Medical Transcribing...

Hi! My name is E. and I can answer some of your questions! I am currently going through a program for medical transcription and have done hours of research! The first and most important thing when looking at the schools is that choose one that is accredited by AHDI. This will shorten your list. AHDI used to be called AAMT (American Association of Medical Transcriptionists) and is now "The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity." This will insure that the program you are going through follows all the recommendations for coursework and standards you will need after graduation.

I also chose to find a school that not only is accredited by AHDI but also by the DETC (Distance Education and Training Counsil). Taken from their website, here is their goal: "The DETC Accrediting Commission defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence in distance education institutions."

Many schools offer courses that will just teach you medical terminology, the schools that are accredited by the AHDI teach you all you need to know to understand the terminology. They will usually take longer to complete, but the additional accreditation will take you further.

As for voice recognition, right now the programs only offer 75% accuracy. In med transcription, there is a standard of 98% accuracy and with the number of words that are so close in spelling and/or pronounciation with such opposite meanings, there is a very low probability that any voice recognition program will ever hit that 98% accuracy.

As for the school I chose, I can only say for me, Allied fit all my needs. It is accredited by both the AHDI and the DETC, the courses are in modules and the counselor I have, Brett Mercer is wonderful. I never felt rushed to make a decision or that I was being sold. He helped with some research and spent time answering all my questions.

Also, this particular school, helps get you ready for the CMT or RMT, which are exams to get a certificate which will get you far in job searching. They help you search for jobs as well as they have access to both in home and out of home job sources.

As for being able to work in the home right away, it is possible. It used to be you had to put time in at an office or hospital due to being new and needing help with understanding accents, etc. However, there are places that will hire you as a home worker.

Also as far as accents and people who speak fast on the dictations, choose a school that offers a large number of hours of practice tapes. The school I chose has hours of this type of actual dictations.

My final suggestion is to go with your gut. You need to be comfortable with the school and courses you choose and know how far you want to go.

I do also want to add that while no career can be guaranteed in this day and age, this is not a dying career. I know two people personally that do this, one chooses to do it out of the home and the other from her home and both have plenty of work.

Best wishes to you.

E. P

I do not work as a transcriptionist, but also did research. I also didn't do enough research. I was a nurse before having children, but wanted to work from home. I figured the medical stuff would be easy and I was a decent typist, so ....perfect. I didn't check out enough schools and basically went with the first one I came across. The tuition was steep enough, so when they offered to find me a job once I graduated for an additional $900, I said no. I guess there are other schools that will help you find a job for free. Also, as expected, the medical stuff was cake, but when I went to start actually transcribing, I had a hard time. The fact that you really have to start off slowly is an understatement. I got very frusterated and the more frusterated I got, the more anxiety I had. I ended up bawling while I was trying to listen to the notes. Also, I had a hard time understanding foreign accents, which did not help. So, I basically threw away a buttload of money on something I really shouldn't have ventured into. In hindsight, coding or billing should have been my goal. I am a decent typist, but not great. I underestimated the typing. Also, there are many schools. Make sure if you are talking to them, get a clear idea of what they will do for you after you graduate. When I was looking at jobs available for a medical transcriptionist, most required you work in the facility (dr.office, hospital, etc.) for at least a minimum of a year or two before being able to work from home. I know that's not absolutely necessary in all cases, but many of them seemed to require it. Your school should be able to help you get a job after they teach you, in my opinion. I know of a couple people who do transcription who really enjoy it, so I wish it had worked out for me. There is a website called www.learn2type.com If you are nervous about your typing skill, you can brush up at this site. I can't remember the name of the school that I heard lots of good things about, but it had the work "step" in it. Not sure if that will help you or not...LOL!! Good luck in your research and your new career!!

I know only one person who does this. She works a lot and does not make a lot of money.

I recently researched this, thinking about doing it as a side job. One of the impressions I got from blogs was that it is, like you mentioned, a dying career, so it isn't one you might expect to do for the rest of your life. But I think any training and education is good, so if you can afford to spend the money and take the time on the class, you might get a few decent years out of it.

I hope some people who actually do this weigh in, it will be interesting to hear responses from someone in the field.

My friend makes a pretty good living doing this. Im not sure about MT schools, but our local community college offers courses and that is what she did. And they were all on-line. I would check your local college and maybe they have some ideas for you and you may be able to get a grant. I am also very leary of all those "training" schools. Good luck