Medical Transcription is the process of interpreting and transcribing the dictation made by doctors or other health care professionals regarding patient status, treatment procedures, diagnoses, prognoses, etc. With medical transcription of dictated data from physicians, the medical transcriptionist may also edit the text that is produced by voice recognition software. Medical Transcription is the translating of dictations made by a doctor. As a result, it requires an extensive knowledge of medical, pharmacological and anatomical terms.

Previously medical transcriptionists would listen to dictations and type it themselves, however with the dawn of technology and voice recognition program, this has become unnecessary and today, for the most part, the medical transcriptionist merely edits the output of the software. However, the editing procedure ranges from a few modifications to major modifications since voice recognition software still has not been perfected and possibly never will be because of the wide variety of speech variations and dictating habits of medical care professionals.

Apart from medical know-how, a quality transcription calls for a transcriptionist to have good hearing skills because they have to be able to concurrently interpret dictation while typing, they have to also have an exquisite understanding of English and grammar, editing and proofreading skills, a high state of analytical skills in order to assess and translate spoken words into meaningful writing, as well being proficient in the use of transcription equipment and computers.

Medical Transcription has been seen as writing in ancient caves as well as in documents of lost civilizations, yet still the objective of medical transcription and also the medical transcriptionist remains the same and that’s to keep a record of a patient’s medical status and treatment.

However, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that Medical transcription was recognized as a profession. Initially, those who did medical transcription were labeled as typists, word processors, medical secretaries or dictating machine operators. This was and still is a highly unjustified job title for those who practice medical transcription because the profession requires a wide knowledge of medical terms. Thus, in 1999, Medical Transcription was assigned its own job classification and those practicing it were officially called medical transcriptionists.

Medical Transcription as a profession is quite underground and a lot of individuals might not have heard about it. But, medical transcription is a vital profession in the ever developing medical care industry… especially to healthcare staff that doesn’t have the time to put into writing every bit of information that they gather from patients. Therefore, the need for certified medical transcriptionist specialists is continually growing and because the number of new methods coming into the market doctors don’t have the time to transcribe all their findings.

Medical Transcription as a profession is very versatile as well. Medical transcriptionists, can acquire after a few years of education, work from medical transcription firms. Medical Transcription firms receive dictations made by doctors and in turn, these orders are turned over to medical transcriptionists to be transcribed.

A medical transcriptionist can also work full or part-time at home. Currently, the American Association for Medical Transcription is governing body in the United states that certifies Medical transcriptionists, although you won’t need a certification to be able to work as one, a certification form the AAMT, will surely increase you’re “market value” and credibility.

Medical transcription is no longer merely listening and transcribing the words dictated by a doctor. Medical Transcription is evolving and now requires specific education centering on medical language, knowledge of Greek and Latin prefixes and suffixes, anatomy, physiology, disease processes, medical science and procedures, medical instruments, pharmacology, laboratory instruments, laboratory test results, medical reference material techniques and many more.

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