Jobs with Stay-at-Home Flexibility-Medical Transcription

Job flexibility

Thousands of parents are constantly “scanning the horizon” for just the right position that will allow them to spend more time at home with their children. One possibility often touted as perfect for stay-at-home parents is the job of medical transcription. Let’s take a closer look at exactly what is required of and can be expected from medical transcription.

Training for medical transcription

In order to be prepared to effectively perform the job duties required of a medical transcriptionist, you need to know basic medical terminology and anatomy. You also need to learn about diseases, report types, abbreviations, and acronyms.

Preparation classes are offered at a number of schools and vary considerably in cost. You should check your local community college, ROP, or adult school for a lower cost options. Private and public vocational colleges and universities sometimes offer courses for medical transcription, but usually at a higher cost. There are many Internet courses available, but be careful because only a few of the Internet courses are universally recognized by employers as high enough quality to adequately train you for employment. I completed my training through the Career Step Internet course and found it accepted by all employers. Their training was thorough and effective.

Job duties of medical transcription

As a medical transcriptionist, you download your sound files, put on earphones, and type what is dictated into the format requested by your employer. It’s that simple. Not necessarily easy to do, just simple to explain.

The ease in which the task is performed depends heavily on who does the dictation. Some physicians take their time, have little background noise, and speak clearly. Others have a mouth full of candy or sandwich, noise in the background, and either mutter or talk so fast that you would have to be a magician to understand it!

Overall, I found medical transcription quite pleasant to do. I enjoyed learning about the medical field, following the progress of each patient, and listening to the dictation. If you like computers and don’t mind sitting for fairly long periods of time interacting only with equipment, it just might be the job for you.

Is medical transcription right for you?

Establish your goals first. If your primary goal is to free up some daytime hours for your family or to start a new venture of your own, medical transcription may work well for you. There is a training period of at least a year before you are adequately prepared to transcribe, but once you are trained you can work either at home or at an office. Finding a work-from-home job as a first transcriptionist placement is not easy. Consider working evenings or weekends for the first few months of your employment if possible. The on-site experience will benefit you in the long run.