Transcription for a Hurricane: Medical Transcription Career and Natural Disasters
Posted:
Friday, December 9th, 2011
Category:
Medical Transcription Training
What has medical transcription to do with Hurricane Irene? Not much. But with local authorities in ten states looking at $7 billion to $10 billion in property damages and scores coming down with upper-respiratory ailments, sanitation- and hygiene-related illnesses, and injuries, medical transcriptionists (MTs) on the East Coast are on stand-by for a potential flood of new cases to transcribe and commit to electronic record for physicians’ future review and reference.
That might sound a bit self-serving, indirectly profiting it seems from the misfortune of others, but it really is not (and spell “not” with a capital “N”). Many people, some MTs included, don’t fully realize that medical transcription is a service—a needed service and an important one at that in the medical community. Just think about this: Who among the doctors in your medical facility will volunteer to transcribe his (or her) own medical notes, given the number of his patients and the complexity of cases today? A guess, but most probably correct: no one.
Remember, each time you transcribe one case, many benefit. As one MT has put it: “[It] is a profession to be proud of. Service to mankind and a dignified way to earn a living as well.”
MTs with less than a year of experience average between $11,900 and $39,700 per year, while those with one to four years under their belts make $11,600 to $41,100 annually. It gets better as the experience accumulates. With five to 10 years, the MT can expect a salary range between $12,000 and $47,400; with 10 to 19 years, it’s $15,000 to $45,000. Those with 20 years or more can command a salary range between $16,400 and $51,000. Veteran MTs have reported earning from $60,000 to $80,000 per year by themselves, but more usually by managing accounts with a team of MTs working under them.
And so, MTs shouldn’t ever sell themselves short by thinking that medical transcription is not really a profession, or by accepting a transcription job that underpays, or even by not caring enough where they get their training from.
Of the last, the best training always comes from the top medical transcription schools. In the U.S., that’s Meditec.com, the premier online medical and legal career training resource with over 40 years in the business, 17 of those years online. It’s where a successful medical transcription career should start.
