Medical transcriptionists (MTs) know that it pays to listen, in life as
well as work. These hardworking professionals are paid to carefully listen
to and transcribe voice recordings made by doctors and other health-care professionals.
Those recordings feature descriptions of emergency room visits and operations,
among other medical information. The MT transcribes that information into
a reader-friendly report that goes into a patient's permanent file.
Medical transcriptionists use standard equipment. This includes a headset,
a foot pedal to control the speed of the dictation receiver and a stack of
medical terminology books.
In order to understand and accurately transcribe doctors' dictation, it
is very important for MTs to know the language of medicine, anatomy, physiology
and so on.
They must also be able to look at abbreviations of medical jargon and transcribe
them into their expanded forms, then edit the reports for grammar and clarity.
There's one skill that every MT needs, besides being able to type. "Strong
English skills -- definitely," says Carey Silverstein, director of operations
at a medical transcription company. "Because... you have to make sure that
you structure the sentences properly. You're not dictating verbatim, you're
dictating as close as possible, but you do have to make sure that these sentences
make sense."
Medical transcriptionists are constantly reading new materials, gathering
new information and continuing their education in the world of medicine. It
helps them stay on top of their work. It is very important for MTs to know
and understand any new medical term or treatment that a doctor may be dealing
with.
Transcribing for long periods can be physically demanding. It's especially
hard on the neck, shoulders and hands. It's really grueling," says medical
transcriptionist Sarah Moore.
"Typing is a lot harder than people think it is. And I've also found that...
to do this type of work it takes someone who is extremely dedicated, who's
extremely hardworking, and who actually has a lot of pride in themselves."
Another challenge of the profession is understanding what the doctor is
saying when there is background noise or if the doctor has an unfamiliar accent.
"It's very hard sometimes (to understand the doctor)," says medical transcriptionist
Mary Quintigliani. "But as you do them over and over, the same doctor, you
get used to their accent, used to their way of phrasing things, and it becomes
easier, but that sometimes is a challenge."
Some medical transcriptionists work in an office setting, whether it is
in a hospital or a doctor's office or a small clinic, and work 30 to 40 hours
a week.
Many other MTs work at home. They have business licenses so that they can
contract work from doctors or from medical transcription companies. Their
hours are more varied because they can choose when they want to do their work.
This makes it a popular career for stay-at-home parents.