What steps do I need to take to get hired as a medical transcriptionist?

The tough part is being able to type quite fast and accurate. The more difficult part is doing this day after day, year after year, as it takes a toll on your hands in that many suffer arthritis, tingling sensations, tendinitis, or even carpal tunnel. But even before you get to this point, the roughest part is not only do you need to understand the english language extremely well, but also the ever changing medical terminology. And with more and more doctors from other countries, there is the language barrier. Just a few examples of medical names: Piqued, peeked, peaked; ectocervix, ectropion, effaced, efficacious; perimenopausal, pessary, pheochromocytoma ...and these are but a few terms. Imagine the daily slip-ups, errors on patients reports, and even doctors who do not proof read! It is equivalent to learning a new language. Think you can do it?

Don't be fooled by the ads for medical transcription that it is quick and easy. You should take classes and they can be involved. You must need medical terminology and it is a lot of vocabulary with root words, etc. ie 'ectomy' 'ostomy', 'craino', etc. You must be an expert typist. It requires lots of practice. It can be difficult to work from home unless you have a computer link to a specific doctor's office. Many docs are now using electronic medical records, so computer records are generated when the doc enters his findings into a lap top. Other offices do use 'hard copy' and maintain active charts. Some, docs dictate notes after seeing a patient, which then gets transcribed. Gone are the days when a transcriptionist would get the hard copy notes from a doc, take them home, and then transcribe them. So, research this carefully before spending lots of money on classes. Also, with the push of electronic medical records, transcriptionist are not going to be in as much as demand. Hospitals use them because of radiology, surgery, etc.

you need high school diploma or GED and then a few years (~2) at a community college or technical school...its not hard and usually has good hours and decent pay...as far as working from home...not going to happen, Because of HIPPA act, any health info is private and cannot leave the office with someone, its an invasion of privacy and can have very serious consequences.