INTRODUCTION

Medical transcription is an emerging career option an d is the result of the global openings in the IT services sectors. Transcriptions/ translations industry fetched revenues o the tune of Rs.120 crores in 1999-2000 and emeployeed over 5000 people. It is estimated that this industry has a potential to earn annual revenues of Rs. 4,000 crores by the end of this year and employ 50,000 people.

Jobs in medical transcription are mainly offered by US based companies in india who in reality cater to customers in the US and in Canada, in these countries, unlike india, a medical report is considered to be a vital document with legal implications without which doctors cannot claim fees from their patients. India offers cheaper alternatives and faster transcriptions services due to advancements in the telecommunication system and the availability of cheap and highly skilled English-speaking, computer litrate, work force.

NATURE OF WORK

Medical transcription involves preparing a medical report/ document based on the doctor’s recorded message about the patient’s diagnosis and treatment. The doctor’s dictate into a telephone as they proceed with their interaction with the patient and the message gets digitally recorded into a computer attached to the telephone. This recorded message is transcribed by a medical transcriptionist. He listens to it and processes the data on a word processor in the form of a medical document. The process involves specific procedures and editorial policy guidelines. The transcribed documents go through two or three stages of editing by professional consultants and senior experienced transcriptionist. The medical report is then bounced back to the doctors via satellite communication.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The environment is office stimulated. The transcriptionist hears recorded messages on earphone and work simultaneously on the computer. The work requires hours of concentrated work.

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

The ability to sit and work for long hours in one place is required. Medical transcriptionist must have a good command over English, an ability to understand and transcribe American speech loaded with medical terminology, ability to understand diverse accents, dialectical variations and carrying dictations styles in American English, dictation and total involvement. Exceptional listening skills, excellent concentration and ability to work and attend to details is required.