Medical Transcriptionist

Who is a Medical Transcriptionist?

Medical Transcription is the process of transcribing the dictation or voice notes by doctors, nurses and other healthcare practitioners so that documents of the treatment procedures are recorded and stored.

What does a Medical Transcriptionist do?

A medical transcriptionist (or transcriber) is required to transcribe and keep the record of a treatment procedure a patient has undergone.

They attend to voice records of doctors and other healthcare operators and transcribe them into text in a document. They also understand medical terminology and acronyms in preparing a patient's medical history, records, and other records.

Who can become a Medical Transcriptionist?

To become a medical transcriptionist, you can take up a certification course that can last anywhere between 3 months to 6 months. The course fees generally lies between Rs. 20-30,000 and it covers medical terminologies, the nomenclature of chemicals/hormones, etc.

What are the skills required?

The role of a medical transcriptionist requires excellent comprehension skills. You need to have a good command over the English language and medical terminology. The skills required by a medical transcriptionist are:

• Knowledge of medical terminology
• Good command over English
• Listening and Comprehension Skill
• Patience and endurance
• Good Typing Skills

Top colleges offering courses on Medical Transcription

Employers prefer to hire medical transcriptionists who have completed their post-secondary education in medical transcription. Medical Transcription programs are usually one year certified programs, The top colleges offering courses on Medical Transcription are:

• Academy of Medical Transcription, New Delhi
• Alliance Comet Limited, New Delhi
• Ancient Global Solutions Pvt Ltd, Chandigarh
• Dr. Zakir Hussain Institute of Medical Transcription, Meerut
• Central Calcutta Polytechnic, Kolkata
• Medpro America Health Solutions, Mumbai

In India, many higher education institutes conduct 3-6 months duration courses specified to medical transcriptionists. The course details on anatomy, medical terminology, risk management, legal jargon, and English grammar and punctuation skills.

Many of these programs give the opportunity for on the job experience. People like nurses who have previously worked in the healthcare industry can opt for medical transcribers to increase their prospects.

Career scope

Employment for medical transcriptionists is forecasted to diminish at a rate of 3 percent in the next ten years. Although healthcare facilities and hospitals are expected to grow, speech recognition and electronic health records and other modern technology will take the place of a human transcriptionist.

The job of a medical transcriptionist might be technologically challenging but rewarding also. After completing your higher education, and getting a certified course, you can work as a medical transcriptionist in a hospital, pharmaceutical or a private company.

We have covered the role of a broadcasting engineer extensively to give you the right guidance so that you can make an informed decision and choose the leading platform for higher education. The following fields where medical transcriptionist can work are:

• Court Reporters
• Information Clerks
• Translators
• Medical Assistants
• Medical Records and health information technicians

How much does a Medical Transcriptionist make?

An entry-level medical transcription with less than a year experience can earn an average of Rs 18,000 per month including overtime bonuses and tips. A mid-career transcriptionist with five to nine years of experience earns around Rs 24,000 per month. An experienced transcriptionist with more than 10 years of experience can earn somewhere around Rs 35,000 per month. The estimates given are according to payscale.

What are the books and study materials available?

The role of a medical transcriber requires one to be well versed with medical jargon and terms. The top books and study materials for medical transcription are:

• Medical Transcription, Blanche Ettinger
• Medical Transcription for dummies, Anne Martinez
• Medical Transcription, Speed Publishing
• Medical Transcription: Techniques and Procedures, Marcy O.Diehl.
• A Handbook of Transcription Factors, Timothy R.Hughes

Major recruiters

There are a lot of hospitals as well as transcription agencies who look for medical transcriptionists. The major recruiters for medical transcriptionist are:

• Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
• Fortis Healthcare
• Apollo Hospitals
• King Edward Memorial Hospital

You can also work for many medical transcription websites like Amphion Scription and GMR Transcription from home, though most of them prefer at least a year of experience, there will also be a two-hour test and writing speed test. So, if you are interested in medical transcription then join the course and excel at that.

Interesting fact

Transcription is not an easy task as we speak on average 150 to 170 words per minute. This means almost 10,000 words per hour and we speak 4 times faster than our typing speed and 7 times faster than our writing speed.