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25 Oct A medical transcriptionist’s skills

You can work as a medical transcriptionist, a job consisting in transcribing all the information contained in handwritten documents. This linguistics job has different uses; for example, have you ever thought about transcribing a doctor’s handwriting? And what about transcribing the notes taken in a medical seminar or lecture? But not only written texts may require a transcription, videos and audios (as medical tutorial videos or interviews) are also subject to be transcribed.

The data contained can be very useful for the health community. Besides, for working as a medical transcriptionist there are some skills that will be highly required for improving the quality. Here is a list of skills needed for a medical transcriptionist.

• Attention to detail. A medical transcriptionist has to pay careful attention for avoiding mistakes. Everything – letters, words, punctuation marks… – must be transcribed correctly.
• Typing skills. You must be above average typing skills for writing with a right spelling in a short period of time.
• Exceptional research skills. Research skills are a must. The medical transcriptionist will depend on having the right reference books. But he/she will also depend on being able to find hospitals or contacting medical specialists if there is a mistake or if it becomes impossible to understand the correct word, abbreviation or sentence. Accuracy is necessary, so research skills are linked to it.
• Symbiosis for other linguistic tasks. As a medical transcriptionist you have to write while listening or while reading.
• Good hearing. When working with an audio, a medical transcriptionist should pay careful attention to any sound. Being used to work with difficult hearing scenarios is a plus. Additionally, being native is highly recommended, but also being familiarised with different accents.
• Good memory. It is almost a need for accuracy and working both faster and better.
• Specialisation area. It is not required, but it gives extra points. A medical transcriptionist working in a specific health area will report a higher knowledge of such field. It could help getting a more detailed whole idea.