Transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings made by physicians and other healthcare professionals and transcribe them into documents such as operating room notes, autopsy reports, discharge summaries and other documents which then become part of a patient's medical record. In order to be able to transcribe information accurately, medical transcriptionists must understand medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, diagnostic procedures, and treatment.

What Kind of Training Must MT's Have?

In the course of my research, the first thing I learned was that you can't just jump into a career as an MT without training. This is a detailed, professional (and fascinating) career which requires technical knowledge. The American Association for Medical Transcription defines the requirements this way:

"Medical understanding is critical for the professional medical transcriptionist. The complex terms used in medicine are unlike the language of any other profession. Medical transcription requires a practical knowledge of medical language, anatomy, physiology, disease processes, pharmacology, laboratory medicine, and the internal organization of medical reports. A medical transcriptionist is truly a medical language specialist who must be aware of standards and requirements that apply to the health record, as well as the legal significance of medical transcripts.

Reports of patient care take many forms, including histories and physical examinations, progress reports, emergency room notes, consultations, operative reports, discharge summaries, clinic notes, referral letters, radiology reports, pathology reports, and an array of documentation spanning more than 60 medical specialties and subspecialties! Thus, the medical transcriptionist, or medical language specialist, must be well versed in the language of medicine."