Medical Transcriptionist Tools

Medical transcriptionists listen to recordings dictated by doctors and transcribe them into medical reports, medical history, consultation reports, autopsies and other material. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says this requires a knowledge of medical terminology, diagnostic procedures, treatment assessments and medical abbreviations. It also requires the right equipment to do the job.

Basic Equipment

• A transcriptionist needs a recording device to hold the original verbal material, a headset to listen to the material when it's played back, a word processor or computer to transcribe the information and a foot-pedal to pause the recording when the transcriptionist falls behind on typing. She may also need batteries or chargers for her equipment. If his recorder is digital, it may need an extra memory card.

Reference Material

• Transcriptionists may have to transcribe material in a wide range of fields. Rather than learn all the technical terms and jargon, they can rely on reference books, either hard-copy or online. Transcriptiongear.com, for example, offers medical dictionaries, drug-reference books, guides to medical abbreviations and books covering specific terminology such as orthopaedic and gastro-intestinal terms.

Software

• Medical-transcription1.com website lists software that can improve a transcriptionist's productivity. The list includes word-expander programs that can take a few typed letters and turn them into a full word, and spell-checking programs that are designed especially for a medical vocabulary.