More often than not, most work-from-home opportunities are scams on one or more levels and they come in all shapes and sizes. The sole focus of this article is to share one such legitimate opportunity with you.
Forget about "stuffing envelopes;" most "data entry opportunities," "assembling products from home," and by all means, ignore all of the headlines you see everywhere about how you can make $30,000 per month by only working 30-minutes per week, as well as other outrageous claims.
In the same breath, don't be fooled by the majority of "Christian work-from-home" business opportunities, as most of them are scams as well. There are many unscrupulous individuals who use the word "Christian" as a preface to hopefully earn your trust and suck you in, and it happens day-in and day-out!
Admittedly, some of the scams out there are very well hidden, while others are just blatantly obvious to the everyday normal and prudent person, or they at least should be. But, if you're one of those everyday normal and prudent people who fell for what should have been a "too good to be true" business opportunity, don't beat yourself up too badly because millions upon millions of other educated and intelligent people just like you have been duped as well.
After all, it's human nature to want to make the most amount of money that we can by doing the least amount of work possible, isn't it?
If you're sick and tired of all of the scams and the hype, and you truly believe in working for a living, then welcome to the legitimate world of medical transcription!
Medical transcription is a highly specialized field, and it's certainly not for people who don't want to learn, nor is it for people who don't truly want to work for a living. The work is incredibly challenging; often-times tedious, and you need to achieve an accuracy rate of at least 98% in your transcriptions or you won't last too long in this business.
Another name for a medical transcriptionist is that of a "medical language specialist."
On the flip-side however, medical transcription can be one of the most interesting and educational fields you'll ever work in, especially if you have a real interest in medicine!
Medical transcription is one of the few jobs/careers where you can actually work from the comfort of your own home and make a reasonable living, if that's the route you'd like to go.
Maybe you've run across ads in the past, touting that you can make $30,000 -$45,000 or more per year working as a medical transcriptionist from the comfort of your own home? Those ads are legitimate and the earning potential is extremely accurate.
Naturally, some medical transcriptionists make considerably less, while others make considerably more; it depends on your experience, geographical location in some instances, how fast you can accurately transcribe a dictation, and also who you work for! Becoming a Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) may also play a part in increasing your income by 15% - 20% as well, but certification in this field is not really required like it now is for medical coding!
Education Requirements
You can realistically have a second grade education, or you can have a graduate degree for all that it really matters, though it helps tremendously to have at least a high school diploma or a GED certificate.
Training Requirements
Some doctors offices or even some very small clinics might take you on as an apprentice, but that really depends on your geographical location for the most part and how great the need is for a transcriptionist. Again, this is a highly specialized field, so this would be a rare opportunity if it did present itself, as there is an awful lot of knowledge to be learned prior to going to work as a transcriptionist.
You should expect in-depth training in everything from medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, disease processes, the very basics of chemistry, to an overview of pharmacology, so that you can be in a better position to decipher and transcribe lab results and prescribed medications, and the list goes on and on. When you finally start doing medical transcriptions, you'll soon come to appreciate why you spent so many hours learning everything that you were required to learn to do this job.
Fortunately though, there are special software programs geared specifically to this industry, and they are well-worth the investment.
There are numerous private schools (both online and classroom) which teach medical transcription, as well as many community colleges and adult education centers, and they all have their own curriculum and methods of teaching. Some of these schools are fully accredited and some are not, so you'll need to do your homework, as some schools are far better and more intense than others. The best medical transcription schools will probably take up upwards of 12-months to complete, but they're worth it in the long-term.
A viable starting point would be to contact "The American Association for Medical Transcription," and they'll be happy to point you in the right direction based on your wants, needs and circumstances, as well as answer any questions which you may have about this career field. The AAMT is an independent association and not affiliated with any schools or medical transcription companies, so you know you'll be receiving some highly objective advice.
And when you're doing your due diligence, don't be afraid to contact a variety of actual medical Transcription companies and find out what schools they recommend as well for those who are trying to break into the medical transcription field. Many of these companies prefer to hire graduates from certain learning institutions over other schools because of the schools' reputation for putting-out knowledgeable and experienced graduates.
Compensation
First and foremost, it depends on where you choose to work as an MT and in some instances, what your geographical location is.
There are two primary ways of being compensated in this industry: either being paid by the hour or by the number of 65-character lines you produce, and many (online) transcription companies will require a minimum of x-number of lines per hour or per shift, unless you act as a freelance medical transcriptionist, though even as a freelancer, you may be tasked with a quota as well.
Starting out, you may only be paid 4 cents - 6 cents per line, and that's because a transcription company doesn't want to invest too much money in you until they see how productive and accurate you are. You'll also receive a lot of invaluable advice and some help along the way through these online MT companies as well. Listen to what these people have to tell you, because they've usually been in the business for years and years, and they started-out just like you did.
So after you've slaved away for a year or so and received some solid training and experience, how much can you realistically make? Again...depending on your geographical location and a few other factors, you can expect to make $30,000 - $45,000 per year and even more in some cases, but you need to explore your many options.
And yes...there are even quite a number of highly experienced medical transcriptionists out there who specialize in certain medical specialties and make $75,000 - $100,000+ per year, but they all have a good 10 -15+ years of experience, and they're the best at what they do! Generally speaking, these are not classified as typical earnings.
It should also be noted that if you want to work from home for a medical transcription company, that many of the larger companies do provide an assortment of benefits, such as medical and dental coverage, paid vacations, etc.
Do not be intimidated by the thought of losing your MT job due to the voice recognition software which is currently on the market, as MT companies and hospitals have found that this software has proven time and time again to be more trouble than it's worth and has not saved them any money at all. Another great aspect of this business, is that the work load is not dictated by how the economy is doing.
Another solid point about medical transcription, is that men have just as many opportunities as women in this field, and similar to that of the nursing field...if you're not working in your chosen field, it's because you're choosing not to work. There will always be a gross shortage of good and highly-trained transcriptionists, so the career outlook in this field is quite stable for generations to come.
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