Working at Home in Medical Transcription

The first thing to remember is that you have to get a good education to be a medical transcriptionist. You cannot just jump into this job blindly.

I will provide links in the links section below, but for starters you need to pick a school. Depending on how you learn, you can choose a local community college program, an online program or, for the especially daring yet studious, go it on your own.

Expect to take at least 6 months to learn medical transcription, and some programs can take 18 months or more to complete.

If you're reading this, you already have the most important piece of equipment for a medical transcriptionist - a computer!

Hopefully, that was a pretty obvious statement. However, there is more medical transcription equipment that you need. It's less than it used to be.

Used to be that you would need a transcription machine. They used tapes or mini tapes but took up a lot of room on your desk.

These days some transcriptionists probably still use tapes, but most have gone to online systems. The doctor dictates to that system, the transcriptionist downloads it, types it up and sends the doctor the report.

This means that you may only need software for listening to the dictation, which will vary by the system used, a foot pedal to control the playback, and headphones to listen.

However, you'll also need medical transcription books, lots of books. You can get away with using the various online resources, but sometimes a book is much easier to search, and certainly more reliable.

You finish your medical transcription training and start looking for a job.

Auggh! Everyone wants at least two years' experience! All that money down the drain!

Not quite, fortunately.

If you go through a reputable program, there are many companies who will waive that experience requirement. That's the entire reason you need to spend the money on the right training.

Some schools will have an employment office that can help you land that all important first job. If the resource is available, take advantage of it!

Most medical transcription students are very eager to get to work. I can't say I blame them. It takes a lot of effort to finish a good course, and it's expensive. Besides, most of us need the money to start coming in as soon as possible.

Is it possible to find a job as a medical transcriptionist before you graduate?

You shouldn't be surprised to hear that my answer is "sometimes." I know some medical transcriptionists who did start working before they graduated. However, they were personally acquainted with the people who hired them. One had started training specifically because the job had been offered, and she needed to know how to do it.

They're the exception.

Many employers want to see how you did in the course overall, especially if they're one of the big national companies.

You can start looking when you're close to graduation, nothing wrong with that, but you will probably get your best results if you are able to give them your final scores. Working as a medical transcriptionist is complex, and employers are only willing to deal with so much training. The more complete your training is, the more comfortable they will be that you will be able to start right away without problems.

Many people are confused about what exactly you get when you complete a medical transcriptionist training program. Many schools offer a certificate of completion. Does that make you a Certified Medical Transcriptionist?

No. Absolutely not.

A Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) has taken a test through AHDI that tests their skills in depth. You must have at least two years acute care medical transcription experience or equivalent to even sign up for the test.

You may think you know plenty about medical transcription when you graduate from a good training program, but there's a lot more to learn. You really are not ready for the CMT.

If you really feel like having your skills tested, you can test to become a Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) This test is also administered by the AHDI, and is a way to show that you have excellent transcription skills.

Neither is required to get a job.

What you need most to get a job as a medical transcriptionist is good training. Focus on that before you start dreaming of the certifications you might get.

The trouble with many work at home jobs is the limited income. Many of time classic work at home jobs such as data entry rarely pay well at all.

Not so much of a problem for a qualified medical transcriptionist. There are limitations on your pay, but they're based on your abilities and how much you can work. Medical transcriptionists earn an average of $15.41 according to the U.S. Department of Labor at the time of this writing. That's pretty respectable considering you don't have to worry about your work wardrobe or driving to work.

You may earn significantly less as you're learning, but if you worked hard in your medical transcription training, that problem won't last. I found it pretty easy to get past $10 an hour, and beyond that it was all a matter of improving skills and using the right tools.

If you have children, working as a medical transcriptionist can save you money. You may not need to pay for childcare, although some transcriptionists do choose to use a little childcare so they can be more productive.

Not everyone sees an advantage to studying medical transcription at home. Home has distractions. There's no teacher right there to help you. What's the point of learning medical transcription at home?

The main point to it is that learning at home is the most like working at home. You have distractions at home. You have to be self disciplined because there's no boss right there to keep you on task. You have to be able to research the things you don't know on your own, as there's no coworker in the next cubicle to help you figure it out.

Studying at home helps those around you get used to the needs you will have when working. Use the time to teach your family to respect your work time as they would if you were working outside the home. Discuss how emergencies will be handled and define emergencies.

If you have kids, it's the time to figure out if you will need childcare. Young children will probably need someone else watching them, while older ones can learn when to interrupt your work.

You'll learn a lot too, such as how to keep the television and internet from distracting you, not to mention housework and other chores.

One of the biggest benefits of learning to do medical transcription at home is that it's compatible with whatever job you may already have. It doesn't matter if your schedule is irregular or consistent, you can work your studies around it. No worrying that a schedule change or needing to stay late at work will make you miss a class. Most online classes are self paced, so you can handle these little issues.

Do not assume that all online medical transcription courses are good. There are scams, and there are low quality courses. Look for an AHDI Approved medical transcription training program. These courses have been reviewed for quality, specifically in how well they train medical transcriptionists.