How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist from Home

Digital60

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posted on 16 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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Is your ultimate goal to work from home? Have you heard about medical transcription and want to make a go of starting a new career? Medical transcription is an ideal way to have a stable career, with the flexibility to set your own schedule and be there for your family. But, as a future medical transcriptionist, you have to realize that this does not happen overnight. Some medical facilities require six months of on-site work before allowing a medical transcriptionist to work from home. Others may require experience before you’re allowed to take work home.

Steps

Enroll in a medical transcription school that offers job assistance – There are medical transcription schools that will help you find a job once you finish your training. This includes teaching you how to create an effective resume, conduct a solid job interview, uncover job leads, and more. Give your job search a leg up by choosing a school that goes the extra mile for you and provides job assistance.

Join a professional association – This is a great way to connect with other medical transcription professionals. Choosing an association, such as the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), gives you access to other professionals in the field. You can find out first-hand what it’s like to work as a medical transcriptionist and even gain a lead on job opportunities.

Contact doctors in your area – If you want to really know what doctors require for their medical transcriptionists, contact them and ask pointed questions. Do they outsource their medical transcription jobs? Do they require experience before they let a medical transcriptionist work from home? This is a great way to learn what you need to do to work with doctors in your area.

Avoid ads promising "Work from Home" – Becoming a medical transcriptionist takes work and dedication. You need to get your training from an accredited medical transcription school and then make contact with doctors in your area. Your medical transcription course can take up to 18 months. Any ads promising a quick way to start your career or not requiring any education do not have your best interests in mind and should be avoided all together.

Get experience – After you complete your medical transcription course, try to get experience. Contact a local doctor’s office and maybe offer to work at a discounted rate for the first month or arrange to start an internship. This can provide the doctor with affordable medical transcription work and also enable you to get experience under your belt – leading to your ideal work-at-home medical transcription job.

Become certified -- Take the extra step and become a certified medical transcriptionist. This can add credentials to your resume and let potential employers know that you are really serious about your medical transcription career. As you look for a job, this can really make you stand out and give you an advantage in the job market.