New medical transcriptionists (MTs) always want to know how to find medical transcription job opportunities. One way to do this is to take a long-term approach and do volunteer work. It is an often overlooked entry point into the medical transcription field.

Volunteering is a way to set yourself apart from all others who want to get a medical transcription job first. Join a local chapter of the American Association of Medical Transcriptionists (AAMT) in your area. Ask what you can do to help your local chapter. Help is always needed and will always be welcomed. This is a terrific way to brand yourself as a person who wants to give. Once you do this, veteran medical transcriptionists will take notice of you, and medical transcription job opportunities will soon be presented to you.

Find a local medical transcription mentor via an online medical transcription message board or medical transcription forum. Ask if he or she offers needs help and if you can work to gain experience. Remember that medical transcriptionists are busy, so do not waste anyones time. Be serious and professional. After talking with any MT, be sure to write a note thanking him or her for helping you.

Call local medical transcription agencies to see if there are any openings for which you may qualify. Ask for an appointment or interview. Again, even if you do not get a position, you have gained exposure and name recognition as a serious medical transcriptionist. You have expanded your network in your search for medical transcription job opportunities.

Look for a local situation that may be of benefit to you. For example, in the 1990s, the County of Orange in California declared bankruptcy. I contacted the Sheriff-Coroners Office only to discover that all but one full-time medical transcriptionist had been laid off and there was a nine month backlog of autopsy reports. Nine months! After interviewing and receiving a great reception, I worked every Saturday there for almost a year and received a wonderful education in Pathology terminology. This was the best experience I ever had. Plus, the sole medical transcriptionist was nearing retirement which put me in a great position if I were offered the job.

As a medical transcription student, ask your MT teacher if he or she needs help typing classroom assignments. I remember when I was a medical transcription student, the medical transcription assignments were hard to read and had mistakes in them, so after completion of the course, I word processed the assignments, correcting the mistakes, and had them printed and bound at a local print shop. I then sent them to my medical transcription instructor which was my way of saying thanks for all she had done for me. I then worked with my medical terminology instructor and transcribed medical reports for a new book she was working on. Again, my way of paying it back to those who had helped me. I did this while I was working full time as a word processor and medical transcriptionist.

Volunteering is a wonderful way to find medical transcription job opportunities that are not advertised. It is something that most people do not think of doing. Even if you do not get immediate results from doing volunteer medical transcription work, people will have good things to say about you. The word will get out that you are looking for medical transcription job opportunities, and it will just be a matter of time before you get the chance to prove yourself as a medical transcriptionist.