Medical transcription at one time was only to be done at the hospital, physician offices, MT contract companies, etc. However, over time it this type of work was able to be done from the MTs home.

The MT would pick up and drop off the micro-cassette tape that contained the doctor's dictations in which the MT would transcribe the medical reports. In the beginning this limited the MTs to only being able to work for someone that was close by and within driving distance in most cases.

This is because the doctor required the MT to pick up the tapes and drop off the transcribed medical reports once they were done.  If the MT lived more than 1 hour away from the doctor's office they usually could not work for them from their home.

Years later; digital medical transcription was introduced!

Digital medical transcription has changed the way MTs could work in so many ways. You can now live in one state and work at home for a company or doctor that is in another state.

Now that the medical transcription field has moved up in the world with the ever changing technology, it has opened up so many more at home medical transcription job positions.

Tape transcription is becoming less used. This is great news for anyone that wants to pursue a career as an at home MT.

Because of the fact that you would not be dealing with the older method of the micro-cassettes you would not have to live within driving distance to do the medical transcription job! You can live hundreds, or even thousands of miles away from the doctor, or company that you transcribe medical reports for.

Our medical transcription course is based on the digital transcription method.  This is because it has grown to be one of the most popular ways to dictate and transcribe with most doctors and hospitals. The amount of people that are switching over to the digital dictation and transcription is growing every day!  

Digital transcription means that you would be hooking up a digital foot pedal (transcriber) to your computer instead of placing a micro-cassette tape into the transcriber. You would listen to the dictations through your computer either through headphones. Most MTs choose to listen through headphones because it is a lot clearer to hear as well as a more private way of doing the work.  If you have a home office located where others can hear the dictations you must use headphones!  This is very important because of the HIPAA privacy laws!

We do recommend using headphones for both of those reasons; because you want to be able to hear the information that was dictated as well as you will want to keep the patient's information as private as possible, MTs are expected for follow the HIPAA privacy laws! 

Being a medical transcriptionist can be a very rewarding career, especially when it is done from the comfort of your own home. However, we are very honest and up front and will not paint any colorful unrealistic pictures about working at home.  We feel it is very important that anyone considering this career is told about both the good and bad of working at home as a medical transcriptionist.

It is very important to understand that when you work from home as a medical transcriptionist you must be self-motivated and self-disciplined.  This career also requires you to be well organized and have good computer skills.

This is very important when you are dealing with transcribing someone else's medical record that has been dictated with the intention that it would be completed accurately and returned to them within the reasonable time frame allowed by the doctor or MT company. 

It is also important that you have a quiet and well organized area to do your work from.  This is because accuracy is very important when transcribing the dictations!  Doctors usually will only allow a 2% error rate when it comes to transcribed medical reports.  Having the ability to proofread your reports for errors is a must! If you turn in a medical report that is less than 98% accurate it could cost you your job. 

We are not trying to discourage you from becoming a medical transcriptionist; however, it is important that you realize the true facts of what is expected of a medical transcriptionist before spending money on a course or putting in a lot of time into your training.

Medical transcription is much more than just "word processing"; there are certain style formats that have to be followed depending on which type of report you are transcribing.  Medical reports such as Operative Reports (OR), Cardiology, Radiology, and other medical fields will require different types of report formats. Many MTs will create a template for each different type of report they create a lot of.

There are a lot of benefits to working out of your home as a medical transcriptionist. Yet, it is important to know the downfall's as well.  When you are working from your home you will find that it can get lonely!  You must be able to work without having someone standing over your shoulder telling you when to go to work and how to get the work done. 

Now, this does not mean that you have to know everything on your own.  There are many different resources available for MTs to turn to when they have a question.  You also are allowed to flag a report if you simply cannot understand the doctor. It is better to ask what they were saying than to guess and cause the report to be inaccurate.

We are also here if you have questions throughout your training.  MTatHome is a legitimate medical transcription training company and we have been in business since 1997. Even though this is a self study course; you are never left on your own.  We have instructors here to answer any of your questions 6 days a week. We are a Christian owned company and do close on Sundays.

You will find that our transcription course is well put together with no time limits. We want you to enjoy learning to become a medical transcriptionist.

Please take the time to view all of our web pages on this site to get as much information as possible about medical transcription jobs, working at home as an MT and more. We have a menu at the top of each page and to the left for easy access to the medical transcription information.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to e-mail us at:   and one of our staff members will return your e-mail. We also have a toll free number that you are welcome to call and ask questions. If the incoming lines are tied up your call would be forwarded to our company voice mail. All calls are returned within a few hours in most cases; however, never longer than 24 hours.  

We look forward to working with you on your medical transcription career training. 

Important information for potential students:  

You must have a computer that runs MS Windows. This can be a desktop computer or a laptop.  Some MTs find that it is easier to work from a desktop computer when using the foot pedal. Others may like the ability of taking your work with you on a laptop. This is more of a personal preference of which type of computer the MT likes better.

Our course does not work on MAC computers.  You will also need MS Word by 1/2 way through the course.  If you own MS Office then you already have MS Word.  Some Internet access is required to log into the student area.

Once you receive your course materials there will be instructions on how to set up your student log in.  The student area is where your resources and foot pedal software will be located.  You will also use the student area to view software tutorials and participate in student chats if you choose to.

If you lose your log in you can email us. All enrollments will be verified before "log in" information is given out.