Transcription Work For Second Bloomers

Where I am now can be a great thing! I am entering my own second season…a second blossoming. A time to draw from the lessons learned and the wisdom of our years, a time to turn to the creativity and the gifts we often overlook and a time to stand back and think, what is it really that I want to do with the rest of my life.

Over drinks, one evening, with other 'second bloomers', we chanced upon a friend who invited us to attend an orientation on medical transcription. So, okay, let's check it out. We went and for me, the rest is history.

I am now a transcriptionist not only doing medical transcription but also general transcription. However, it was not a walk in the park. I encountered difficulties which seemed insurmountable and there were times when I wanted to call it quits.

First of all, I never learned how to type, let alone touch type. My fingers felt so stiff that I thought, at my age, I would never make it. Another perceived obstacle was my hearing. I just could not get words right, no matter how simple they were.

To make matters worse, I realized that the medical lectures meant rising at the crack of dawn almost everyday to study for the weekly examination. My being out of school for almost 25 years was definitely not an advantage and so either I quit or take the challenge head-on. My avowed intent to prove to myself that I can do it urged me on. With prayers, perseverance and the encouragement of friends and mentors, I made it.

Not only can I now touch type, but I can also do 40 words per minute. Considering that I have never studied so hard in my whole life, I passed all the medical exams with flying colors and most of all, I can now hear! So as the quote goes, "Nothing is impossible to a willing heart."

Transcription work is not what I expected. I thought it was going to be a boring, clerical exercise. To my surprise, despite the aches of typing, every day and every file, be it medical or general, it is always a learning experience and most often, an enjoyable one.

I go to work and give it my all. At the end of the day, I head for home with a sense of fulfillment for a job well done and most importantly, with no backlogs and deadlines to lose sleep over with.

Where I am now allows me the freedom to enjoy and gratefully appreciate the ripened sense of self that I have reached. Whether transcription is just a step on my path or my dream job, the skills I have learned and the completely new field I have ventured into may make my second blossoming perhaps even more beautiful than the first.

I thank the Lord for the all the gifts and talents, big and small, that He has given me and I say, "Not to me, O Lord, but to Your Name give the glory."

Written by: Cherry Blossom

PATIENCE, PATIENCE, AND A LOT OF PATIENCE

(From left to right) Honey, Pinky, Jay, Doc Hazel, and Mimi

Schmorl's nodes? Guyon's canal? Ballotable effusion? L'Hermittes sign? Dupuytren excision? These are just a few medical terminologies that you hear or encounter in orthopedic cases. Sometimes, all you can hear is the first syllable or the last syllable of a word of phrase or sometimes nothing at all. No matter how hard you try to listen intently on the term, it just doesn’t ring a bell. You are certainly clueless!

Sometimes you either blame your headset, which, maybe is just malfunctioning or the doctor who seemed to be chewing or nibbling on something while dictating the file. In which case, it makes it even harder for you to comprehend or understand the word or phrase or perhaps, it is just one of those days that you're not "hearing well." You even find it very frustrating to look for that medical term which you cannot pronounce, spell, or decipher its meaning and at the same time, you get anxious that your line count is affected because of time slipping away.

"Grrrrrr!!! Why did I take up medical transcription?"

Fortunately, with the help of Google and some MT search engines like Stedman's, it makes it easier for you to scan down through the list of numerous terms. Patiently, you research for it and browse hurriedly through the "googillion variations" of that term. When you finally find that highfaluting term that you have been looking for, sometimes you utter to yourself, "Where in the hell did they get such term?"

So, patience, patience, and a lot more patience are needed to become an efficient transcriptionist.

Written by: Dr. Hazel Britos

Davao's First Blind Medical Transcriptionist

I once lived in a world full of sunshine, where colors were a sight to behold. But even at that time I have the ability for it, I never basked in the glory of the wonders that surrounded me. Then the brightness that showered my world suddenly turned to complete darkness. I felt alone, helpless and vulnerable. I felt afraid, confused and depressed. Then like a virus, all that I felt turned to anger, and that anger was eating me up inside. But we all have choices to make. I chose to make my life better.

I may have lost one thing, but I gained many. I fought against darkness. Darkness that ruled over me at a time, but it’s not going to get me the second time around. In a world of technology and advances in other fields of endeavor, discrimination is very much felt. We belong to a society, but we doubt if society embraces our presence. We may not be able to see or hear it, but we feel the cold stares of strangers. That’s when I decided to take computer training at Resources for the Blind or RBI. An organization that trains visually impaired people to have an access to computers.

After my computer training, I got enrolled at MTC Academy for Medical Transcription course. Being the first and the only blind student to get accepted at MTC, the pressure is on. All of my ups and downs, struggles and tears, I took it all as a challenge. With much support from my family, sponsors, friends, and God’s wisdom, I was able to finish the six-month course in four months time. After I graduated and become a certified Medical Transcriptionist, that’s the time I face the real world.

Things I’ve learn to become a successful medical transcriptionist.

MT’s can act Like an Ant. Three lessons stand out from the metaphor of the ant:

First - they appreciate the ethnic of hard work. Their lives are a flurry of constant activity as they tirelessly search for food.

Second - ants refuse to give up. They never abandon the hunt, crawling through cracks, and crevices in their pursuit of a morsel.

Third - ants understand the value of compounding. Grain by grain an ant builds the hill that becomes its home and crumb by crumb they accumulate storehouses of food.

As an MT, we have almost the same personality as an ant. It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer, and gathers its food at the harvest. Each MT has a treasure trove of ability inside of them. Every MT has dreams and desires lodged within their soul to make their life better and be a successful one. Why do some people dig deep and take hold of their dreams while others let them drift away? Successful MT’s give sustained attention to what’s stirs within them. They find outlets for their passions. We were trained how to transcribe, edit and proofread as well. But it’s not all about that, we also learn the value of patience and the ethnic of hard work for our fellow MT’s. Exercising their strength is non-negotiable to become a successful MT.

FAILURES

A lot of times I’ve cried even before I became an MT. I’m a bit pressured. This is due to expectations of other people, being the first and the only visually impaired enrolled at MTC Academy and now employed at ZipIt MT Production Company. I also have this attitude of expecting too much and setting standard for myself. But I’ve come to realize that even “abled” people can make mistakes and we all learn from our failures. “Learning starts with failure; the first failure is the beginning of education.”

Working with my fellow MT’s at ZipIt Company, I’ve gain trust, courage and self-confidence from them. We don’t just sit there and listen to the doctor’s dictation until our nose and ears bleeds to death hehe! We also have time to talk anything under the sun and learning from our own failures. Now, every time I make mistake in my transcription, I always take time to ask myself these questions:

When I fail, what did I do as a result?

Did I feel bad about myself?

Did I withdraw from the pursuit of whatever it was that I failed at?

Am I now doing the thing I failed at then?

Am I doing it successfully?

Is there anything I would like to do now that I am not doing because I might fail?

How an MT answer those questions, or more accurately, how we have lived out the answers to those questions has the power to determine where we are going to end up in life.

Our answers will determine our success in the areas that we care about most. We will explore the positive ways we can deal with inevitable failures on our path to our goals. There is also another certainty; failure. It is absolutely given. It is the nature of everything. In fact, without failure we never succeed.

SUCCESS

Being visually impaired, I know there will still be a lot of failures, trials and obstacles I may encounter to become a successful transcriptionist. I’ve learned from my MT colleagues that to become a successful one, it’s not about the completion and accuracy of our work but our ATTITUDE. It is a big factor for us to become successful in everything we do. In ZipIt, I’ve learned the value of pride and humility. PRIDE is concern with WHO is right, while HUMILITY is concern with WHAT is right. Successful MT’s have a healthy dose of humility. Internally, humility comes when we admit our errors during editing, and open ourselves to instruction. Externally, humility is gained when we show patience for the mistakes of our fellow MT’s, and when we are quick to shine the spotlight on the success of others. Being a differently-abled person, I turned my disability into an ability to become a successful one.

One thing I’ve learned from our school administrator, Ms. Wit Holganza is that successful MT’s should DO something. They should initiate, create and generate.

Successful MT’s are PRO-ACTIVE as opposed to reactive. They do not see themselves as victims of circumstances, but as active participants who take steps to influence outcomes. Their days and their lives are controlled by internal motivations rather than external currents in a similar vein, successful MT’s take responsibilities and ownership for their destinations in life. They don’t assign blames, they welcome responsibility. They refuse to cede their freedom to others and live dependently. A successful MT has done leadership’s toughest task-mastery… the art of self leadership. The benefit of leading yourself well is that you don’t have to rely on others to provide direction of your life. You get to plan the course.

More News on Honey Baula:

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/06212007/economy05.html

http://mindanaoexaminer.com/news.php?news_id=20070701074453

http://pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p080416.htm&no=35&r=R11&y=&mo=

Transcribing with Ease

Medical transcription requires speed and accuracy. Both qualities are needed for having an "A"-result transcribed document; well, basically, if not perfectly. It is frustrating sometimes when these two qualities are not achieved immediately. Patience is required or else the medical transcriptionist would feel depressed, thus discouraging him further to improve such qualities.

Transcription can be done with ease. It must be done heartily too. It must be done without "dwelling" so much on terms that cannot be deciphered or heard for the first time. Transcribe lightheartedly, keeping in mind that re-listening to the dictation, having somebody hear them, or researching for the terms will also do the trick of solving such indecipherability. If you come to such terms that you cannot understand, flag them first by putting a blank or highlighting it. Continue transcribing until you have reached the end of the dictation file.

When you're done doing that, go back to the terms you've missed or flagged. You have three options now: re-listening to the file (this one is a must though), having somebody hear them for you, or researching the terms. Doing so, those flags or blanks can be filled in. If all else fail, leave them in a blank format. It is safer that way than having to fill them with terms that you are not sure of or that you thought that you have heard them right. Chances are, you heard wrongly. If you heard them right, they wouldn't have been flagged in the first place!

Mindanao Transcription Players Meet With MTIAPI President Myla Reyes

MTIAPI and Mindanao's transcription education and service organizations in a round table discussion of challenges and opportunities last April 11, 2008 at MEDCo offices

Mindanao’s transcription players welcomed MTIAPI president, Myla Reyes and Executive Director, Raymund Eruma in a first-ever Mindanao-wide effort to gather issues and challenges faced by both medical transcription educational organizations and service organizations. Representatives from the cities of Butuan, Davao, General Santos, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and Tacurong listened intently as Ms. Reyes presented key industry trends and developments. The optimistic forecast of growth for the transcription industry provided hope for Mindanao’s SMITEs who seek to become competitive players in the global arena.

“MTIAPI hopes to establish stronger branding, front-end awareness, and linkages with relevant international associations, as well as find partners and open up more business opportunities for our local MT companies. Furthermore, the Philippines is heavily promoting its medical transcription capabilities to the United States in a bid to raise its market share,” according to Myla Rose Mundo-Reyes, president of the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines (MTIAPI).

It was heartening to note that TADI (Transcription Alliance of Davao, Inc) shares MTIAPI’s desire to strengthen the advocacy for uplifting the quality and image of the MT career professional. Noteworthy suggestions also came from Cagayan de Oro to create forums where career professionals can generate leads and exchange best practices. Ms. Reyes cautioned though that any participant to these fora must practice responsible communication as perceptions of our foreign counterparts are strongly influenced by these exchanges. A majority of the players believed that the MT education platform must include values formation and other soft skills building programs.

With the growing shortage of medical transcription personnel in the US coupled with the increasing older population of Americans, the consistent offshore capabilities of the Philippines can propel us to become a dominant player in the future. And as the cost of doing business becomes more attractive in the provincial hubs, it makes more sense to explore the capabilities of Mindanao’s transcription sector.

(Published with permission from TADI President)

MTC Academy Davao

The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in Davao City may still be in the early stages of sorts as compared to other much larger and more established urban centers in the country. However, future prospects are still abloom for further growth in the industry. But the city is moving swiftly in gaining a larger piece of the pie when it comes to IT and outsourcing field. In the field of medical transcription, MTC Academy Davao is recognized as the premier and most established medical transcription training institution in the country that has a number of branches located in the key cities throughout the Philippines.

On May 30, 2008, MTC Academy Davao, also known by its corporate name, Nanoscript, Inc., further cemented itself as full-pledged partner in the development of the BPO industry in the city by officially joining the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCCI). The firm along with the other six (6) companies and private entities were officially inducted into the Chamber's fold which signified as a major step of the school in making further inroads towards the development by not just of the medical transcription training sector but also to the overall development and growth of the city's business environment. The Davao Chamber is recognized locally and internationally as an institution that has diverse membership base which comprises of small, medium, and large businesses as well as organizations of all types and diverse backgrounds across the city in the region. The Chamber's membership base covers all aspects of the city's economy from agribusiness to small and medium entrepreneurs from heavy industry to individual or corporate professional service firms and associations.

Being a member of the Davao Chamber, it will enable the MTC Academy Davao to engage in effective partnerships with other member firms and it also gives a distinction of being a part of an organization that has repeatedly garnered awards from the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry which is seen as one of the best organizations in the country as well.

RP Needs 32,000 Medical Transcriptionist

On the Philippine Daily Inquirer last April 9, 2008, it was posted that the country's medical transcription industry has to boost its workforce three times in order to increase its share of the total offshore market valued at around $18 billion.

According to (MTIAPI)-Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines, local companies have missed out on lucrative contracts from US outsourcers due to a lack of capacity. The demand of medical transcriptionist has to be tripled than that of the current workforce which is around 10,000. Ms. Myla Rose Reyes, president of MTIAPI mentioned that the country must have around 32,000 medical transcriptionists by 2010 so it could adequately address the demand. As a result, MTIAPI is focusing on the development of a bigger pool of qualified transcriptionists to meet up the fast turnaround requirements of large foreign customers. They are now developing related skills training and certification programs with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), and the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA).

Read more about the article here.

WHAT's HOT ABOUT BUSINESS TRANSCRIPTION?

You have probably heard of transcription before. Medical transcription gets a lot of attention, but there are some other types of transcription as well. One of it, which also shows a large demand in the Business Process Outsourcing industry (BPO), is the Business Transcription.

Transcription services are required in almost every area of the business spectrum. The very need to put the spoken word into text automatically creates demand for Business Transcription. Too much of transcription work in corporate world can put undue load on the existing staff and so companies outsource them to business transcriptionists. Realizing this, more and more companies are now going for transferring their transcription work to a different company. This can be cheap too if the company goes for outsourced business transcription services.

To get transcription work outsourced, the company records their meetings, seminars or conventions. This is then uploaded to a specified location from where the transcription company can download it to start off with the transcription work. Transcription companies accept audio files in various formats. MS Word or any other text processing software is used for creating transcripts. These transcripts would then be sent via email or simply uploaded to the location from where the company can have it.

Outsourced business transcription companies hire employees that need not be in sync with the rules and regulations of the country from where their clients send them recordings. However, many transcription tasks include understanding data and transcribing accordingly. Also, American accents and terms may be hard to follow for home grown transcriptionists. To avoid such problems, a Filipino transcriptionist should at least be exposed in a comprehensive training program for Business Transcriptions to familiarize themselves with business terms and develop their listening skills. They should be exposed in different files that can have American accent, Asian accent or even European accent. This ensures the best rates with no compromise on quality. MTC Academy Davao is now offering its course in Business Transcription. You can call them at 222-6822 for any inquiries.