One celebrated career in the modern allied profession is the one responsible for translating a patient's medical records into an electronic format - the medical transcriber. As the rise for medical advancement came through, medical transcription became one of the more sophisticated careers, since it involves state of the art technology and provides a lucrative income for the medical transcriber (MT).
There is no formal education for the medical transcriber yet. What there is, are trainings and special courses one could take to become more apt as a medical transcriber. In the U.S. for example, one must have a high school diploma or General Education Development certification, plus 1 to 3 years of experience in the related responsibilities. In the Philippine setting, before one can undergo the 3 to 6 months of MT training, he must have attained a college degree.
It may all sound encouraging and easy at first but not quite. First and foremost, it is very essential that an MT is knowledgeable of the medical terminologies. The medical language is very complex and encompasses the different branches of medical science. The MT is a medical language specialist in that sense. The medical transcriber must understand the form of the medical language and how it is used in medical data. This language also includes Greek and Latin suffixes, prefixes, and roots biological science, including anatomy and physiology of all body systems and various disease processes, medical science, medical and surgical procedures, involving thousands of instruments, supplies, appliances, and prosthetic devices, pharmacology, laboratory values, correlating laboratory test results with a patient's diagnosis and treatment, use of medical reference materials and research techniques. Apart from these, a medical transcriber needs to have good communication (written and verbal) skills because it is his responsibility to put into formal content the medical data he is hears. He must be accurate with details and have great understanding of the English grammar.
A medical transcriber works with an electronic machine that requires him to use several controls, including footpedals for playback. A physician records his medical notes or data via a recording device that is hooked up to a central server located at the hospital, or to a transcription service establishment where the recording is being kept. This recording shall be accessed by a transcriptionist who then listens to the dictation and then translates it to the specified format for the proper medical record. Therefore, the MT should never guess or assume details as the medical record is also considered a legal document. If the MT allows himself to type in false data, it may lead to a wrong diagnosis and medication. The patient is at great risk as his health also depends on this document.
The duties and responsibilities of a medical transcriber may also include consulting references of medical cases and terminologies, distribute transcribed reports and collects the dictation records, follow up on lacking dictations or details, perform quality assurance check, and sometimes keep copies of the dictation recording for future use.
The medical transcriber plays an important role in the field of medicine. While it may be a lucrative career, it is a very serious job. As the medical world advances and evolves, medical transcription will progress as well.
There is no formal education for the medical transcriber yet. What there is, are trainings and special courses one could take to become more apt as a medical transcriber. In the U.S. for example, one must have a high school diploma or General Education Development certification, plus 1 to 3 years of experience in the related responsibilities. In the Philippine setting, before one can undergo the 3 to 6 months of MT training, he must have attained a college degree.
It may all sound encouraging and easy at first but not quite. First and foremost, it is very essential that an MT is knowledgeable of the medical terminologies. The medical language is very complex and encompasses the different branches of medical science. The MT is a medical language specialist in that sense. The medical transcriber must understand the form of the medical language and how it is used in medical data. This language also includes Greek and Latin suffixes, prefixes, and roots biological science, including anatomy and physiology of all body systems and various disease processes, medical science, medical and surgical procedures, involving thousands of instruments, supplies, appliances, and prosthetic devices, pharmacology, laboratory values, correlating laboratory test results with a patient's diagnosis and treatment, use of medical reference materials and research techniques. Apart from these, a medical transcriber needs to have good communication (written and verbal) skills because it is his responsibility to put into formal content the medical data he is hears. He must be accurate with details and have great understanding of the English grammar.
A medical transcriber works with an electronic machine that requires him to use several controls, including footpedals for playback. A physician records his medical notes or data via a recording device that is hooked up to a central server located at the hospital, or to a transcription service establishment where the recording is being kept. This recording shall be accessed by a transcriptionist who then listens to the dictation and then translates it to the specified format for the proper medical record. Therefore, the MT should never guess or assume details as the medical record is also considered a legal document. If the MT allows himself to type in false data, it may lead to a wrong diagnosis and medication. The patient is at great risk as his health also depends on this document.
The duties and responsibilities of a medical transcriber may also include consulting references of medical cases and terminologies, distribute transcribed reports and collects the dictation records, follow up on lacking dictations or details, perform quality assurance check, and sometimes keep copies of the dictation recording for future use.
The medical transcriber plays an important role in the field of medicine. While it may be a lucrative career, it is a very serious job. As the medical world advances and evolves, medical transcription will progress as well.
Medical transcribers do not have duties or tasks. Medical transcribers are machines, not the people who perform the job. Please research your articles before writing another one.
Sincerely,
Ava Marie George, AHDI Director