The Challenges
and Rewards of Medical Transcription
By Mary Ruff-King : Although the field of medical transcription is
very attractive to most people because it does allow the opportunity
to work from home and make a decent to good income, most people who
want to get into this field do not know what challenges they will
face once they decide to pursue a career as a medical transcriptionist
(MT).
Medical transcription work is not easy because doctors are rushed.
Dictation and paperwork are low priority tasks for them. Treating
patients is their number one priority. Even though doctors realize
that paperwork and dictation are necessary tasks they must complete,
how they do it leaves a lot to be desired. It can be difficult to
understand what a doctor has said, let alone what he/she has written.
Consequently, medical transcriptionists..must
be vigilant and alert when transcribing. An injury to the left leg
can suddenly be dictated or written as the right leg and then once
again changed back to the left. MTs act in the capacity of a quality
control person and must catch such errors. ..are
bonified medical language specialists. There are many medical words
that sound similar: Oral and aural; abduction and adduction; and
effusion and a fusion are good examples of such similar sounding
medical terms. A good MT knows what words to use, or more accurately,
what word or words the doctor meant to say when he/she was dictating.
