Transcription Services

An examination of this site’s entry pages revealed a good number of people looking for “Transcription services” followed by "Medical Transcription" and "Medical transcriptionist". Because of that, we will devote a number of future posts to the topic. We will be providing job opportunities and lists of transcription service providers to people looking for it.

What is Transcription?

Loosely defined, transcription is the process of converting into written format, a voice dictation. Transcriptions may be taken live or from recorded formats. Transcription services come in different forms. There is the general transcription of regular day to day language, legal transcription, business transcription, other transcription types and of course, there is medical transcription or MT. 

What is medical Transcription?

Medical Transcription is one of the more specialized forms of transcription because the dictations being transferred into written form are medical processes. In MT, the dictations are done by doctors, nurses or any other medical professional. Therefore, individuals lacking medical training would have a hard time transcribing medical terms and understanding the flow of dictation. It is therefore an advantage for the medical transcriptionist to have had medical training. 

Because of that, it is  not surprising to have a lot of MT’s who are nurses, physical therapists and the like. It will not even be surprising to find doctors working part/fulltime as MT’s. Based on my experience in running a medical transcription company, a Medical Transcriptionist needs: 

1. Good listening skills 
2. Shorthand/Steno skills (advantage but not required) 
3. A good head set 
4. A desktop or a laptop 
5. A good internet connection and an alternative way of getting emergency connections 
6. A dictionary of Medical terms 
7. A good understanding of the HIPAA. 

Where to look for Medical transcription jobs

An aspiring Medical Transcriptionist may look for online/offline transcription jobs by applying directly to medical professionals in their neighborhood, circle of friends, relatives, etc. Of course, the often used route is to contact companies providing Medical Transcription Services. This site willbe posting online medical transcription job opportunities in the next posts.

Based on what I know, a number of those firms offer online transcription jobs to home based Medical Transcriptionists. 

TIP: While the purpose of home based work is for people from any point in the globe to render work for anybody anywhere, it will also be good if the transcription services firms that you will work for holds office near your home. One advantage is that one may apply in person. Being nearby at all times also serves both transcription service companies and the transcriptionists well. In the event of internet breakdowns, it will be quite easy to go to the office and do the transcribing on site.