical terminology?



3. Do they focus on medical specialties?



4. Do they teach style and grammer essentials?



5. Do they offer good training on human anatomy, physiology and disease processes?



6. Do they offer good training on abbreviations, plurals, and word differentiating?



Do thorough researching before you sign up for a medical transcription course.



Ask about schools on MT forums. You will get pros and cons on the schools.



If you find the top schools too expensive you could take your course through a school such as Career Step . They have several different payment plans and are one of the top medical transcription schools.



Take your time and consider all of the different programs out there. This is going to be your career so you want to get it started right.



Marilyn Roberts

Medical Transcriptionist

When I first started as an medical transcriptionist I only had Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary and Saunder's Pharmaceutical Word Book. My MT course required you to have a medical dictionary and drug book. That was also all I had when I started my first job as a medical transcriptionist. I slowly added to my library and the following is a list of other books I have since added:



Stedman's Abbreviation, Acronyms & Symbols (There are a lot of abbreviations in the world of medicine. I use this book a lot).



The Medical Word Book by Sheila Sloane (This book listed different specialties such as cardiovascular, obstetrics, orthopedics, etc. This came in very handy as I worked for general practitioners at clinics with no definite speciality, so I had to have information on all specialities.



Stedman's OB-GYN Word Book



Stedman's Surgery Words



Stedman's GI & GU Words



Handbook of Diseases



Stedman's Orthopedic & Rehab Words



Laboratory Test Handbook



As I said earlier, I did not start out with all of these books but they all are very useful to me now. You can start slowly like I did and eventually you will end up with a library of very useful medical books.



Vist my medical transcription website for articles and tips on becoming a home based medical transcriptionist.



Marilyn Roberts

Medical Transcriptionist

A lot of new medical transcriptionists believe that when they graduate from a medical transcription course that the certificate they receive for successfully completing the course makes them a CMT (certified medical transcriptionist). This is not true. Some of the eligibility requirements for becoming a CMT are:



You must have two years of actual medical transcription experience in acute care or the equivalent. Acute care includes ESL's (English as a second language), many different report types and all of the major and some of the minor specialties.



You will take the AAMT (American Association for Medical Transcription) CMT exam that consists of medical transcription knowledge and performance items. There are testing centers where you will go to take your test. Check with AAMT for their specific guidelines and fee for the testing.



Your certification is valid for three years. After that time you must recertify by paying a recertification fee and earning a minimum of 30 continuing education credits in the required categories.



Check with AAMT for more in depth eligibility requirements.



Becoming a CMT can sometimes bring you a larger rate of pay. It recognizes you as being an experienced and qualified professional in your field. It is a badge of honor for yourself and your accomplishments.



Marilyn Roberts

Medical Transcriptionist

A lot of people wonder if they would have the right basic skills to become a medical transcriptionist. I am not talking about an MT course, which you would need to have.



Some important things in a medical transcriptionist are typing, preferably 60 wpm or better (although sometimes lesser speeds could be acceptable with certain transcription companies), and good spelling and grammar.



As I am an avid reader I feel this has helped to make me good at spelling and grammar, at least good enough to correct a doctor's spelling and grammar.



I had typing in high school and my speed has slowly built up over the years as a transcriptionist. I can now type 100 wpm but I don't transcribe at that speed. I probably transcribe at about 70-80 wpm.



As far as typing goes, practice will build your speed, but in medical transcription quality is more important than quantity.



Also, working at home makes for a lonely business. That is why it is important to visit the MT forums so that you don't feel so alone all of the time. You can be sitting there for hours with a doctor dictating in your ears and feel completely isolated from the rest of the world. I, myself, do not mind the isolation but I know that it bothers some people a lot.



To me this is the perfect home based business.



Marilyn Roberts

Medical Transcriptionist

The question I am asked most often by new medical transcriptionists is how to get their first job. Most transcription jobs require experience as the medical providers do not have time to train new transcriptionists. So, how do you get experience if you have no experience? That is the struggle for beginners.



The good news is that there are transcription companies that will hire you and train you. Hospitals and clinics usually use a transcription company to do their transcription mainly because they don't have the time or personnel to train an inexperienced MT.



If you have taken a medical transcription course you were probably told to call the hospitals and clinics in your area or write them a letter about getting a job. Also to place ads in the newspaper, read the ads in the newspaper, and to contact medical transcription companies to see if they are hiring inexperienced MTs.



I got my first MT job by answering an ad in the newspaper from a small transcription company. I was in my last weeks of school and didn't do very well on transcribing dictation at the interview, but I was hired because I did know the medical terminology very well.



All of the above can work if you persist and don't give up. I recently had a new MT email me about trying to get her first job and I told her about all of the above methods. Then I told her to be sure and go to the MT forums such as MT Desk and ask there about who was hiring beginning MTs.



She did go to MT Desk and in less than two weeks she had a job. She found out which companies were hiring inexperienced medical transcriptionists and the first day filled out some online applications. She had a telephone follow-up with one of the companies later that week and the next week she was hired.



There are more transcription companies hiring inexperienced MTs than there once was. You wouldn't be starting out at a very high rate of pay but as your experience builds so will your pay. The MT forums will know who those companies are. You can also network with other new transcriptionists and get good advice from seasoned professionals.



So get started today, visit the forums, ask questions and get that first job.



Marilyn Roberts

Medical Transcriptionist

Some people think that medical transcriptionists are just "typists" and that anyone who can type can do medical transcription. This is far from the truth.



Medical terminology is like a second language and you need to know it to transcribe medical reports. There are many abbreviations and sound alikes in MT work that someone untrained in the field will just not know.



In some cases if you have worked in a medical atmosphere you might be able to become a medical transcriptionist without extensive training but even then you would benefit from at least a medical terminology course.



You need to think of medical transcription as a career and not just a job, so therefore you will need some schooling just as you would in any career.



Don't take shortcuts. Get the schooling and become a medical transcriptionist. (I highly recommend it.)



Have a great day!



Marilyn Roberts

Medical Transcriptionist