I’m always looking for ways to make extra money from home and just when I thought I’d seen it all, this comes along and blows my mind. I didn’t even know the job of medical transcriptionist even existed! I’ve been looking into it more…

Here’s a list of frequently asked questions about this field (including average pay). This is from an online school that not only trains you but promises to help you get a job once the training is complete: Future MT. It looks like a really good stay at home job. It might be a tad boring but nothing’s more boring than being broke all the time!!

Basically, from what I gather, you just type up documents from recorded audio (probably full of medical jargon) and send it back to the doctor’s office or hospital or lab. The school’s website claims that 75% of the people doing this work are home based and that most are part time. 20-25 hours a week looks like the average. It looks like a high growth market too. Here’s something from the site:

The typical medical transcription salary had median earnings per hour of $15.41 in May 2008.  The middle 50% made between $13.02 and $18.55.  The lowest 10% made less than $10.76, and the highest 10% made more than $21.81.

Employment of MTs is expected to grow 11% from 2008 to 2018.  This growth rate is higher than other average occupations.  An increasing older population will initiate higher demands for MT services.  Higher age groups are receiving proportionately larger numbers of treatments, medical tests, and procedures requiring documentation.  The continuous requirement for electronic documents being shared without difficulty among providers, regulators, 3rd party payers, consumers, and medical information systems, will increase the demand for transcription services.

I’m going to dig into this some more but right now it looks like a hidden gem for people like me needing more money than their current job provides. And this looks like a very solid option (not like pyramid schemes or other purely commission based ventures).

To sweeten the pot, this web based school actually offers a money back guarantee if they can’t get you a job after completing the training! In fact, that might be their strongest selling point- their job placement department that works with you to write & send resumes.  They also have an online financial aid application & payment plans.

Like I said, I’m going to dig into this some more. I’m definitely intrigued at this point.