The medical transcription profession has three main expectations:

• Meet all deadlines – The profession expects you to deliver records in time.
• Meet all quality goals – The profession expects you to maintain the highest standard in quality.
• Ensure security and confidentiality of data – The profession expects you to keep the sanctity of people’s medical information.

Now, these three expectations define how you should work. In one of our earlier posts, I discussed a way to ensure high medical transcription performance. I called it MOLD. MOLD stands for Motivation, Organization, Learning, and Discipline. I believe that these four skills can help us make a good mark in medical transcription career, or for that matter, in any career.

With the nature of medical transcription work, it is likely that you will find it uninteresting and boring in the long run. Only one thing can stop you from feeling this way. Motivation. And the motivation has to come from within, not from external sources. You got to motivate yourself.

Organizational skills are something every professional needs. A transcriptionist cannot work with a disorganized workplace. If you work from home, you have got to pay more attention to the way you work. Proper organization helps you save precious time and keep your calm even when chasing deadlines.

Learning during the job is mandatory for the medical transcriptionist. He/she has to keep updating his/her knowledge base in order to keep working. If you can make room for learning in your everyday routine, you will do well in the profession.

Now, let’s focus on discipline. Well, discipline accompanies your organizational skills but I placed it last in the mnemonic MOLD because it made the term easy to recall.  As a medical transcriptionist, you have to work with a plan and stick to it. You have to be disciplined enough to avoid distractions and focus on your work.

MOLD is how you can beat your peers in the profession and excel.

Many think that a 3-month course is enough to make you become a medical transcriptionist. Well, the preparation starts way before. In fact, it’s ingrained in your skills and virtues. The medical transcription profession requires you to possess an aptitude if you want to make a career of it. Let’s look at what you need:

You need to have an above-average command over the English language. You cannot create a medical document if you are unable to make grammatically correct, meaningful sentences.

You have got to possess good hearing skills. The most important part of transcribing is the ability to recognize words. If you think you can filter information from noise, you can become a medical transcriptionist.

You need to be comfortable handling the computer. You will need to handle more than a word processor when you start working as a medical transcriptionist.

You should be willing and comfortable to work with stringent deadlines on a daily basis. This profession requires you to meet very strict deadlines.

You need to be able to work independently. Though you may get a supervisor in an office, if you choose to work from home, you will have to manage without any kind of guidance or supervision.

You should be willing to learn everyday. A medical transcriptionist has to keep updating his/her knowledge base regularly.

You should be willing to research extensively for your work. As a medical transcriptionist, you will have to spend a lot of time and effort researching on medical information that is missing or ambiguous.

You should be able to keep yourself motivated. The medical transcription work may get boring over a period of time. You have to keep yourself motivated to survive in the field.

So, do you think you have it in you?

You have heard that the medical transcription profession is lucrative. You have heard that it is challenging. You have also heard that it is a specialized profession. But do you know that it is an extremely important one? The world needs medical transcriptionist and will continue to do so as long as it needs medical records.

What makes medical transcriptionist so important in the world? First, it is the fact that our doctors are busy people, always pressed for time. They cannot be expected to make and maintain medical records. Moreover, they are not equipped to handle documentation. Medical transcriptionists help save the doctors’ time by delivering complete medical records from the voice recordings made by doctors.

Second, the increasing population drives the need for more medical records. The aging population requires more medical procedures – tests and treatments. This calls for an increase in health documentation. Medical transcriptionists are required to handle this increased need of medical documents.

Third, even the speech recognition software is not equipped to handle the work that is done by medical transcriptionists. The software requires doctors to spend a lot of time training and using it, thereby eating up their valuable time. Moreover, the results of the speech recognition software are not accurate, requiring human intervention to make edits and analyze the records.

Now you understand why the demand for medical transcriptionists is always on the rise. The medical records they create are important not only for the healthcare industry but also for the insurance industry.

There are no prerequisites for the medical transcription profession. But we have always told you that you need a certain aptitude for the profession. The reason for that is the training cannot give you everything you need to be a medical transcriptionist. Let me explain.

The medical transcription profession requires you to be analytical. Now, you can only enhance this skill, not create it. You get the point. This is why we ask you to make sure you have the skills to analyze information before you get into the profession.

In the medical transcription profession, you won’t have your employer/client motivating you on the job. All the motivation has to come from within you. And this becomes very difficult given the nature of the job. So, you have got to have the self-motivational skills before you get into the profession.

In a job like medical transcription, you cannot survive if you are not disciplined enough. Lack of supervision and the nature of the job make discipline critical for your work. Along with discipline, you have to be comfortable in working on your own. And you will need to handle crisis situations also.

As a medical transcriptionist, you are required to keep updating for medical knowledge. If you are not willing to learn, this profession is not for you.

Not every skill can be taught in a course. You cannot become a good medical transcriptionist if you don’t have certain skills. This is why you need to possess the aptitude for the profession before joining it.

The medical transcription profession is not right for everyone. It may not be right for you even if you have the skills to transcribe medical information and create relevant and complete medical records. Wondering what causes problems? Well, it is the parameters that come along with the medical transcription work and its benefits.

A medical transcriptionist’s job is not only about creating medical records but also delivering them on time. And the profession has stringent deadlines. You will have to deal with deadlines everyday. In fact, at times you may be given tasks that have a turnaround time of just a few hours.

The deadlines become monstrous with the high quality goals that are expected in the profession. While the overall goal is 98% accuracy, the profession does not tolerate a single error when it comes to critical errors.

The medical transcriptionist is required to keep learning much after the medical transcription training ends. And the learning is equivalent to studying. The medical transcriptionist cannot afford to live with outdated knowledge and thus, needs to keep updating his/her medical knowledge.

The profession is not just about transcribing but about creating meaningful and complete medical records. This requires you to analyze information, research and refer to materials. If you are not ready for making that effort, you cannot handle the work.

You get the idea. It is not only about possessing certain skills but also about the willingness to meet deadlines, learn, and research. And not everyone is ready to work this way.

One of the popular motivation strategies is the carrot and stick method. This means that when you perform well, you get a reward and when you don’t, you get a punishment. Now, how can punishment motivate you? Beats me. So, we will stick to the reward bit. In the medical transcription profession, you have to learn to reward yourself. The best way is to reward yourself on completion of tasks.

You may not be able to spare time for yourself on a daily basis, but start rewarding yourself with time on completion of big tasks. Pamper yourself. Hangout with friends, watch a movie, visit the spa, or go shopping.

Break from work is a kind of reward. You should plan vacations every few months. Plan for a couple of big vacations twice a year, and get yourself smaller breaks once every month or so. Looking forward to these breaks from work will keep you focused and motivated.

You must not let go of what gives you pleasure. Indulge in your hobby. Don’t give up on the gardening, the painting, the reading, the writing, or any other hobby just because you have work. Make time for your hobby even it is for a couple of hours every week.

You must stick to a personal routine, not just a work one. There are many who would stick to a routine when it comes to work but let their personal routine go awry. In meeting the deadlines, have you been ignoring your meals, your exercise, or your entertainment? Make room for all these along with your work.

Never let work take over your life, and everything will be fine.

Many home-based professionals assume that working from home keeps them away from the competition. The truth is that your place of work does not determine competition, your field does. So, even if you are a home-based medical transcriptionist, remember, you have competition. And when you have competition, you have to show that you have an edge over them or you cannot hope to make a career of your job.

Now, it helps if you can see your competitors and observe how they work and behave. How do you ensure you have an edge sitting at home? There are four important things I believe will help you get an edge irrespective of where you are. I have come up with a mnemonic for them: MOLD. Now MOLD stands for Motivation, Organization, Learning, and Discipline.

Let’s begin with motivation. You know that the medical transcription work can get monotonous in the long run. Moreover, every deadlines, poor recordings, and high quality goals can take a toll on you and pull down your morale. If you want to do well in this field, you have to know how to motivate yourself.

Organizational skills are extremely important for a medical transcriptionist, especially a home-based one. A scattered desk, a disorganized workplace not only hinders with your work but also gives you undue stress. Being organized helps you save time and keep your cool.

Learning is something a medical transcriptionist does as long as he/she works. For him/her, the learning goes much beyond the training and rightly so. He/she has to keep updating his/her knowledge base in order to keep working. Now, in order to do better that your competition, make room for learning in your everyday routine. You won’t feel the pressure if you spend a little time everyday.

The fourth and the most important thing that can keep you in the medical transcription game is discipline. You have to make a work plan and stick to it. You have to avoid giving in to distractions. As a medical transcriptionist, you are your own boss. You can’t be so if you are not disciplined enough.

Now, MOLD is the profession’s requirement but not everyone can do justice to it. If you can, you are way above the competition.

Some believe that if you are serious about a job, you can maintain your interest in it. I think if you give your job more importance than your life, you cannot remain motivated for too long. Motivation comes from a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. If you are dissatisfied with the way your personal and professional lives are going, you cannot motivate yourself.

The medical transcription profession is such that it may become monotonous in the long run, squeezing you of the energy and enthusiasm to work. So, how can you keep yourself motivated while you are chasing deadlines and meeting high quality goals?

• Start by making a routine that has room not only for work but for everything you hold important in your life – your family, your domestic responsibilities, your own interests, and some rest.
• Don’t ignore your meals, your exercise, or your entertainment while meeting the deadlines. Being fit helps you remain focused and thus keeps you motivated.
• Don’t let work take over your life. Make time for your hobby even it for a couple of hours every week.
• Reward yourself on successful completion of big tasks. Pamper yourself. Spend time with your friends, watch a movie, play video games, watch your favorite sport, visit the spa, or go shopping.
• Plan vacations every few months. Plan for a couple of big vacations twice a year, and take smaller breaks once a month. Looking forward to these breaks from work will keep you focused and motivated.

Remember, motivation comes from within. You have to keep your heart and mind happy if you want to be motivated.

The medical transcription profession is challenging. Well, you have heard that often. So what do you need to do to do well in the profession? I have compiled a list of things that are extremely important if you want to make a career of your medical transcription job. In fact, if you look at the list, you will realize they make sense for any job. Here you go.

• You need to be disciplined. As a medical transcriptionist, you are your own boss. Thus, discipline is extremely important. You have to set up a routine, and stick to it. You have to monitor your progress and analyze it critically.
• You need organizational skills along with discipline. Starting with having everything in place to  planning and tracking your work and keeping accounts, you have to do it all.
• In the medical transcription profession, you cannot fall back on someone for motivation. You have to motivate yourself. The tends to become monotonous and boring in the long run. You will have to keep it from becoming uninteresting.
• The profession requires you to keep learning much after you have completed you training. For this, you have to possess the willingness to spend time and make an effort to learn everyday.
• You should be capable of working independently. The profession requires you to work on your own, without supervision. If you cannot handle crisis situations on your own, this field is not for you.

We wish you all the luck in your medical transcription career.

The medical transcription profession promises good income, flexibility, and satisfaction. However, there are certain benefits it offers as by-products. These are what I call the side-effect of the profession. Let me tell you what I am referring to.

The profession teaches you to motivate yourself. If you cannot motivate yourself, you cannot survive for too long in the medical transcription profession. This is because of the nature of the work that tends to get boring and monotonous in the long run.

One of the most important things you learn in the profession is time-management. And it’s pretty obvious given the kind of deadlines you have to deal with on a daily basis.

The profession makes you independent in away. As you are required to work on your own, without any supervision, you learn to become your boss. You learn to depend on yourself and develop decision-making skills.

While working as a medical transcriptionist, you become patient and focused. The profession helps you remain calm in spite of the difficult deadlines and high quality goals.

All these side-effects I spoke about are essentially virtues. Thus, the medical transcription profession hands over some virtues along with the income it helps you to generate. These side-effects are things you will need not only in your professional life but also in your personal life. They help you become a better person.

The next time anyone asks you for the benefits of the profession, mention these side-effects along with the money and flexibility medical transcription offers.