Career profile Medical Transcriptionist

Table of Contents

• What does a Medical Transcriptionist do?
• What is a typical salary for a Medical Transcriptionist?
• What personality traits are common among Medical Transcriptionists?
  • Career Interests
  • Values
  • Psychological Demands
• What education and training do Medical Transcriptionists need?
  • Typical educational degrees
  • Required knowledge and expertise
  • Important abilities
  • Critical skills

What does a Medical Transcriptionist do?

Medical Transcriptionists transcribe medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners using various electronic devices, covering office visits, emergency room visits, diagnostic imaging studies, operations, chart reviews, and final summaries.

In addition, Medical Transcriptionists

• transcribe dictated reports and translate abbreviations into fully understandable form,
• edit as necessary and return reports in either printed or electronic form for review and signature, or correction.

What kind of tasks does a Medical Transcriptionist perform regularly?

Medical Transcriptionists are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

• Return dictated reports in printed or electronic form for physician's review, signature, and corrections and for inclusion in patients' medical records.
• Produce medical reports, correspondence, records, patient-care information, statistics, medical research, and administrative material.
• Identify mistakes in reports and check with doctors to obtain the correct information.
• Review and edit transcribed reports or dictated material for spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terminology.
• Transcribe dictation for a variety of medical reports, such as patient histories, physical examinations, emergency room visits, operations, chart reviews, consultation, or discharge summaries.
• Distinguish between homonyms and recognize inconsistencies and mistakes in medical terms, referring to dictionaries, drug references, and other sources on anatomy, physiology, and medicine.
• Set up and maintain medical files and databases, including records such as x-ray, lab, and procedure reports, medical histories, diagnostic workups, admission and discharge summaries, and clinical resumes.
• Translate medical jargon and abbreviations into their expanded forms to ensure the accuracy of patient and health care facility records.
• Perform data entry and data retrieval services, providing data for inclusion in medical records and for transmission to physicians.
• Take dictation using shorthand, a stenotype machine, or headsets and transcribing machines.
• Decide which information should be included or excluded in reports.
• Perform a variety of clerical and office tasks, such as handling incoming and outgoing mail, completing and submitting insurance claims, typing, filing, or operating office machines.
• Receive and screen telephone calls and visitors.

The above responsibilities are specific to Medical Transcriptionists. More generally, Medical Transcriptionists are involved in several broader types of activities:

What is a Medical Transcriptionist salary?

What personality traits are common among Medical Transcriptionists?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Medical Transcriptionist are usually higher in their Conventional and Realistic interests.

Medical Transcriptionists typically have very strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Also, Medical Transcriptionists typically have moderate Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Medical Transcriptionist tend to value Support, Relationships, and Achievement.

Most importantly, Medical Transcriptionists moderately value Support. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

Second, Medical Transcriptionists moderately value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Lastly, Medical Transcriptionists somewhat value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Medical Transcriptionists must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, attention to detail, and integrity.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Medical Transcriptionists, ranked by importance:

What education and training do Medical Transcriptionists need?

Medical Transcriptionists often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Medical Transcriptionists usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Medical Transcriptionists

• 1.2% did not complete high school or secondary school
• 16.4% completed high school or secondary school
• 32.3% completed some college coursework
• 17.1% earned a Associate's degree
• 24.3% earned a Bachelor's degree
• 5.2% earned a Master's degree
• 3.5% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Medical Transcriptionists

Important Abilities needed by Medical Transcriptionists

Medical Transcriptionists must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Medical Transcriptionists need abilities such as oral comprehension, written comprehension, and speech recognition in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Medical Transcriptionists, ranked by their relative importance.

Critical Skills needed by Medical Transcriptionists

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Medical Transcriptionists frequently use skills like active listening, reading comprehension, and writing to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Medical Transcriptionists, ranked by their relative importance.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

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