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Pune, December 31: Graduating as a homoeopath and hospital management student, a job in a medical transcription company was not on the agenda. I used to work at the Pune Fertility Centre as a medical officer, and it was my boss who suggested that I take a crack at it, because the business was booming. Apparently the only reason why she asked me to give the interview a shot was because I had a comfortable hold on English.
Though the job of a transcriptionist is supposedly quite mechanical, I decided to accept the offer because there was good money involved, almost thrice as much as I was earning at the hospital. I underwent training that involved understanding the various styles of American accents and spellings of medical terms that differ from British English. In fact, this is what keeps many Maharashtrians away from this field. The American accents can get quite confusing and differ from area to area; a tough call, unless you’re really conversant with English. No wonder then that out of 80 transcriptionists, you would find only 15 Maharashtrians. However, a few weeks of night duties, travelling 20 km from home took a toll, and I began to look for a new company
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That is when Crossover happened. It allowed me to work as a proofreader in the morning and practise as a homoeopath in the evening. The job requires me to check if the copies documented from audio files containing the records of patients in American hospitals are medically sound. Eventually, circumstances compelled me to work from home and I began working as a transcriptionist, a person who documents the audio recordings, because the required software for proof reading cannot be installed in a home PC. Initially, I was restless, because I was not used to sitting at home, but then several things worked out to my advantage. For starters, I save on the commutation time. The money is good. I also get to learn about exciting new technology .
A lot of medicos keep away from transcription, because they consider it boring, even demeaning. I beg to differ. It keeps me updated, through the interesting medium of case studies. Every patient’s record tells a new story. My horizons of study have broadened. How else would a homoeopath get to know so much about scans and transplants? The field is going from strength to strength every day, if you consider the fact that there are over 70 medical transcription companies in the city. The fear that someday USA might decide to stop sending us these records and thereby make us redundant doesn’t bother me much. I have other professional qualifications, remember? But for the moment, the money is good, the prospects are great, and it’s a whole new world.
(The author is a city-based homoeopath cum medical transcriptionist. She spoke to Kalindi Kokal) |