Working at home is a popular choice for many people with disabilities. It can be much simpler to work something flexible at home than to deal with whatever limitations your disabilities cause at an office or other place of work.
Medical transcription is a very popular work at home job. It has its challenges, such as getting trained properly for the work, and finding that first job, but overall it’s not a bad option.
How well suited you are to medical transcription depends on a few factors. There are the basic ones that apply to anyone wanting to transcribe, such as your language skills, ability to pick up new information, and your drive to work without supervision.
When you’re disabled you may have other factors to consider. How will your disability impact your ability to work? Will you need special software or equipment?
You’ll be able to handle many of the accommodations you need for this job on your own, and if you use your computer regularly already, you may have them already. Voice recognition software can be a big help for those who have difficulty typing due to disabilities, for example. You may need to get a specialized update for it to help the software with medical terminology and really pay attention to what it types on the screen for you, but this sort of technology is becoming more common anyhow.
You will need to go through a training program to work as a medical transcriptionist. That’s a simple reality for this job. There’s a lot to learn, such as medical terminology, formatting and the skill of transcription itself. There are some very good online training programs you can try that allow you to proceed at pretty much your own pace.
You will most likely be an independent contractor, although some companies will hire you as an employee and even offer benefits such as health coverage if you work a full time schedule.
The challenge in getting the first job after training always comes down to experience. This is where you make sure to choose a great training program. If you choose a high quality program and excel in it you have a much better chance at quickly landing a job after graduation. But as with any kind of job hunt it make take only a few days or it may take several months or more. There are never any guarantees of work.
There’s no one job that’s right for anyone, no matter their skills or challenges. You’re the only one who can determine if you want to try to become a medical transcriptionist. Take a look at what the career involves, and if it seems right, go for it!