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Medical Transcriptionists

Also called: Medical Transcriptionist, Transcriptionist, Radiology Transcriptionist, Medical Transcriber

What they do:
Transcribe medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners using various electronic devices, covering office visits, emergency room visits, diagnostic imaging studies, operations, chart reviews, and final summaries. Transcribe dictated reports and translate abbreviations into fully understandable form. Edit as necessary and return reports in either printed or electronic form for review and signature, or correction.
On the job, you would:
  • Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries.
  • Review and edit transcribed reports or dictated material for spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terminology.
  • Distinguish between homonyms and recognize inconsistencies and mistakes in medical terms, referring to dictionaries, drug references, and other sources on anatomy, physiology, and medicine.

Knowledge

Arts and Humanities
  • English language
Business
  • administrative services
Engineering and Technology
  • computers and electronics

Skills

Basic Skills
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • reading work related information
Problem Solving
  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Abilities

Verbal
  • listen and understand what people say
  • read and understand what is written
Hand and Finger Use
  • put together small parts with your fingers

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include
data, detail, and regular routines.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Attention to Detail
  • Dependability
  • Integrity
  • Independence
  • Cooperation
  • Achievement/Effort

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Word processing software
  • Corel WordPerfect software
  • Microsoft Word
Medical software
  • Electronic medical record EMR systems
  • MedQuist DocQment Enterprise Platform
Voice recognition software
  • Crescendo Systems DigiScribe-XL
  • g-net solutions MTP

Education

Education: (rated 3 of 5)
some college or
high school diploma
usually needed

Get started on your career:

Find Training Find Certifications Registered Apprenticeship

Job Outlook

Below Average Outlook
New job opportunities are less likely in the future.
Salary
$33,480
per year, on average
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about medical transcriptionists.