We see many people who have worked in other fields and have other unrelated career skills ask us if these skills can help them in their new medical transcription career. They want to know if these skills can transfer to help them become a medical transcriptionist.
This is actually a great question to ask about any career you may be interested in. It’s always nice to know how your current skill set will assist you in your next career move.
Can You Use Your Existing Skills?
Our statistics show people who have worked in healthcare or legal will usually do well in medical transcription. The skills of organization, typing, dealing with people, and attention to detail help them transfer well into the career of medical transcription.
Other skills that are useful for helping become a medical transcriptionist are:
- data entry or data processing
- computer or technical career skills
- any career where one works with numbers
- any career in the healthcare field
Why numbers? Working with numbers takes excellent concentration, excellent typing ability, and attention to detail. Additionally, I’ve never met a school teacher who did not excel in medical transcription. Anyone good with reading, writing, editing will also excel in medical transcription.
Medical transcriptionists are sitting most of the day, so a person who is used to working outside or being on their feet all day may need to adjust to the new work environment.
Obtaining New Skills
If you don’t have any of the above career skills, don’t worry. A good online medical transcription school that offers comprehensive online training will teach you everything you need to know from the ground up.
Skills that should be taught in a good program are as follows:
- Increasing typing speed and accuracy
- Productivity tools like word expander software
- Computer and software training in Windows, MS Word, and others
- Medical terminology across a variety of specialties
- Anatomy
- Pharmacology
- Lab/Path
- Report formatting
- Contain a wide variety of actual, physician-dictation hospital reports
- How to use the equipment needed within the industry (such as foot pedal, audio software, etc.)
Lastly, a good online medical transcription school that offers good online training will offer comprehensive job placement, will have an impressive job placement rate of its graduates, and will work with you until your skill set is employable regardless of how long that takes.
The skills that you bring with you from your life experience, previous jobs and careers, and your natural ability are all very helpful, but your greatest asset is your own determination to stick with it. If you have made a decision to do well, then nothing can prevent your success with a career in medical transcription.
