Why I Took Up Medical Transcriptions #1

I took up medical transcription because my sun was setting and I had nowhere to go. Sometimes we come to a certain point in our lives where we are left with limited choices. I too come to face to face with this dilemma, but I guess fate was still on my favor. For I stumbled upon medical transcription. I have to be honest though, medical transcription was unfamiliar territory for me. An unrevealed terrain which needs further exploration. Although I had a background in the field related to the medical realm, it never really made a gargantuan difference for technically medical transcription is different. My first month was hell so I had to gather massive amounts of patience just to survive the day-to-day transcription war zone. I kept holding on to creeds just to keep my wits intact and to be sure that my sanity was still with me as my shadow is and of course, prayer was in my arsenal

Alex Bolor
Nursing Undergraduate
MTC Academy Graduate

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.

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=