Medical Transcription Career Facts:

Medical transcription job and resume assistance will come with our medical transcription course.

There are many links and pages to visit on this site that will give you even further information about medical transcription as a work-at-home career.

As baby-boomers age and require increasing health care services, all medical career fields will experience an unprecedented demand.

In medical transcription, this situation is already creating serious problems. There has always been a shortage of qualified medical transcriptionist; due in part to the fact that it's one of those "hidden" careers people outside the medical field rarely realize to exist.

However; what used to be an inconvenience is quickly becoming a crisis. In some parts of the country, there is such a severe shortage of MTs that over 60% of the work is done by MTs out of their home offices that are living several states away from the doctor they work for.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor; employment of medical transcriptionists is projected to grow by 11% from the year 2008 to 2025.

The American Hospital Association says that "medical transcription is one of the fastest-growing fields," and Pat Forbis; past president of the AAMT states, "It's easy to get accounts if you know the jargon. It isn't easy to get talent to service those accounts."

Over half of all medical transcriptionist work at home and with the rising interest in telecommuting, medical transcription is gaining more attention. Community colleges that never heard of medical transcription several years ago rushed to establish a curriculum, and the Internet offers a multitude of training courses.

This is unlikely to have much effect. It is estimated that 20% of students never complete the training of some courses, due in part to unrealistic expectations. The typical student with no background in health care demands a course with proper training, but is then unwilling to devote the time and effort necessary to master the material . This is why we encourage everyone to research the career field before committing to any career training course to make sure it is something you want to invest your time and money into. 

Unfortunately, many courses turn out students who can recite the names of cellular organelles, but who are unfamiliar with the professional tools MTs use, don't own digital foot pedals, and can't transcribe more than 100 lines per hour. Prospective students ask questions such as, "Do you teach by body systems?" when they ought to ask, “Will you teach me the skills necessary to get a job?" You will be happy to know that we are not like some of the other courses that do not give job advice or training. We give Job Assistance after completion of our course.

While there are jobs out there for new MTs with no prior medical background other than the medical transcription course, these jobs require organization, self-motivation, and high accuracy of the work which is done. Of course there are many tools out on the market to assist you with your accuracy; we have some extra tools & software in our course that will assist with accuracy.

Some places ask the medical transcriptionist to work at their location for a short period to learn proper skills and develop trust between the company and the new MT. However, not many new MTs are willing to devote a short time period of work outside of their home even when the payoff would mean years of working in their home setting. These are the companies that are near where the MT lives.

In situations where the MT lives far away they may ask to take a transcription test online; on the other hand, even do so much work at a lower rate on a temporary basis. Once they are happy with your work; then they would take your pay up to normal pay basis.

When working in digital medical transcription, you can work for a doctor which is thousands of miles away through your computer so the possibilities are endless of how much you can advance your career.

There are not many courses that focus on building transcription skills beyond providing practice dictations or that provides training with the AHDI BOS Standards!  It is very important that you receive proper training in all of the different areas.  This is why we make it mandatory that all of our students use the AHDI Book of Style as part of their training.     

We know how important it is to learn more than just medical terminology, and yet to not over stuff the course with materials that only a doctor would need to learn. It is sad, but true fact that some courses put extra material in their program that is not needed in their course materials just so they can raise their course prices into the thousands. Consequently; no matter how many students actually graduate from different schools, it is unlikely to make a dent in the demand for qualified MTs.

More than half of all MTs are independent contractors (ICs). Medical transcription is unusual in that many companies provide full benefits for ICs, including paid vacation and sick leave, health insurance, retirement plans, and even sign-on bonuses. In addition, there is no mandatory retirement age for medical transcriptionist.

Independent contractors usually commit to either x number of lines, or x hours of dictation per week. Six hours are considered a full day for most medical transcriptionist, and many work less. Earnings are high enough that competent MTs can make a very good living working a 30 hour week.

In addition, ICs can choose to work for transcription services located in those regions that pay the highest rates. For example, the Pacific Northwest pays twice the rate of some southern states. It's as easy for an IC with digital equipment to work for a company located over thousands of miles away as one located in the next town.

After gaining some experience, it is easy for MTs to acquire their own accounts with local physicians and clinics, which usually results in doubling one's income.

In addition to physicians and hospitals, medical transcriptionist can work for dentists, psychologists, medical examiners, even veterinarians.

Medical transcription is not for everyone! However, if you are one that likes the study of medicine, and are self-disciplined then this may be for you.

Be sure to read all our links on our web page for full information about the Medical Transcription Career and if it is for you! 

Are you searching for a well-paying, secure job, working from home? 

The work is fascinating. You won't get bored with medical transcription because you are always learning about the fascinating field of medicine and the human organism. New discoveries, medicines, techniques and understanding are a daily occurrence in this exciting field. An important side benefit is that you become more conscious and knowledgeable about your own health, and that of your family. 

The income is excellent. There is a wide range of potential earnings in medical transcription and all of them are good. You can work part-time and earn as much as many full-time employees who have college degrees. You can work full-time and reach an upper-middle class income. You can open your own home-based medical transcription service, outsourcing transcription to other home workers, and earn an income that qualifies as "affluent." 

Job security is high. 

Telecommuting is an established tradition. MTs were working at home long before the term "telecommuting" was coined. More than half of all Medical Transcriptionist work at home and the numbers are increasing fast.

 In some parts of the country, there is such a shortage of MTs that an estimated 60% of medical transcription work is done by MTs residing in another state. Many MTs work for doctors that are several states away from their home office. This is done by having Internet access to transfer the files digitally. Emerging mega-services hire MTs across the nation. Many small services are home-based and outsource work to other home workers. 

Many companies offer excellent benefits. Although many telecommuting MTs are actually independent contractors, they are still offered excellent benefits, including health and life insurance, paid vacation and sick days, retirement plans - even sign-on bonuses! 

Entry requirements are low. Few industries offer this level of compensation to workers without college degrees. Many people with a master's degree don't earn this kind of money or enjoy these kinds of benefits. But medical transcription training can be accomplished in as little as six to nine months of study in most cases.

In fact, most courses don't even require a high school diploma! Anyone with normal intelligence and the drive to excel can become a medical transcriptionist. 

MTs are respected. This is one field that is dominated by women whose work product is respected. While nurses and other female healthcare providers typically complain that their training is not respected in the work place; MTs enjoy respect not only from their peers and employers, but from the doctors they transcribe for. Even the family physician takes on a new attitude when the MT speaks to him in his own language! 

Few careers offer so much, especially to those of us who did not have the opportunity to become software engineers after six years of training, or lawyers after seven years, or doctors after eight years. As a comparison, the median income for female doctors is $85,000.

Many of the top MTs earn over $60,000 and those who own home- based transcription services earn considerably more! 

We hope that we have answered most of your questions here; however, if you still have questions about our course, company, etc. please contact us. 

Copyright © 1997 - 2011 MTatHome