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.

Advancing as a Medical Transcriptionist means keeping up with training and the times. Employers prefer to hire Medical Transcriptionists who have completed post-secondary training in medical transcription, which is offered by many vocational schools, community colleges and distance-learning programs.

Completion of a 2-year associate degree or 1-year certificate program — including course work in anatomy, medical terminology, legal issues relating to health care documentation, and English grammar and punctuation — is highly recommended, but not always required. Many of these programs include supervised on-the-job experience. Some Medical Transcriptionists, especially those already familiar with medical terminology from previous experience as a nurse or medical secretary, become proficient through refresher courses and training.

The American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) awards the voluntary designation Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) to those who earn a passing score on a certification exam. As in many other fields, certification is recognized as a sign of competence. Because medicine is constantly evolving, Medical Transcriptionists are encouraged to update their skills regularly. Every 3 years, CMTs must earn continuing education credits to be recertified.

In addition to understanding medical terminology, transcriptionists must have above average English grammar, spelling and punctuation skills, as well as proficiency with personal computers and word processing software. Normal hearing acuity and good listening skills also are necessary. Employers require applicants to take pre-employment tests and usually prefer individuals with experience.

With experience, Medical Transcriptionists can advance to supervisory positions, home-based work, editing, consulting, or teaching. With additional education or training, some become medical records and health information technicians, medical coders, or medical records and health information administrators.

Yesterday we talked about 5 skills every MT should master. But there is a sixth – or seventh, technically – skill that you should have and you should have it in abundance.

This skill is so important it deserves its own blog post. I’m talking about listening.

There are several reasons listening is very important for a medical transcriptionist, but they all boil down to one thing – accuracy. If you do not have good listening skills then you will likely render a medical document inaccurately and that could lead to some major or critical errors.

Dictation is a task that requires good listening skills. You will have to listen to medical professionals dictate reports to you on audio. Some common obstructions to good understanding of the audio include:

• Strong foreign accents
• Soft speakers
• Background noise
• Speech impediments
• Fast talkers
• Poor grammatical speakers
• “Uh”, “uhm” and other speech breakers
• Poor quality recordings

All of these can be obstacles to good transcription and it is your responsibility as the medical transcriptionist to overcome them. That requires good listening skills.

If you are a qualified and trained medical transcriptionist then there are employers ready to hire you right now. A variety of employers are willing to hire trained medical transcriptionists because a qualified MT can make them money, earn them profits and save them time. Four employers ready to hire you right now are:

• Your local hospital – If you are like most Americans, you live within minutes of a hospital. Forty percent of all medical transcriptionists work in a hospital. You can too.
• Doctors Offices – Many doctors offices hire medical transcriptionists to create medical documents for their private practice or team of physicians.
• Medical Transcription Service – Like the temp service that became popular a few years ago, there are medical transcription companies that hire medical transcriptionists on a part-time or full-time basis to work for their client base.
• Yourself - When you work for yourself as a medical transcriptionist you are your own boss. You set your own hours and pick your clients. Wouldn’t you like to have that kind of freedom?

You can find employers to hire you by joining a job bank or posting your medical transcription resume online.

Perhaps the most important question you will ever have to answer about yourself as a medical transcriptionist is, “Am I marketable?”

I cannot stress the importance of knowing for sure. Seeking and applying for jobs in the medical transcription work force is highly competitive. While demand is high, there are an increasing number of people trying to get medical transcription jobs so you need to make sure you have as many good things going for you as possible.

There are things you have control over and things you have no control over. Training, for instance. You can get the proper training to qualify yourself for a medical transcription position. But you can’t control how well trained your competition is.

To discover your marketability as a medical transcriptionist relative to others in your field with similar training and credentials, take the medical transcriptionist marketability analysis test. Don’t guess; know for sure.

Dictation is an important part of the medical transcriptionist’s job. But what is it? What does it entail?

Dictation is defined as an authoritative instruction or direction to do something. A second definition is speech that is intended to be transcribed into writing. The medical transcriptionist is involved in the process described by the second definition. There are a couple of ways this is done, however.

One way of dictating another person’s notes is to do so from written or handwritten messages. This is the least desirable method of dictation, but it can be helpful in some situations. The second and most common method is to listen to an audio recording of a person’s speech and transcribe that into a written record. This is usually done with something called voice recognition software.

The doctor, physician or other medical professional speaks into the software and sends the recording to the medical transcriptionist. The medical transcriptionist then listens to the recording and transcribes the notes into a written record. If there are passages of the recording that need to be clarified, the medical transcriptionist will contact the medical professional and clarify those passages. This is usually done according to a strict deadline.

We don’t intend to dissuade you from becoming a medical transcriptionist, but there are certain factors that clearly indicate when you are not made for medical transcription. We will look at five such factors.

• Choosing medical transcription because of comfort: In medical transcription, work is equivalent to deadlines. If you cannot handle turnaround times of 24 hours or less, this profession is not for you.
• Not being comfortable meeting the high goals in quality: There are people who are perfectionists when it comes to quality of work but they cannot deliver it in time and then there are those who always meet deadlines but their quality suffers and is not up to the mark. You can’t afford to compromise quality for deadlines or vice-versa. If the profession’s zero tolerance with respect to critical errors scares you, don’t become a medical transcriptionist.
• No interest in continuing learning after the training: You cannot survive for too long in the profession if you are not willing to learn. Obsolete knowledge can cost the medical transcriptionist dearly. If you don’t have the willingness to learn, don’t join the industry.
• Not comfortable being self-dependent: The medical transcriptionist does not work in teams. He/she is required to work on his/her own without any kind of supervision. If you cannot handle crisis situations on your own, you shouldn’t become a medical transcriptionist.
• Unable to motivate yourself: The medical transcription work can become monotonous and boring over a period of time. You are required to keep yourself interested in the job. This profession is not for you if you cannot motivate yourself.

Being a good medical transcriptionist involves doing the following:

• Gauging your potential before committing to medical transcription
• Finding a good medical transcription course that lets you practice extensively
• Meeting deadlines and quality goals
• Ensuring security and confidentiality of medical data

Now, these are the most obvious ways you can ensure you have a good career in medical transcription. Here are a few simple ways to ensure that you outperform your peers always.

• Be organized. If you have organizational skills, you will be better placed than your peers. If you start work without any preparation and get up many times to gather your work tools, you will waste a lot of time. You will also end up spoiling your work flow. If you are organized, you will save on time and be more productive.
• Keep yourself motivated. Not everyone can motivate himself/herself. And in the medical transcription profession, thanks to the nature of the job, one cannot survive for long without motivation. If you can keep yourself motivated, you will do well as a transcriptionist.
• Be disciplined. Since the medical transcription profession expects you to work independently, without any supervision, you have to be extremely disciplined to finish your work properly.
• Be willing to learn. The willingness to learn is a prerequisite of becoming a medical transcriptionist, but more often than not aspirants don’t understand its significance. If your learning skills are good, you have an edge over your peers.

Sincerity is the key to a good medical transcription career. If you don’t think you can be committed for long, don’t become a medical transcriptionist.

In the long run, it is the good medical transcriptionist who will be in demand. There are a number of factors that differentiate a good medical transcriptionist from a bad one.

A good medical transcriptionist will not commit critical errors. And if you do commit such an error, you are not just a bad transcriptionist but a fatal one. While the overall quality goal is 98 percent accuracy, the profession has zero tolerance when it comes to critical errors. And it is obvious. A careless error on your part can risk a patient’s health. And you can ruin your career with even a single error of this kind.

A good medical transcriptionist will not panic when faced with a crisis. The medical transcriptionist is required to work independently. There will be situations that will make you look out for help. Incomprehensible recordings, difficult reviewers, and many such problems can put you in a crisis situation. The key here is not to panic. You should consult seniors, your medical transcription company, and your peers for help.

A good medical transcriptionist will not let others have access to his/her work. Irrespective of where you work, in an office or at home, you cannot let anyone access any work information, even by accident. Make sure your cabinets are locked, unnecessary papers shredded, and your computer inaccessible. Don’t let your work computer be used for personal purposes by anyone, including you.

A good medical transcriptionist will not miss deadlines. Missing a deadline will not only add unnecessary pressure on you, but also make you unpopular with your client or employer. The medical transcription deadlines are sacred, and you have to make sure you meet them, every time.

A good medical transcriptionist does not flag inappropriately. At times, you may be faced with recordings that have some parts absolutely incomprehensible. Don’t assume things in such cases. Make sure you flag such instances. At the same time, don’t flag something because of your lack of interest and energy to research.

So, are you a good medical transcriptionist? You can be.

Medical transcription is not easy. That’s because medical transcription is not just about transcription; it is about creating medical records that are complete, relevant and accurate. If the benefits in the profession attract you, pause and look at the responsibilities that lie ahead. Understand if you fit in the scheme of things. In today’s post, we’ll look at four reasons you should not join the profession.

• You don’t want to work with deadlines everyday. The deadlines in the medical transcription profession are extremely stringent. They don’t give you much time to plan. Most of the work has a 24-hour turnaround time. There are some tasks that need to be delivered in a matter of a few hours. Medical transcriptionists are required to be always on their toes.
• You cannot ensure high quality consistently. The medical records created by the transcriptionist are extremely crucial to the smooth functioning of the healthcare industry. A careless error can impact the safety of a patient. The overall quality goal of the medical transcription work is 98 percent accuracy, and you are not allowed even a single error when it comes to critical errors. This makes the medical transcription work very difficult; one cannot afford to lose focus at any time.
• You need guidance and support at every step. The medical transcriptionist is required to work independently, without any supervision. Incomprehensible dictations, difficult reviewers and strict deadlines can cause the transcriptionist to lose his/her focus and patience. Not all individuals can handle crisis situations on their own.
• You don’t want to spend time or make an effort in learning and research. As a medical transcriptionist, you have to keep updating your medical knowledge almost on a daily basis. Not all individuals possess the willingness to learn once they have a job. Also, the transcriptionist is required to research extensively to make sure that the medical records are relevant and complete. Many individuals don’t want to spend time and effort on research, thereby affecting their work miserably.