Category: Jobs and Employment
Hi guy,
I'm looking for someone on here who knows about medical transcribing and who I can talk to about it. There ar some things I need to know about this career, so if anybody on here is a medical transcriptionist, please contact me either by sending me a message or just a private quick note, whatever is easier. Thanks.
Hi, I'm not a transcriptionist, but did consider court reporting for awhile, which is very similar. Nowadays, I think it's mostly done by computer. You would most likely need to take some anatomy and physiology and Biology classes, as well as the actual transcription coursework. If I'm not mistaken, it could take a couple of years, but each country is different in how they certify their transcriptionists. I've heard this type of work is monotonous, but I've never actually done it myself, although I did take a dictation class in high school. Try googling "blind medial transcriptionists" and see what pops up. Do some research in your country, as there could be a school near you that teaches it, or you could maybe study online. I'm not sure in what medium you'd have to take your Anatomy classes if they're a requirement. Good Luck, and please keep us posted if this is the career path you decide to take.
I was a medical transcriptionist for 38 and a half years; technology with voice recognition put me out of work. quite honestly, with the way voice recognition is taking over the transcription field, I would see what other career is right for you. I live in the U.s. In Illinois where I live, there is no longer training for medical transcription. Good luck.
CTUO (Colorado Technical University Online) has some information and training in this field. I have never checked in to it, but I have seen some announcements concerning work at home for medical transcription posted.
Hello:
I am wondering which MT program that trains MT's is the most accessible? I know the Lighthouse of Houston trains and give OJT and a job to blind and VI people who complete the training and OJT, but they are not an approved vendor in my state. I also need online only as printed books are graphical in nature. Any help would be appreciated.
There are a number of colleges that give you the training you need,but I'm not sure which ones are accessible as far as online courses.
I thought about this as well but came to the conclusion that what with the way voice recognition is taking over it'll probably put you out of work real quick, assuming of course you manage to find any to begin with. And if there aren't jobs you're going to find it hard to get help with paying for the training. I found that out firsthad last year and the year before.
There are whole sites devoted to transcription and I've seen many medical transcription jobs out there. In fact, they far outweigh the nonmedical ones on regular sites. But I've heard that the training can be very inaccessible. I know that there are one or two places that are workable but I forget where, since I only heard it in passing. I'm actually interested in nonmedical transcription though as a job, not a career.
Not only that but if it's online I'd be careful of scammers. And even if the site is legitimate not every web site on the net is current. So even if it's not a scam it might not be up to date. I tried to get into training over the past two years but I got to thinking about how it's really not a marketable profession anymore what with the fac that most places now use voice recognition so the doctors can dictate their reports directly into the computer. And the software they use is apparently leaps and bounds better than what you might use in college. I heard someone trying to use that Dragon Dictate or Dragon Naturally Speaking a few years ago and you have to speak more or less in a monotone in order for the machine to correctly pick up what you want to say. And even then it doesn't always work. And heaven forbid you should have a cold or even a sore throat. But like I said I'd be really careful of trying to get into this field since even if there are jobs out there now there's no guarantee that they'll still be there in, say, ten or even five years. And then like I said you have to get financing for your training, even if it does turn out to be available in an accessible form. I think the real problem is that if there aren't jobs right there in your home town, even if there are many jobs available over the internet in other parts of the country, Voc Rehab is going to do everything in their power to not put forth any money. For the most part they want you to actually get out of the house and go to an actual job setting, not sit at home with your computer, even if you are in fact doing work and bringing in an income. And they probably don't want to have to be back helping you find work in a comparitively short period of a few years if they can help it. Not that there isn't a risk of that with what they would term a "regular job," but still.
S this board is being brought up again because I have a question. If this voice recognition stuff isn't working all that well, wouldn't there still need to be a transcriptionist around to make sure all that stuff is written correctly? The doctors have their duties, from surgeries to x-rays and so on, so don't you think that a transcriptionist would still need to be around?
As a former medical transcriptionist who worked in the field for nearly a decade, I respectfully disagree your main premise. The simple fact of the matter is that voice recognition in the year 2011 works very well.
If you have been following the news lately, you would be aware that the federal government is offering physicians up to $44,000 to switch to electronic health records / electronic medical records.
As part of the inevitable shift that will be occurring as medical providers do make the transition, the majority of the software publishers are ensuring that their products are compatible with Dragon Medical, the de facto standard for medical voice recognition.
And don't forget that many hospital and large medical practices send their work overseas via the internet. There are countries where there are well educated and English fluent (including medical terminology) workforces who will work for less than half the wages of an American medical transcriptionist.
An added benefit to this arrangement is that American night time is the other country's daytime. Meaning that dictation is sent at the end of the American business day, which is then immediately worked on during the other country's day time, and by the overseas country's night time, when the work should be finished, it is now the next morning in America.
Instant overnight turnaround. Try getting that with an American transcriptionist.
Of course, this is merely my opinion.
For an alternative opinion, anyone who is serious this as a potential job or career would know to contact the professional organization for medical transcriptionists. They have recently changed their name from the American Association for Medical Transcription to the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, and you can visit their website at http://www.ahdionline.org/
And if you are serious about becoming a medical transcriptionist, it wouldn't be a bad idea to become well-versed in the area of pharmaceuticals, and study for and obtain your C P h T certification. Certified Pharmacy Technician. Information can be found at www.ptcb.org
Anyone who thinks they can become a proficient medical transcriptionist by merely doing some internet quote training unquote, really should investigate further.
For the record, I saw the writing on the wall, and am now preparing to enter a P h D program in BioMedical Informatics.
That's pretty much what I was trying to say. Even though speech recognition software available on the open market might not necessarily be suitable for transcription work, there is obviously a much more sophisticated version of the program(s) that gets the job done the way the doctors need it. And since they're actually getting paid to switch formats the need for transcriptionists is going to undergo a sharp decline even if it never disappears entirely.