Life was going just the routine way, until one day when the stork decided to pay us a visit. I worked as a scientist with a pharmaceutical firm and with my growing bump the world around me was slowly beginning to change. It finally took a 360 degree turn, when my husband and me moved into our new house, with our baby, all of 6 months then. I was required to quit my job and from being a full time scientist, I now became a full time mommy!!

My hunt to find something worthwhile led me into the world of Medical Transcription. It was the perfect thing to do. With almost no investment you get to be your own boss. You can set things up to suit your time and do things at your own pace. Medical transcriptionist work from home is one of the fastest growing fields in healthcare. However, as in any industry there are skills which one needs to master. The more proficient you get, the higher you go, not only in terms of the monetary gains but also in terms of the work you are offered when you freelance.

How did the need for a Medical Transcriptionist arise The entire health care industry, especially in countries like the U.S is based on insurance, and detailed medical records are needed for claiming the insurance. With growing number of patients, doctors have very little time to devote to completing detailed records of the individual patients. This is where a Medical transcriptionist work from home steps in. The doctors dictate the detailed report of the patient, which could range from history and physical reports, clinic notes, office notes, operative reports, consultation notes, discharge summaries, letters, psychiatric evaluations, laboratory reports, x-ray reports and pathology reports, on tapes or on voice based software. A Medical Transcriptionist, then transcribes and formats the dictated medical report into word files.The transcribed file is further proof checked for any errors before sending it back to the respective doctors. Transcription services could range from a one person transcribing from home, to an extremely sophisticated set up, which employ a number of transcriptionist, some home based too.

The world of Medical Transcription is a highly skilled subspecialty of Medicine, which requires one to be proficient in both Medical languages as well as in the English language as well. Language proficiency would include knowledge and use of correct words, punctuations, spellings as well as sentence formation. One needs to also be aware of the specialized differences found in the medical language. Only on mastering both these would one become a successful medical transcriptionist. To become a Medical Transcriptionist, one needs to either undertake a course provided by some hospitals or enrol with private institutes or pursue one of the several home-study courses available. However those wishing to pursue this on their own, without joining a course can do so by searching the internet. There are quite a few websites which give information on how to become a successful Medical transcriptionist work from home- one can buy books, tapes containing dictated files that one can practice with, online dictionaries with varying specializations, etc.,

A Home based Medical Transcriptionist needs to be equipped with the following:

1.Windows PC with at least the following configurations:

Pentium IV, 256 MB SDRAM,20 GB hard disk, 52X CDROM drive, sound card with amplifier, Internet access.

2. Licensed software: English dictionary, medical dictionary, drugs dictionary, medical spell checker, equipment glossary, abbreviations dictionary, etc.

3.Stereo headphones

4.Foot pedal (equipment connected to the computer CPU, which allows hands-free access to operate the voice files by viz., rewinding, playing, forwarding by using foot as control).

It is the job of a competent medical transcriptionist to know and accurately transcribe in any medical document all words, phrases, medications, dosages and details regarding a patients condition. It is the job of the Medical transcriptionist work from home, to know when it is appropriate to correct any slip-ups during the dictation, without altering or changing the document. With todays access to a wide variety of information and databanks, it is a medical transcriptionist responsibility to refrain as much as possible from leaving a blank in any document. A miss-spelt word can cause more damage than offending the professional sensibilities of a grammarian it could cost somebody his life.

To ensure that there is maintenance of high ethical standard and through professionalism in the field of Medical transcription, there are certification exam conducted by various organizations. One such accredited organization is the American Association of Medical Transcription (AAMT). Founded in 1978 as a not-for-profit corporation, AAMT offers a voluntary certification exam to individuals who wish to become Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMTs). This credential is maintained through recertification upon the completion of current continuing education requirements and payment of a recertification fee.

Self-employed transcriptionists who work from home are paid on the basis of speed and accuracy. The pay ranges $10-15 per hour (7-14 c per line) and with several years of experience one can expect to earn $15-40 per hour, depending upon the type of work and equipment used. Some home based transcriptionist pays the company a non-refundable deposit. The company then installs a whole suite of licensed software in his/her home PC. The deposit is collected to cover the software costs and to establish the transcriptionists commitment levels. The transcriptionist normally recovers the money back within a month or two, depending on the volume of work handed and the number of hours devoted for the job. Many transcriptionist working in the field claim, the amount of money they make from home doing transcription is far more than what they earned earlier. Once the accuracy levels are about 99-100 per cent accurate, one can reach the editor stage, with higher pays and less tedious work.

The demand for Medical transcriptionist is growing at the rate of 10-20% each year, it is $6 billion dollar industry in U.S alone, employing around 270,000-350,000 transcriptionist. So for someone who wants to get out of the box and do something challenging yet different and get to be your own boss- The world of Medical Transcription awaits you!