Looking Back

I have been in the Medical Transcriptions industry for 7 years now. When I started way back 2001, the medical transcriptions industry here in Davao was in its infancy and people didn’t even have any idea about what the industry was all about. Thanks to the S-O-A-P Notes and other Physical Therapy documentation I encountered way back in college, I did not have a very hard time familiarizing myself with the process.

When I was given the opportunity to manage the first operational MT production company in Davao, I learned a lot of things and encountered a great deal of challenges as well. One of those challenges was in keeping and handling a pool of trained or seasoned transcriptionists. Before, we didn’t have any options but to hire non practicing Physical Therapists or other allied health professionals. This made the human resource pool for MT so lean and reduced the chances of non-medical degree holders to be part of the firm, and the industry as well.

However, as the need for extra MT’s grew, we resorted to hiring individuals who were graduates of non-medical courses, and gave them a one or two-month long crash course in medical transcription. The practice paid off; however, there were some who failed to cope, and didn’t reach the desired parameters required to be full-ledged MT’s. This was the predicament many MT firms faced during the early years of the industry, as there were no established MT schools yet, and no existing government guidelines or curriculum for the MT industry were still in place.

Today however, the transcription industry need not anymore worry about how and where to source qualified workers, as a significant number of TESDA-certified MT schools have already opened. While some continue to flourish, others have failed to establish themselves and were forced to either close or downsize their operations. The MT schools today effectively serve as a reliable and steady supplier of qualified MT’s, and helps to maintain a buffer pool of trained hands for the needs of the ever-expanding transcription industry in the country.

I am proud to be part of the MT industry, and am happy to be working for one of the nation’s best and most established MT schools. I will be more than glad do my share in providing the industry with a constant pool of well-trained and qualified medical transcription graduates.