Medical Transcriptionist?

Question

I am thinking about going to a community college to become a medical transcriptionist. But Im not really sure. I have a 2 year old. So I would like to be able to work from home. When she gets older I would like to be able to pick her up from school. I would just like to here from someone who is working from home as a medical trancriptionist. Just tell me everything. Do you like being a medical transcriptionist? How much do you make and how do you get paid is it by the hour? Working from home do you still get time with your kids even though your working? I guess just give me the pros and cons of being a medical transcriptionist. Thanks

Answer 1

I was a MT for over 12 years.  You need to have actual experience in a hospital or clinic setting before any of the major transcription companies will consider you to work at home.  You also need to have perfect spelling, which judging from your post you do not.  MTs are paid strictly by the line, so it's entirely possible to make nothing at all when first starting out.  I was up to about 40K working 40 hours a week.  One of the main things I saw that caused prospective MTs to fail was the belief that they could watch their children while doing this job.  It's not possible.  This is a job that requires an immense amount of focus and it can't be combined with anything else.  You also have to be a very fast typist with an excellent command of the language, and you have to know your medical terminology.