Introduction

Medical Transcription is the most recent and fastest growing IT-enabled service in India. In hospitals across the US, doctors are short of time to fill up the medical records of their patients. These medical records, however, are very important for them, since they form the basis of retrieving money through processing of insurance claims. Therefore, the doctors in US record their findings into the computers with voice recognition technologies. These recorded voice signals are sent to companies outside US via satellite links. The companies employ medical transcriptionists who hear these records, and process the data into a word processor. These transcribed medical records are then sent back to the source electronically.

This process takes advantage of the time difference between India and US. Recorded messages generated in US during the day can be transcribed within 24 hours and sent back to the doctors by their next morning. Since labour in India is cheap, it becomes a preferred location for outsourcing the job.

Nature of Work
Being a medical transcriptionist requires:

1.A very good command over the English language

2.Good listening and comprehension skills

3.Understanding of American way of speech and accent

4.Familiarity with medical terminology and grammar

5.A good typing speed is an added advantage

Personality
Medical transcription is a profession, which demands a very good co-ordination between the mind, ears, eyes and the hands. It requires a lot of accuracy in terms of listening to and understanding the dictation being given in American way of speech, and then typing it at a fast pace with a correct grammar and spellings. One needs to keep updated on the medical technology and new terms in the diagnosis and diseases front. The job requires a lot of hard work, dedication and commitment to deliver the best.

Professional Courses
There are scores of institutes that offer training programmes on Medical Transcription. A whole lot of companies in the major metros have already signed the contracts and started work in this area. Since this job requires experience, these companies are expected to recruit a lot of people as trainees and then develop their skills so that they become experts in this field.

Career Prospects
The medical transcription industry has its genesis in US. Health care is the second largest industry in US with a very high growth rate. Hence, the volume of outsourcing work, which originates from there is very high and is expected to grow in future. This career offers a tremendous potential for growth.

Remunerations
As a trainee, a medical transcriptionist can expect to get a stipend between Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 5000. Once the training is successfully completed, the person usually would get a starting salary between Rs. 5000 to Rs. 7000

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