Medical Transcription?

[orbaya]

I am toying with the idea of doing some medical transcription, while I am a SAHM. I am a former EMT, and am a radiology tech so I do have some medical background. I am familiar with anatomy and medical terms, however probably not nearly as I should be to be a transcriptionist. There seems to be many "schools" out there that offer medical transcription, but am wondering how to discern good from bad. I would love to find a SAHM job and think this might be a good way to go. I have not worked since November 2009 when I was hospitalized and put on bedrest while pregnant with DS, so my contacts are pretty much non-exsistent now.

Does anyone here do medical transcription? How do you like it? Who did you go through for the education?

 

[ponder]

Check you local community college to see if they have any programs.

 

[iheartscience]

My mother was a medical transcriptionist for years and switched to working at home a long time ago (probably 1988 or so IIRC) when the hospital she was at laid off everybody. First she got tapes through the mail and then did it online. She had a lot of medical dictionaries an anatomy posters in her office in case she needed them, but after doing it for years she didn't have to use them too often. I swear that she could go to med school right now and crush it because she knows about EVERY medical condition there is.

She was a "Certified Medical Transcriptionist" so I would search either that or just "CMT" to find more info on how to become one. She never took classes since she started doing it in the 1960s.

Also, have you tried transcribing anything yet to see if you'd like it? When I was an undergrad research assistant I had to transcribe some lengthy interviews and I was not a fan. Also a lot of physicians speak insanely fast or have thick accents, so it can be pretty difficult to do. I remember hearing some of the tapes my mom was working on when I was a kid and barely understanding them. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, just throwing that out there!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi,
I never have done medical transcription but worked at a community college that offered courses and was an assistant in classes that taught that, med. terminology, legal transcription, etc. As Ponder suggested, check out local CCs. Not only do you know they're trustworthy, often times you can make connections with others and find jobs that way. While I worked there, one woman who ran her own company came in and asked for names of our best students. IIRC, they paid by the line, not by the hour. However, that was years ago...

One thing to keep in mind is your typing speed. Transcription requires you to type VERY fast and your typing speed is much slower when you're transcribing versus regular typing emails to friends, etc, so while you're deciding if you want to go the transcription route, I'd recommend investing some time in working up as fast of a typing rate/accuracy as you can. Also, it makes it even more challenging when you cannot understand what the dr. is saying and you have to replay parts, etc., so you want to be sure you're a quick typist.

 

[Karl_K]

Unless you want to move to India, don't.
99% of my clients as well as the local hospitals use firms in India to do medical transcription.
It has almost totally been outsourced to India around here.