The projections have been made. The medical transcription field is expected to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming years.

The Medical Transcription Industry Alliance says the annual growth of the MT profession will be 20%-30%. The U.S. Department of Labor says 11% through 2018. I favor the higher numbers.

If you enroll in a medical transcription course today, you’ll have the best chance at a bright future in a growing profession. You will be less likely to face unemployment than many of your peers who graduated high school in the same year. Even those friends of yours with college degrees.

One of the benefits you’ll receive after graduating from the Future MT online medical transcription course is the use of the job placement assistance program the school offers. Plus, they include a 60-day guarantee.

Of course, you never want to rely on just one source for employment prospects. That’s why I also recommend submitting your resume to MT Recruiters, a website designed to foster positive employment prospects for medical transcriptionists looking for work. Submit your resume and be proactive in looking for work.

Getting your medical transcription training today means you’ll have a leg up on the competition when they finally get around to pursuing their training.

How do you get the money for your medical transcription training? When it comes to financial aid, you have plenty of options.

• Take the money out of your pocket - The first option is to use the money you have. Depending on your financial situation, it may not be an attractive option, but consider the total cost of the course. It is much cheaper than a four year college degree and easier to fund.
• Tuition Scholarship – You can also apply for a tuition scholarship. These can pay for your entire training or a part of your training. Either way, a tuition scholarship is very helpful in helping you obtain medical transcription training and starting your career.
• Student Loan – Finally, you can take out a student loan. A low-interest or no-interest loan can be a great way to ensure you get your training out of the way soon. A three-month student loan with no interest can make a big difference between a successful career as a medical transcriptionist and a nowhere fast food job.

There is no reason to let a small financial aid obstacle stand in the way of you getting your medical transcription training. Your career is just a short step away. Don’t throw it out the window over a small money obstacle.

When it comes to finding a medical transcription job, you don’t have to look hard. They’re all around. And opportunities are growing every day.

A reputable medical transcription course will offer a free job placement assistance program after graduation. That should be your starting place, but I’d caution you against stopping there. If you circulate your resume to enough places – online and off line – then you’ll find a suitable startup job.

Other places to look for entry level medical transcription jobs include:

• Local hospitals
• Doctors offices
• Medical specialists
• Medical transcription companies
• Temporary agencies
• Online job boards
• State unemployment offices
• Recruitment agencies
• Off line job boards and bulletin boards
• References from other medical transcriptionists
• Craigslist
• Work-at-home forums
• Newspaper classifieds

If you post your resume online, you’ll be very visible to anyone looking for a qualified medical transcriptionist. Whenever an employer starts seeking a qualified candidate to fill a job, where do you think they go? The first place is usually the job boards.

Remember, the only thing standing between your first medical transcription job and you is you. First, get the training. Then circulate your resume. And be aggressive. The employers are out there, the jobs are there, and they are growing. Now is the best time to enter the medical transcription profession.

Prospective medical transcriptionists ask a lot of questions. Here are 7 of the most frequently asked questions that future medical transcriptionists ask.

1. How much are medical transcriptionists paid? In May 2008, the median medical transcription salary was $15.41. You can make more as a medical transcriptionist the first day on the job than many non-degreed professionals make after five years.
2. Is medical transcription growing? Yes. By leaps and bounds. Learn how fast the medical transcription profession is growing.
3. Where can you learn medical terminology? A good medical transcription course will give you plenty of instruction on medical terminology.
4. What do medical transcriptionists do? A medical transcriptionist helps medical professionals prepare and maintain medical documents.
5. Can I live outside the U.S.? Yes, many medical transcriptionists live outside of the U.S.
6. Will I work in an office or at home? Both types of jobs are available, but because of the growth of the Internet, more and more work-at-home jobs are available to medical transcriptionists.
7. How much does medical transcription training cost? This is the best part. Medical transcription training is very affordable, and there are plenty of financial aid options available to help you get through your training at your own pace.

If you are looking for a rewarding career as a medical transcriptionist, you came to the right place.

Every medical transcriptionist needs to learn as many grammar rules as she can fit into her head. That’s all of them, if possible. If anything, bookmark your favorite grammar tips guide online and have it handy as you work on your medical documents.

The purpose for learning grammar is so that you can ensure your medical documents are easy to read. Remember that many professionals will be reading those documents and will need to decipher them as guides for patient care. You want to eliminate any reason for misunderstandings before they appear.

You’ll have to learn to distinguish, for instance, between words like “who” and “whom,” or “effect” and “affect.” Better yet, here’s one of my favorites: “desert” and “dessert.”

Your career, your salary, and your success are all dependent on how well you handle grammar in your medical documents. If you become an expert grammarian, then you can expect higher pay, better jobs, and a longer career.

Other things that are important are punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling. You don’t want to spell medical terms incorrectly. You also don’t want sentence structure to get in the way of understanding your medical documents. Bad punctuation can often lead to not understanding a text as well.

A good medical transcriptionist is one who is an expert in grammar.

Medical transcriptionists are highly respected professionals within the medical field. It might even be true to say they are the most respected medical professional without a degree, or at least without a medical degree.

One of the things that makes medical transcriptionists so respected is that they save doctors and hospitals a lot of money and headache where medical documentation is concerned. Here are 5 ways you can be a great medical transcriptionist:

• Start your career off right with the proper medical transcription training.
• Meet all of your deadlines and get every medical document in on time.
• Increase your accuracy rate with regard to major and minor errors and achieve a 100% accuracy rate with regard to critical errors.
• Take the time to become proficient in your knowledge of medical terminology so that you can create more accurate and timely medical documents.
• Be a great researcher so that you create medical documents that are accurate and on time.

Great medical transcriptionists attend great medical transcription schools. And when you are ready to interview for the best medical transcription jobs, you’ll be satisfied to know that you are well trained and that you spend your time wisely to create medical documents that are accurate. You’ll also be satisfied to know that you meet your deadlines.

In the medical transcription profession, you’ll be paid according to your skills.

What will the profession of medical transcription look like in 2020? I think we can tell a lot by what it looks like right now.

Today, a medical transcriptionist can receive an e-mail from a doctor, hospital, or medical specialist regarding a dictation report that is due by the end of the day. The medical transcriptionist can get her assignment and go online to see the specs of the medical document in need. After becoming familiar with the assignment, she can then start typing her medical document into a form field on the client’s website while listening to an audio recording uploaded to the site earlier that morning. When she is finished she hits “Send” and the client will be notified the job is done.

By 2020, the medical transcriptionist will be able to take dictation in real time. She’ll have pre-arranged an appointment with the client to receive dictation at a certain time on a certain day and at that appointed time she and the client will log in to their respective computers. The client will dictate while the medical transcriptionist transcribes. Afterwards, the medical transcriptionist will spend a few minutes editing her document – online, of course – then send it on to the client.

This process should cut down on the time to delivery for medical documents and the medical transcriptionist will be able to demand more income for her services.

Career advice comes in three tiers, or levels. If you want to become a medical transcriptionist then listen to these three levels of advice:

1. How do you compare? – Compared to other medical transcriptionists seeking the same opportunities, how do you stack up? Do you have similar educational credentials? How about certification? Skills and experience? Take a marketability analysis and see where you stand.
2. Don’t procrastinate – Now is the time to take control of your medical transcription career.
3. Get trained – Find a reputable medical transcription training company that is accredited and offers great technical and customer service.

After you’ve followed these three steps, post your resume on a job board for medical transcriptionists in a place where employers looking for your skills can find you.

Is there a perfect work at home job? I believe there is. And medical transcription is as close as it gets.

Why is medical transcription the perfect work at home job? Because you have a lot of flexibility and freedom. Plus, due to the nature of the job, a medical transcriptionist must spend a great deal of her time working independently and working from home is a great way to facilitate that.

Of course, working from home does not necessarily mean self employed. While it could mean that, many work at home medical transcriptionists are commuters who work for a doctor, hospital or medical transcription company.

Skills of a medical transcriptionist that make this the perfect work at home profession include:

• Time Management – You must meet every deadline and many of them are strict.
• Strong Concentration – There is a lot of analysis involved in medical transcription.
• Dictation – Dictation is a process that involves listening and a control over background noise.
• Set Your Own Hours – Most medical transcriptionists, even those who do not work at home, have the flexibility to set their own hours. As long as you produce quality work and meet the deadlines, you are good as gold. Why not do it at home?

When it comes to the perfect work at home job, few professions are as qualified as medical transcription.

Medical transcriptionists get paid in a variety of ways. Each pay structure, however, is based on a number of factors, such as:

• Time spent working as a medical transcriptionist
• Who writes the pay check
• Your skill and reputation
• Your geographic region
• The state of the economy
• Demand for medical transcriptionists at any particular time

Generally speaking, your skill and experience as a medical transcriptionist determines how much you can be paid for your work. But if you live in a place like New York or California then the amount you can charge may be higher than if you live in rural Kansas or Pennsylvania. And, of course, whether or not the market is flooded with qualified medical transcriptionists or not.

Most transcriptionists, however, are paid by the line, which means that you determine your own salary to a large extent. If you are a slow typer then you’ll earn less. If you type fast and accurately then you’ll earn more.

If you’re ready to jump into the job market, post your resume at a medical transcription job board and earn your own pay.