What Characteristics Do Medical Transcriptionists Need to Have?
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Question:
Which characteristics do you need to possess as a medical transcriptionist? If you could name 3 essential skills that a medical transcriptionist needs to be successful, what would they be and why?
Answer:
All medical transcriptionists must have strong medical terminology knowledge, good grammar and punctuation skills, possess great attention to detail, have a strong work ethic, and really appreciate challenges.
In my experience, the three most important characteristics a medical transcriptionist must possess are:
– Medical terminology knowledge. To know whether or not a particular word makes sense in the context, you must be familiar with root words, prefixes, and suffixes, and a lot of it is in Latin. For instance, you need to know the difference between plural and pleural as well as aural and oral. Online medical transcription courses will help you gain this critical knowledge and much more.
– Grammar and punctuation expertise. One hyphen can make a big difference in a medical report. For example, a short arm cast is a short cast for the arm whereas a short-arm cast is a cast for a short arm. You’ll find that most medical transcription courses cover grammar and punctuation in detail and the link above can help you find the perfect one.
– Attention to detail. Medical transcriptionists do not simply type what someone says. They must pay close attention throughout the report, being able to identify discrepancies, thus working in conjunction with the dictator to provide proper documentation for the patient’s medical file.
The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity is another site you might want to take a look at; it is a great resource to help you decide if this is the job for you.
Tags: medical terminology, Medical Transcriptionist, online medical transcription training
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