Thursday, May 20, 2010

Medical Transcription - The Other Side of Healthcare in America

No Medical Degree Necessary! No Nursing Experience Required! All you need is to be computer literate, internet savvy and have a good grasp of the English language to qualify for training to become a Medical Transcriptionist. At the moment, the health-care industry is experiencing a major short, not only with doctors and nurses, but also with medical transcriptionists. With the introduction of the Electronic Health-care Record (EHR) in the United States, most clinics and hospitals are in a constant race to input patients' information on a daily basis and this where the medical transcriptionist plays an invaluable role.

Training can be done in one year or less in a classroom setting or in a shorter time online, depending on your level of dedication and the time which you have allotted to completion of the course. There are three areas of training: English Grammar, Medical Terminology and the various Disciplines of Medicine. Having a love for the medical field and a keen listening ear also helps a great deal, as you will have to listen to a great deal of dictation. The great misconception; however, is that these dictations are crystal clear, when most times they are not. Because of the vast array of doctors from different nationalities who are now practicing medicine in the United States, you will encounter dictations from Indian doctors, Chinese doctors, Pakistani doctors and American doctors who have very deep accents which do not go over very well during dictation. In addition to that, doctors are not always completed focused when dictating and are therefore prone to make errors that can be classified as critical errors. This is where it is necessary for the transcriptionist to have a keen ear when creating the reports.

Medical transcription remains a lucrative career for many reasons. Firstly, the average age of medical transcriptionists in America is 45 and up, and therefore it is a career that is fast approaching retirement. The younger you start this career; then the greater the room for advancement. Secondly, a great percentage of medical transcriptionists work from home and their work is then sub-contracted by larger companies. Eventually, as a medical transcriptionist, you have the option to own your own business! For those enjoy working on their own time and at their own pace will certainly appreciate working in this field.

I hope my article has been some of help to you, and remember please feel free to contact me at the my blog below.

Jon


Jon Slaughte, EzineArticles.com Basic Author