The Medical Transcriptionist

By the simplest term, medical transcription is a profession wherein a medical transcriptionist (MT) translates physician recorded reports into written reports for better documentation of the patient's health history.

According to the American Heritage Medical Dictionary, a medical transcriptionist is a person who transcribes medical reports dictated by a physician concerning a patient's health care. The MTs return these documents to the physicians for their review, make the necessary corrections and affix their signature if these are done accurately. After these are done, the documents are now part of the patient's record or profile.

Aside from the transcriptionist, editors and quality assurance (QA) editors are also employed for a more thorough review of the report.

Often times, those who graduated with a background in the medical field such as physical therapists, nurses, medical technologists, etc. have an edge in this profession, but those who have enrolled in Medical Transcription courses are also qualified and considered for this field.

Aside from having a deep knowledge in medical terminologies, it is a must to possess good English grammar, punctuation skills, excellent hearing acuity, an eye for details and being computer and Internet savvy makes a good medical transcriptionist.

In my book, it's a job that both is rewarding both intellectually and financially as long as you work hard, you love your work and be passionate about it. I am proud to be a medical transcriptionist and as they always say, many are called, but few are chosen.