Medical Transcriptionists
Healthcare Support
Dictation from office visits, emergency rooms, imaging studies, operations, and discharge summaries is typed into finished reports, then sent back in print or electronic form for the physician's review and signature. Editing covers spelling, grammar, clarity, consistency, and proper medical terms; jargon and abbreviations are expanded, and dictionaries or drug references are used when two words sound alike or a term looks wrong. Mistakes are checked with the doctor before anything goes into the patient's record. Correspondence, research material, and files of lab, x-ray, and procedure reports may be part of the same workload. A better fit for those who prefer close listening, careful writing, and spotting small inconsistencies in technical language.
Typical education: Post-Secondary Certificate (vocational/technical)
Annual Median Wage in Field (2025)
$40'410
Median Wage Market Position
$40'410
What you might do
- Transcribe dictation of visits, exams, and operations
- Spell out medical jargon and abbreviations in reports
- Edit reports for spelling, grammar, and consistency
- Catch mix-ups between similar-sounding medical terms
- Return finished reports for the doctor's signature
- File histories, labs, and discharge summaries
Skills that matter
- Accurate transcription of medical dictation
- Edits for spelling, grammar, and terminology
- Expansion of jargon and abbreviations
- Homonym checks against medical references
- Checking unclear wording with doctors
- Return of reports for review and signature
AI & the future of this role
Speech recognition and language models already draft much of what used to be typed from dictation. Human review for accuracy and compliance may linger in niches, but core transcription volume is under strong pressure.
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Includes O*NET® 30.3 Database information by USDOL/ETA under CC BY 4.0; modified by LostInCareer. Wage/outlook from BLS. Attribution details