Although the field of medical transcription is very attractive for most people because it is the opportunity to work from home and a decent income to good, most people want in this area do not know what challenges they face is when they decide to pursue a career as a medical transcriptionist (MT).

Medical Transcription Work is not easy, because the doctors are rushed. Dictation and paperwork are low priority tasks for them. Treatment of patients is the top priority. Although doctors recognize that bureaucracy and dictation required tasks, they must, as it can do a lot to be desired. It is difficult to understand what a doctor said, let alone what he / she has written.

As a result, medical transcriptionists ....

.... must be vigilant and alert when transcription. An injury to the left leg can suddenly be dictated or written as the right leg and then again on the left. MTS acting in its capacity as a person and quality control need to catch such errors.

... are bonified medical language specialists. There are many words that sound similar health: Oral and aural, abduction and adduction and effusion and a merger are good examples of how similar sounding medical terms. A good MT knows what words to use, or rather, which words of the doctor to say, if he / she dictate.

... is also very competent in English usage and grammar. Dictate "on the fly", as doctors do, is not easy, and it is the transcriptionist's responsibility to ensure that conveys meaning in a concise and grammatically correct format. It takes time, usually years before they fully develop technical skills.

... must bull dogged determination to find out what the doctor says, if they are not understood. The development of a network of like-minded people in the same field helps in this regard. There are times when it might be a few minutes just to decipher one or two words about the band or what has been written in a medical record. This is done by medical transcriptionists, because we are not only an important task, but to put it right and proper.

... must have the temperament to cope with pressure and people who do not fully understand or appreciate the challenges that we do. Grace under fire is something that over time, too.

With all that said, medical transcription is a wonderfully rewarding and challenging field. People who have a passion for the spoken and written word - to collect words and phrases, like some people collect baseball cards are in this area. We have an innate sense of want, and will do our best in our profession and to assist the patient in the same time by exactly the quality of medical reports. The whole process of medical transcription reports look deceptively simple and easy is that every day and is dedicated to medical transcriptionists.

Mary Ruff-King is a veteran MT. Medical Transcription is a challenging and rewarding field. For more information, resources and tips for medical transcription, visit this author's blog: MT Mastery Center.