So I was looking at my local college for some coursework I could take that would further help me in my goals related to the business. I came across a certificate program for Medical Transcription - it's about 19 credits and mainly all online courses. There are also some online MT programs out there that would end up costing roughly the same, and some are a lot more than the college program. I'm thinking this might be a nice thing to add to my list of services....obviously, it's a big investment of time AND money.

Any of you out there doing MT?

I actually worked at a MT office 14-15 years ago, not doing that but I was the clerical person in the office and picked up a lot of knowledge. I have worked at a hospital for 13.5 years and am good with med terms, and have great typing speed/accuracy. My mom was a MT for many, many years too.

I'm just not sure if I want to invest the 2k or more that it would take to be properly trained. My thought is that this is still a pretty big growing field and lots of people are getting close to retiring. It would be nice to have this as a backup, at least I think anyway!

I would look forward to anyone's feedback!!!

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Kari Thevenot, Virtual Assistant
www.yourlefthand.net

Kari from what I have seen there is a market for VAs with Medical Transcription. I worked in a hospital for over 10 yrs and did consulting work with a physicians office as well and I know from personal experience that good transcriptionists are hard to come by. I think that if it is something that is of interest to you then go for it. You already are a step ahead with having some medical terminology under your belt. That is a big plus!

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Hi Kari,
When I was the branch manager of a staffing firm we had doctors and hospitals looking for good transciptionist. My opinion would be to move more in that direction. I think you'd get a lot of clients.

Good Luck!
LoriLee

Kari,

Do you need to go down the certification route as a Medical Transcriptionist? It seems to me that you have speed/accuracy required for transcription work along with a knowledge of medical terminology so why not advertise as is and see if you get any VA work with what you have before spending so much money on certifications that you may not need.

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Vicky
www.c-vas.eu

Hmmm, Vicky....you've got me thinking. If I could buy some transcription CD's (practice dictations) and a foot pedal, that could give me a good start....even that will put me back a few hundred bucks.

But my main concern would be how marketable I would be if I can't advertise that I had actual MT training. I wonder how well "self-taught" MT's do in landing clients.

It is definitely something to think about though - if I could get all the resources I would need and do stuff on my own. I just don't know - but thanks for suggesting it.

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Kari Thevenot, Virtual Assistant
www.yourlefthand.net

Kari,
Sometime last year, I bought a practice dictation book from my local Borders bookstore. It's called:
"Machine Transcription and Dictation". 5th edition. The author is Mitsy Ballentine. It has a practice CD.
I chose not to go the foot pedal route. You can program some hot keys and do just as well. That's my thoughts on the subject. :-)))

-Alice

Medical transcription work pays a lot and there is a lot of work. However, it is extremely difficult to find physicians that are willing to allow the work to leave their offices. Most MT work is very private and the doctors do not want just anyone to access it. Plus there is the insurance issue and the possibility of the private paperwork and tapes lost in a fire when it was supposed to be at the doctor's office.

Cindy Freland
Maryland Secretarial Services, Inc.
www.webmss.com
"We meet your deadlines...not ours!"

Oh, I just thought about something else to add to this post. When I was searching for MT work, I found a great website at www.mtjobs.com. They list work and the specifications for each company. Good luck!!

Cindy Freland
Maryland Secretarial Services, Inc.
www.webmss.com
"We meet your deadlines...not ours!"

About ten years ago, I worked part-time as a medical transcriptionist for ENT and psychiatric doctors. I'd like to begin transcription work again, but most job listings want lots of experience, and the 10-year gap makes it more difficult for me to get started.

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VirtuallyDee

A couple of our doctors use transcriptionists who work from home. The dictation and transcription is done through a secure server via the Internet. Some large transcription services set up home offices for their transcribers. The main thing to remember when doing this type of work at home is privacy of the health information. There are some pretty strict rules for the home office for this type of work.