Need Help from Moms Working as Medical Transctiptionists...

I have worked from home as a Medical Transcriptionist. The first question is - are you going to work fulltime or parttime? I worked at this fulltime, plus I worked in a convenience store for awhile, parttime on a call-in basis. If I started work at 8AM and then got called into the store, I would have to come home after getting off and finish up my time transcribing. It can be done, but I don't think it would be really easy. I worked for Medquist and the people are great and really helfpful . Good luck.

I knew one person that was successful at this, however she had a lot of contacts in the medical field so that is probably why it worked for her. She was able to upgrade to the programs to help, but found it hard to stay on top of the competition and ended up quitting. But it did help her get her foot in the door for another job in the field.

I will anxiously await to read your responses.
I have heard of doing this but ironically, don't know a single person who was actually able to get a job doing it.
I'm not trying to sound negative, I just don't know anyone its ever worked out for and if it works out for you, or anyone else, I would love to know!

Best wishes!

I took a medical transcription course and it didn't go well for me. First of all, I didn't do enough research on the right school. The school I chose hounded me once they knew I was interested. That, and my husband's pressure to find a job made me make a hasty decision. I paid $900 tuition, and if I wanted them to "guarantee" me a job after graduation, I could fork out another $900. I didn't spend the extra money and it's probably a good thing I didn't. I am a former nurse, so I thought the medical stuff would be easy, which it was. I breezed through it. The typing was another issue. I always considered myself a decent typist, so with a little polishing, I'd be ok. I was SO SLOW! I realize you have to start out that way, but I had a hard time understanding the fast dictation and would get such anxiety attacks about it, I had to quit. You can test your typing skills by going to learn2type.com. That will give you a baseline to what your skill level is. Also, I learned after I had already enrolled, that there are other schools that will do more for you after graduation than the one I chose. I looked at the job market for medical transcriptionists and it seemed like they all wanted you to work in a facility for at least one to two years. I would do a lot of research into jobs and the schools. If I had to do it all over again, I would look into medical billing or coding. I'm not telling you NOT to do it, I'm just warning you that you'll need to do a lot of reaearch into the schools and whether or not they will help you find a job after you graduate. Look into your local hospital or doctor's offices to see if they hire transcriptionists who will work from home. Many of the companies I checked into,off the Internet, weren't legit. I've been on this board for quite a while and I haven't seen a whole lot of responses from WAHM who do MT. If you go ahead with it, just do A LOT of reasearch, first! Good luck!!!

I'm not going to suggest that you look at other jobs, however my sister was a Medical Transcriptionist for 15+ years and recently lost her job. Where she worked (and the doctors I go to that is over 90 miles apart from each other and not the same clinic) have gone to the doctors having computers in each exam room doing away with the need for transcriptionist. That may be something you'd like to check on before the expense of schools.

On the other hand she was able to work while childern were napping, yet she still got up early (4-5 am) to complete her work. She also went to bed early.

Good luck in which ever you chose.

The main thing that you need to realize about Medical Transcription is that you won't necessarily have the opportunity to work from home right after you get your degree. In most cases, you need to have a proven work history in the field in order to get a work-from-home position. This is something your academic counselor from the college should have explained to you. Most transcriptionists that work from home have at least 5yrs. working in-office first. I would suggest that you call your local clinic and ask to speak to someone in Medical Transcription (this is something you will need to do for class anyway), and ask them any questions that you have. I did that, and also set up a few days for job-shadowing to make sure that it was what I wanted to do.
I hope this helps you, and good luck!

My sister-in-law went to school for this and was never able to find a work at home position. She now works in a totally unrelated job outside the home. Have you considered learning medical coding? This can often be done from home too, though you may have to start in an office to get the experience you need before landing a remote position. Good luck!

My neighbor across the street didn't go to school for medical transcription but taught herself. She found a transcription machine at the thrift store of all places and found a doctor who sends her tapes via UPS every week. She did the transcripiton work when her daughter was sleeping for a nap and late at night once the kids were sleeping. I know she has a degree but it is not in medical transcription.

Please be so, so careful about doing this. My best friend spent about 6k going to school (money she didn't really have) this school was the best. She did her research. They had a message board full of graduates and current students talking about the school and job opportunities. They helped with job placement.

She did get a job. Despite what she thought - the reality was after three months of working she wasn't making minimum wage. Note even close. She realized to be as fast as she would need to be to make good money - she would need additional programs that fill in with short hand the full word (another several hundred dollars) and at least a year of working. She has a very fast natural type speed, but many of the doctors she would get transcription tapes for had very heavy accents - which would slow her down. The job she had started having less and less transcription work, she left and tried to find someplace else - never found another job.

Many of the work from home transcription jobs are slim pickings for new people into the field. They want additional certifications, they want you in office, or for you to do coding and billing.

My friend did work fairly flexible hours, but she said the transcripts were loaded at certain times.. so she tried to work early morning to get the most transcripts. More transcripts = more pay.

I want you to be successful, I just wanted to warn you - this friend of mine has been one of my best friends since High School. With her transcription degree and all that money invested, she still ended up working mornings at a hotel doing breakfast service and not using that training at all.