Long-time Medical Transcriptionists Tell All

If you are evaluating medical transcription training options in order to start a career as a medical transcriptionist, you very well could benefit from hearing how my wife and I launched our business years ago. We struggled through some tough times together, and we are happy to share what we learned here with you. Hopefully you will be able to benefit from this information and not repeat the mistakes we made. I can say from personal experience that being able to work from home as a medical transcriptionist is one of the most liberating opportunities that you will find - anywhere.

Medical Transcription has become very personal to me. To help you understand, let me tell you a bit about my history with the industry. My spouse actually went through medical transcription training years ago by tutoring on the job with her mother, who was a long time medical transcriptionist and who owned a medical transcription company. Back then, there really weren't many other options to receive Medical Transcription Training. You could say that she went through the school of hard knocks. Actually, you could say we both did. It was a difficult and stressful time. And since medical transcriptionists are typically paid on production, it was a very lean time for us financially. Her line counts were extremely low during the first 6 or 8 months of apprenticeship... and so were her paychecks.

Over time, however, she improved her production and eventually I felt emboldened by her progress to the point that I went out and started selling our own accounts. I approached clinics, hospitals, physician offices -- pretty much anyone who would listen to my pitch and I would sell them on the idea of using our Medical Transcription services. We teamed up with my wife's parents and began to expand our presence in the marketplace. It was slow going at first, but eventually we built our little Medical Transcription company up to a level where we had dozens of medical transcriptionists working for us. It was an extremely exciting time!

This new career allowed my wife to work at home as a medical transcriptionist and be there for our young children. We were all happier with the flexibility that her Medical Transcription Training afforded us. I think our kids were the happiest of all. And the pay just kept getting better and better. For one thing her typing speed increased dramatically over time -- which meant more money in her pocket. More importantly, though, she got to the point where she didn' t have to stop and look up difficult medical terms so often. She actually got to where she had transcribed enough medical reports that she could generally anticipate what the doctor was going to say next. I was totally impressed as I watched her work! And I became even more impressed when I asked her to let me have a try at the keyboard. I put on the headset and pushed the play button on the footpedal all excited to type my first report... Guess what? She went upstairs for a snack and came back down to find me curled up on the floor in the fetal position out of sheer frustration. I could no more transcribe an operative report than I could fly to the moon! Her school of hard knocks medical transcription Training had definitely paid off -- in spades!

As technology advances came into the picture she was able to create macros on her computer that automatically inserted whole strings of common technical words and phrases with one or two keystrokes. You cannot believe the difference this made in her productivity. It was amazing! As her productivity went up, so did our income! We could finally do some of the things we had been putting off for so long for lack of money. Life was good!

Chris Dunn has created a website to help stay-at-home moms (and others) pick a good medical transcription school.

Chris Dunn has created a website to help stay-at-home moms (and dads) to explore medical transcription as the perfect work-at-home career and quality medical transcription training options

7 Steps for Becoming a Website Translation Provider

Translators have to be flexible when building their translation business. By being flexible, they are able to better adjust to changes in the industry and take advantage of any new opportunities that will arise.

One of the new opportunities that has come up in the last few years is the need that businesses have for website translation. This is a perfect opportunity for translators to take advantage of the (relatively) new technology of the Internet. More and more businesses are looking for ways to globalize, and one of the easiest ways for companies to do that is to have their publicly accessible information translated into other languages. The easiest way to do this is to have their websites translated. That is where you as a translator can come in and take advantage of the situation.

At first, it might be a little intimidating for a translator who has never worked in website translation to add that dimension to their business. However, it isn't as difficult as it may seem.

Here are seven steps (in no particular order) to adding website translation to your list of translation services:

1) Take a class about the Internet
If you don't know anything at all about the Internet, take a class. There are a lot of classes you can take that will give you a brief introduction. A good place to check is your local library.

2) Build and translate your own website.
Nothing will build credibility like showing potential clients that you have your own website and that it is the face of your business online. A business will be less likely to trust a translators that doesn't have a website.

3) Know the difference between text and images.
There is a big difference between translating the textual information on a website and translating words that are part of an image. If a company wants me to translate their website, I will translate the text and then send them translations for the text in the images. Make sure that the client doesn't want you send back the translated images. Doing that goes beyond the price for just translating the information.

4) Get a book on HTML.
When clients want their websites translated, they can either send just the text or the actual HTML files that includes both the content and the code. An HTML book can help you figure out what the code is and what it represents.

5) Start small.
Websites come in all shapes and sizes. Some are thousands of pages while some are only a few. Until you get familiar with the way website translation works, it's best to stay with the smaller websites and then gradually work your way up to more complicated websites.

6) Don?t be afraid to ask questions.
Especially if you're just starting out with website translation, always be willing to ask questions about things you might understand. If you're not comfortable asking the client, there are many translator forums you can visit where people are more than willing to help out other translators.

7) Just go for it.
You'll never be able to take advantage of this new opportunity if you don't go for it. It can provide you with an additional income stream, which is always a good thing.

Clint Tustison is a translator interested in helping other translators improve their businesses. His website, Spanish-translation-help.com is filled with information regarding the translation industry, and his monthly newsletter Translator Techniques is filled with tips and techniques for translators.

Medical Transcriptionist Training Expectations

 The medical transcription field continues to grow in conjunction with the demands on the health care industry. For those who are suited to this job, there are some good opportunities. But isn't it just a case of listening to the voice of a health care professional and typing up exactly what's been said? While that's the basic idea behind the medical transcriptionists' job, there are some reasons that health care professionals and facilities want to hire those trained for the job.

The terminology is one of the biggest reasons training is so vital. While you don't have to be able to name the bones in the leg, you do need to learn to recognize words like "tibia." Terminology is one of the reasons medical transcriptionists need training, and one of the points that will be taught and practiced during Medical Transcriptionist training.

But is there really a need to learn those things? After all, you can certainly stop the tape and look up any words that you don't recognize. That constant starting and stopping are the difference between an experienced transcriptionist and someone who's filling in. If you have the right training and the right real world practice provided by most medical transcription training programs, you'll find yourself able to meet the demands of the terminology.

Specialized training is one of the many options of medical transcription training, and many health care professionals who have a specialty are seeking out those people who can most accurately transcribe notes and medical details. In that case, the transcriber learns those words that apply specifically to the system, disease or other narrow focus of a particular doctor's practice. Adding those specialties make you more valuable on the marketplace.

Remember that doctors aren't the only ones who need medical transcription, and you'll find most training programs offer at least some exercises and information to prepare you for those situations. You may be called on to create exit notes for patients at a hospital. The patient is about to leave and those notes have to be legible, accurate and available now.

One point of the training is to learn to be fast and accurate in real-life situations. A busy emergency room isn't going to suddenly quiet down so that you can concentrate on transcribing a doctor's orders for a patient who is about to be released. Many medical transcription schools will put students into those noisy, busy, stressful situations with orders to transcribe. As important as it is to learn the terminology, it's also vital that you learn to listen - regardless of what's going on around you.

There are even those outside the medical field that use transcription. Though the demand for attorney transcribers isn't as big as for medical transcription, there is definitely a need in that field.

There are other points that will become part of your training. How to make use of technology, software and resources that are available to help you better accomplish your tasks as well as the best ways to handle various situations you're likely to encounter. Take a look at the courses being taught by MT schools. You may be surprised at how thoroughly you'll be prepared for a career in medical transcription.

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Finding the Right Medical Transcription School For You

COMPETENCY-BASED

Finding the right medical transcription school may be the most important decision you will make in your career. This may seem like a bold statement - especially since, at first glance all medical transcription schools look pretty much the same. But nothing could be further from the truth. There are really only a few medical transcription schools that are truly competency-based. That is, schools that prepare you to get a job upon graduation.

DIPLOMA MILLS

Oh, don't worry, there are plenty of "diploma mills" out there. The problem is that in this business, a diploma is not what matters. The only thing that matters is whether you can perform the work. And the only way to learn to do the work is to enroll in a top-flight medical transcription school. Taking shortcuts on a fast track to a diploma is a total waste of time and money. Too many people find this out the hard way -- and it is a very costly mistake, indeed.

MYTH OF NO OPPORTUNITY

Unfortunately, most people who make that mistake become completely discouraged and disillusioned and just give up, assuming that there is no real opportunity for a career in medical transcription. When the reality is that there are hundreds of unfilled medical transcription job vacancies every day of the year. Right now the medical transcription industry is literally begging for new talent. But medical transcription companies need people that can produce, not people that require a lot of handholding and mentoring.

CONVENIENCE

One aspect you will want to consider in finding the right MTS for you is convenience. Some vocational and community colleges offer MT programs. The obvious challenge there is travel time and arranging your schedule to fit theirs. One great benefit for going the home-study route is that you can study whenever YOUR schedule allows. For many stay-at-home moms, this is a very, very big advantage.

Chris Dunn has created a website to help stay-at-home moms (and others) pick a good medical transcription school.

Transcription - Making Your Life Easier

When it was first used and aired over the radio, the word transcription drew large attention and become the gist of the public?s conversation. Newspapers also have many data about and everybody who can read it become interested in getting into it.

Being a transcriptionist, working on transcriptions offers a different kind of job opportunity. It is a task that you can get fond of, aside from that you will also be earning more money as compared to other jobs.

However, does working as a transcriptionist present to you the greener pasture you are looking for?

Quality transcription generally means providing the client with the clearest and most comprehensive drafts that the clients look into. In order to achieve this goal, the company makes sure that they get highly experienced transcriptionists and the best audios that can be acquired.

The work somehow leads to pressure, aside from being a deadline-driven business; it also needs a full precision. All the information that you will be hearing over the audio, you must be able to transcribe it accurately. The clients always seek for an output that is both credible and reliable.

The companies also have to make it sure, that they will deliver the complete transcripts in the quickest time as possible. Aside from accuracy, deadline is another important consideration. Once the client has given a particular cut-off limit, by whatever means, it has to be delivered.

The value of a transcription will vary on how the clients assess the work that these transcriptionists accomplished. The increase or the decrease on the number of their clients will also depend upon the quality of output that the transcriptionist produced.

Most of the noted formats that are accepted by the transcriptionist are the following:

1. Court tapes- This will be comprise of the coverage of court hearings be it in higher or lower courts. It will also include testimonies from both of the parties involve in a particular case.

2. Interviews- This will also include the dialogue usually between the interviewer and the interviewee.

3. Board Meetings and Conferences- The important agenda of the meeting are necessary things to be discussed and taken into account.

4. Roundtable Discussions- this refers to either a formal or an informal manner of laying discussing things out by a group.

5. Medical Advisory Groups- Usually, this is one of the most in demand services in transcription at present.

6. Video and Film Time Coding- Clients who are in the field of movie editing are offered these services.
On the other hand, when it also deals with the transfer of your audio in various media types, you can do it on neither of the audiotape, Compact Disc, CD-ROM, DVDs, and some can be transmitted to videocassettes. There are several preferences so that it will be easier for you to transfer the data from the audio that you needed.

The entire task in transcription needs to be done precisely. The transcriptionists make it sure that they are able to make all the necessary omissions, corrections, formatting and other technical tasks that must be done before sending the outputs to the clients.

The companies also provide for several trainings and reviews for their transcription to keep track that the quality of their work is for the better.
Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides transcription resources on www.abouttranscription.info.

Can Voice Recognition Technologies Make Transcription Services Redundant?

Many businesses need to convert recorded voice to text and have long been looking for ways to do it quickly and inexpensively. Transcribing medical dictation is a prime example.

Some years ago, when voice recognition software became commercially available, most people expected that the solution had finally arrived. Businesses looked forward to cutting down on transcription costs and everyone who hated typing looked forward to getting rid of their keyboard.

Unfortunately, the reality turned out to be rather different. Voice-to-text technology has been a big let down so far.

The fact is, voice recognition software is easily thrown off track by many different factors. If you don't speak clearly and distinctly, it may not give you the right output. If you try using it in a noisy place, it will fail more often than not. If you have an accent, it may not understand you. Even if you have a bad cold, you'll find that the software may give incorrect results!

In other words, voice recognition software works reasonably well under ideal, laboratory conditions, but not in a typical home or business setting!

Healthcare professionals who attempted to use voice recognition technologies to eliminate transcription services found that they need to "train" the software to function well. That takes a long time and a lot of work. Most wound up continuing to outsource their medical transcription work.

Of course, there are many other types of situations where transcription is needed. Examples include recordings of seminars, teleconferences, interviews and classes that need to be converted to text.

In natural speech, people tend to use lots of "aahs" and "umms" as well as unnecessary phrases like "you know". Current voice recognition technology is just not capable of filtering out such irrelevant sounds or words.

In addition, people also string together several sentences using "ands". The software can't break up such speech into meaningful sentences. Nor can it break up speech into meaningful paragraph units the way a transcriptionist can.

And if the recording is filled with background noise, or if more than one person is talking at the same time, the software will not function reliably and consistently.

Maybe sometime in the future someone will invent voice recognition technology that can handle all the above issues. Till then businesses will need to use transcription services, particularly for work like medical transcription, where accuracy is critical.

John Travers is a business consultant who has written about transcription services for businesses, jobs in transcription and related topics.