Medical Transcription As A Career

Iquebal Makamayum *

An overseas medical transcriptionist working in a medical transcription environment :: Pix - Wikipedia/Bloodpack

Medical transcription is a challenging and well-paying career option and one of the fastest growing industry in healthcare sector. In this process, medical records dictated by physicians or physician assistants are converted into text format. These records could be a clinic note or a consultation note, an operative report, a discharge summary, diagnostic imaging studies or pathological findings, etc. In the US, MTs are in high demand, and the cost of getting the job done is also very high.

India is a very good option for outsourcing this work due to a number of factors, which include having a large pool of English-speaking and computer-literate people in this country and difference in time zones between the US and India which would make the reports available at the doctor’s desks when they come to the office the next morning. Otherwise, they would have waited for another day or two to get the reports ready, which would have delayed the entire process.

A medical transcription service could range from a home-based environment to high-tech companies, which employ a large numbers of people as a transcriptionists, editors or quality analysts, etc. Although the provider is mostly the US hospitals and clinics, UK and Australian doctors are also beginning to outsource transcription service to India.

A few years ago, India witnessed a boom in MT industry with a large numbers of training institutes started all over major cities. However, lack of proper training and understanding of this new concept led to the closure of these institutes. A very few organizations have remained in the field and today these organizations are growing rapidly and creating thousands of job opportunity for the educated youths.

One requires a good listening and language skills and knowledge of medical terminology to become a successful medical transcription professional. A proper understanding of the American way of speech and accent is required. A good grasp of the AAMT (American Association for Medical Transcription) rules is also needed. A full-fledged training program would impart all these.

A medical transcriptionist needs to keep up with changes in medical terminology, medical procedures and have the ability to detect the medical errors and fix poor grammar and syntax in a proper manner in a report. One also needs patience as the work tends to get monotonous and repetitive. A regular and continuous update is essential to be successful in this field.

A fresh MT who has undergone a proper training could start with a salary of Rs. 10,000 a month at the beginning with incentives. Incentives are based on the amount of work done and the accuracy maintained.

An MT with an experience of around 3 years in the industry could easily earn an average salary of Rs. 25,000 a month. A properly skilled MT could earn a decent salary as high as Rs. 45,000 a month. And, salary would grow even higher as one climbs the hierarchy in the organization.

The hierarchy is in order, as a Trainee MT, MT, Jr. Editor/Jr. Quality Analyst, Editor/Quality Analyst, Sr. Quality Analyst/Production Manager, etc. And, some successful MT professionals could start their own ventures in this field in the future.

In Bangalore alone, MT industry employs more than 10,000 young people, most of them drawing a salary of more than Rs. 25,000 a month. In spite of having the best potential, Manipur has not benefited from this opportunity in a large scale due to lack of information about this industry.

In fact, we could create many jobs out of it for our youths who are jobless and having no any source of income. Youngsters who have finished their education and see no any good career option for themselves would be the biggest benefactor from this industry, and moreover, one can make a fruitful and long-term career along with high potential for growth in the future in this industry.

In short, future looks bright for those in the field of Medical Transcription or is just a boon in disguise.