On the same theme, you've done so many ESLs that you can understand (& interpret for family or
Posted By: Nyuk nyuk on 2005-10-12
In Reply to: My favorite, but I'm stealing this one from awhile ago - omt
friends) anyone on the news on TV or in a movie without having to look at the subtitles.
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ESLs -- How do they understand
what a patient is telling them if they don't know English well enough to dictate an H&P? I have one of the most frustrating dictators right now. He makes no sense when he speaks b/c he doesn't know proper subject/verb agreement. He makes his dictation usually one long sentence. He confuses one English word for another and I'm supposed to sort his mess out. Does he seriously have an MD? 
Why don't they send this work overseas and let his own people figure out his language for 3-4 cents per line and let me do the American doctors? The overseas MTs are probably getting our American dictators while we're stuck with these. 
And how many are ESLs? Or you've been
NM
I completely understand that feeling. Praying for this family. nm
x
With all you've said about your family, I think it would behoove you to stop by Christmas Eve and
avoid the whole thing on Christmas day. Just my opinion, of course.
I've had docs give family members' full names.
privacy. It is informative to anyone reading the report.
Oh, I've been doing this many long years, so I understand what SM
you're saying. I've been dept. supervisor, QA, all of it -- all long enough to realize that I am not infallible, for sure.
What I will say is that spending two hours reading reports aloud is not going to help me in any way, shape, or form. If I thought for a moment that it would make my work better, I'd be willing to sacrifice the time and do it.
It's really sort of like a tic, what I do when I transcribe, and I can't help it. I have tried to let stuff sit there and have the spellcheck catch it, but it's like a reflex action. I've backspaced to it before I had time to think about it. I know that I'm not really using my resources very efficiently.
I think I said in my first post that I started on typewriters and went from there to a computer with just a keyboard and monitor, and the only editing tool available to me was the backspace key. Mercy, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I transcribed that way until 1993 (? thereabouts), when I got my first spell check and word expander.
You've gotta understand that most newbies have
trouble getting a job with companies without felonies in their past. Hospitals are probably out, too. At the hospitals I worked at, they did extensive background checks on everybody, one even going so far as to fingerprint all new hires.
Newbies have an extremely hard time breaking into the field with national companies. I'm not sure if it's a national you tried or not, but just wanted to let you know you're in good company there.
Consider this: Though I'd not normally recommend a newbie seek out her own accounts, if all else fails, you can perhaps try to find a specialty clinic to transcribe for. Some smaller MTSOs might also be the way to go. Even if you have to check that you have had a felony, they may miss it. It's also unlikely they'll have the funds to do background checks on all of their potential employees.
Don't understand why not. I thought I've seen other posts similar to this before. I'm not t
cause any problems, but as I work for DSG, so I'm naturally curious. As I said, I liked working with them both. Is it a secret?
That is THE most dangerous thing I think I've ever heard. You don't understand it?!
I hate theme nights because
the contestants try to do the artist proud but don't make the songs their own. Karaoke as Simon puts it.
Who should go home? Kevin and/or Melissa, do they kick off 1 or 2 tonight? These 2 are definitely inferior to the rest of the performers. Bucky is running my close third for getting the boot. I really like him, but I don't think he's got what it takes for different song styles that will be coming down the line.
TOP 3: Chris, Mandisa and Taylor.
Keeping with the movie theme........
share with me the good movies you have seen in the past year (I like to get PayPerView and have picked some STRANGE stuff lately!!!)
Thanks!!!! 
This has been a theme of mine for some time
I see so many people saying they just want a job to stay home with the kids. They are not saying this is what they love, just a way not to have to work outside while they manage several kids/babies underneath their feet. How do you expect to have the dignity we once had, not like that. I remember the time I could name my price, say 25 years ago. I surely did not get into this to work at home, otherwise I would never have spent those 30+ years in an office setting.
Central FL, yes, and the theme parks are all offering jobs. nm
x
We are talking about DisneyWorld Transcription, not theme park. Something else entirely.
:+
Same theme, but CBS on Wed. is to review the top 100 inspirational movies. Should be good! nm
m
No idea...in 3+ years when we build I wil figure it out....probably a wolf theme
xx
family is family wheter 3 or 8 sm
i live in MA and $1200-$1400 a month is what good health insurance costs, ie $20-$40 copays. it was just passed into law that if you live in MA you have to have medical insurance so without being self-employed, you can go right to BCBS etc and get a plan directly from the major health insurace companies, but for a family plan and a decent income bracket, forget it. the prices are outragous. right now my husband pays $120 a week for family plan and this is after his employer pays 30% of the total cost. we have $20 copays, but we have a $2000 individual deductable per year with a $4000 family deductible cap. so when my daughther needed her tonsils out, $2000 and when my son broke his arm, $2000. someone on this board has to be able to tell you what they pay for insurance through their company as an employee. good luck.
I use EXText with my current job and I've used at a couple of other jobs I've had. I've ne
used DocQscribe, but I have used Meditech, Cerner, Vianeta, the Precyse platform (I can't remember the name), Dolbey, and Lanier platform I think was called Cequence (?).
Out of all the different platforms I have typed on, I have liked EXText the best. In my opinion, it's very user friendly, easy to learn, and I really like ESP which is the built in abbreviation expander. Plus it is very easy to create your own normals which I love. My fingers literally never leave the keyboard because there are macro keys for everything. You can use your mouse if you prefer or learn the function macros. I love it. I think I'm more productive on EXText than with any other platform.
I would rather do some ESLs that some of the
sloppy southern drawls that you cannot ever understand. Wish those people would learn that not everyone is in love with a southerner.
ESLs
What is an ESL ..... and I agree with you completely about the time spent on GRAMMAR!!!!
They can take the smallest so-called "errors" and put a black check by your name. We are medical transcriptionists, NOT English teaches.
Any GOOD MT has equally good grammar. Plus there should be less emphasis on grammar and more emphasis on the medical terminology. Do you REALLY think the doctor cares if a comma was put in or left out? NOT !!!!
I wasted a lot of time agonizing over GRAMMAR when I could have been getting in more lines and doing what is best for the patient .... accurate medical terminology.
Bad ESLs
Wouldn't it make sense for companies with bad ESLs, to hire US MTs who speak the dictator's mother language to do the transcription?
ESLs
If it makes you feel any better, I once worked part-time for a doctor in his office. I wanted to get back into a hospital setting so I gave him my notice. He couldn't understand what I loved about being an MT. He said, "At least I have the benefit of reading their lips." AND I was once transcribing for this absolutely miserable ESL one day, pretty much the way you described, and waiting for him to hang up. Instead he was chatting with someone when I heard "I don't know how they do it, but I give them a lot of credit." I had to rewind to make sure he was talking about transcription and he was. Not all of them are that sweet. I once had to show an English book and the BOS to an extremely arrogant ESL oncologist. I hope you had a little chuckle here and feel better!
ESls
That's why AAMT is no longer a valid entity for us. The standards have been lowered to accommodate the ESLS because they can't make a decent sentence and don't know how to convey what they did or did not do to the patient. How the hell are we supposed to read their minds???? Those who can speak English and demand verbatim get what they deserve. Just the other day, the doc gave a female who had a vasectomy. He was a verbatim ESL and he got exactly what he dictated. When enough of them get sued or reprimanded, maybe standards will return, but I have no doubt in my mind that ESLs have lowered the standards at the hospitals and that's why we no longer change the dictation to make it sound like they at least passed English class. When I started it was not verbatim. We edited to change context and not content. Hospitals should make it clear they either speak clearly, or write clearly, and failing both of those, they should hire a PA or someone who can dictate like it should be, and some of the PA's aren't much better.
ESLs sm
Once they know you're good at it, expect them to send you nothing but!
ESLs
Hey, we all were horrible at ESLs (and I have to be honest that I often still struggle myself), so don't feel bad about that is how it goes. :) Good luck to you.
Had it up to here with ESLs....
I used to be one of those conscientious MTs who went back and re-listened sometimes 2 and 3 times, because I hate to send blanks to QA. After this morning, NO MORE !!!! This particular ESL doesn't even say the complete word, only the first syllable which is mumbled and scrunched into the first syllable of the next word. From this moment on, I go through it once, proof it and off it goes. If it's shot full of holes, then so be it!!! I'm telling ya, Wal-Mart is looking better and better. UGH !!!!!
What about ESLs
who dictate 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, etc.? These people are prescribing medications and they can't even COUNT in English? I can see messing up and missing a number, but totally messing up like that? On more than one report?
If only the ESLs would be more
organized, be briefer, and pay attention and use normal phrasing instead of these long, awkward sentences they put together. They are strangely worded whether they are routine or made up on the fly. If only they would notice which phrases we can't understand and study the non-ELS dictators' short reports. If they could keep their reports short, we could knock them out much faster and be done with them.
ESLs
Speed up the dictation and listen carefully..then repeat by slowing down the speed. Think in terms of how the ESLs would transpose certain leters. What nationality is the dictactor? Example: S might actually be a T. Hope this helps. Good luck!
ESLs
I can totally relate. I get SO fustrated with some of these ESL dictators because like you say they cannot speak decent English. And yes I wonder how do they understand their patients? If they can't speak English properly can they just understand it when spoken to them? I cannot believe they actually have MDs either. I swear sometimes I sit and just curse when trying to figure out what they are saying. I am glad I am not the only one. I just feel like saying if you can't even speak where I can understand what you are saying then you don't need to be a doctor. I know being a doctor entails much more than speaking properly but geez they are terrible.
I do a lot of ESLs too and I can actually take
an Asian with a very thick accent and do him without any blanks at all, but then I get the fast talking, slurring, nonenunciating American born doc and I have problems. Even if I had a copy of his physical exam that he says the same every time I still would not be able to hear it because it is so slurred.
I recently started a new account and I have doctors with 13 or more letters in their last name and I just take a deep breath and prepare to have a difficult report, but they have no accent at all and then I get a Dr. John Smith and his accent is so strong that I have a headache and am cross-eyed when I get through his dictation.
Like it or not the ESLs are here to stay and you can learn to do them or you will find your options limited, especially if you do acute care.
ESLs
Yeah she made the comment let his own people figure out what he is saying. She said this out of fustration. I for one know how fustrating it is when you are struggling to understand what a dictator is saying. You just get so fustrated. It is our job to transcribe no matter if it is an ESL or American, that is true. That doesn't mean we can't get fustrated when we have to struggle to transcribe what they say.
Also I think she meant the MTs in India are the ones doing it for 3-4 cpl. That's why alot of outsourcing goes over there because they work much cheaper. I guess what I am trying to say is I understand your point. It is our job. But I understand hers too. It is very fustrating. :)
ESLs
You know that is a great way to look at it. I hope I gain something for all the struggle I have to go through to understand them. At least I will have gained some experience.
Not only the ESLs
We're being awful hard on ESLs, and alot of the defense for them is they are no worse (or possibly better) than poor-speaking English speakers. The bottom line is that if you are speaking for other people, you should speak clearly, regardless of where you are from.
ESLs
I have had a real difficult time with some ESLs too. But I was on an account where basically I could do them or not work. So I pretty much had to just do it. It got a little better the more I would hear the accents. And I mean a little. Do they provide you with samples for these ESLs? That often helps alot. Good luck!
ESLs
I totally agree with you. It is just as important to know how to speak it as write it if not more so in medicine. There is no excuse. It doesn't matter what nationality -- Latino, Indian, European, or Asian. It makes no difference. They should learn the language fluently to practice medicine. An accent is one thing. But just flat out not being able to communicate clearly. There is no excuse. And no you don't see ESL lawyers. At least I haven't. I am sure you will get some posts telling you you are racist or a bigot. But it won't be from me. And by no means do I have a problem with ESLs who are fluent speaking in English.
ESLs
I have one who says "please use inverted commas," which means (to you and me) quotation marks.
ESLs
I have also heard them refer to blood pressure as 120 by 80 for example. I don't know.
ESLs
You know you are just preaching to the choir. So what if they say 120 by 80. You are a professional. You should know what to put down. If you want to gripe about something, make it something that matters.
If ESLs want our $, should be able to
x
A lot of ESLs
I was told that they have a lot of ESLs so if you are ok with them you will probably like them.
You said VR does not get ESLs
but the platform I work on does them better probably than I could. I am totally amazed it can but it does.
ESLs
Well, fortunately for me, ESLs were my specialty because of my strong background in foreign languages, so I loved them when I was working. BUT I've known many excellent MTs, including my own sister, who had an extremely hard time with them and would literally weep, wail and gnash their teeth! And you're right, on some accounts, the great majority of dictators are (or were) ESLs. Why, I don't know. I retired at about the time when everything was starting to be sent offshore, a few years ago. I'm glad I was able to retire before our whole profession had gone down the tubes.
ESLs
Well, fortunately for me, ESLs were my specialty because of my strong background in foreign languages, so I loved them when I was working. BUT I've known many excellent MTs, including my own sister, who had an extremely hard time with them and would literally weep, wail and gnash their teeth! And you're right, on some accounts, the great majority of dictators are (or were) ESLs. Why, I don't know. I retired at about the time when everything was starting to be sent offshore, a few years ago. I'm glad I was able to retire before our whole profession had gone down the tubes.
Probably best for ESLs.
Or really anybody who can type better than they can dictate.
My PCP has a point-and-click system and during my visits the PCP spends most of the time typing comments into the space provided. I have a feeling that a lot of providers may quickly grow weary/frustrated with the constant typing/spelling/grammar when they should be seeing patients. I'd hate to see what their medical records look like.
ESLs
I have had my share of hard ESL doctors, but by far the worst dictators are English and just go too darn fast or speak sloppy.
But ALL ESLs ALL the time? Please say it isn't so!
xx
It is your job to learn the ESLs and if you can't/won't then you need to
find a new job because you are in the wrong one.
I am very good at ESLs, but if I see an ad
that says lots of ESLs I bypass it. Most companies have at least a few, but I figure if they post ESLs they must have a bunch or some really hard ones. There isn't enough $$ to it for me to do it every day, unless I had just a couple of the same ones all the time and then could learn them.
I have done ESLs I worked for SS before
Look I understand the difficulty with ESLs but for 6 months I never heard a word about my work or quality of, so just to fire me was not fair...because I am sure everyone has had a bad doctor or a bad day.. I am not starting any flame throwing but I'm sure every MT has had a doctor and said "What did he say, is that English????" The doctors should learn how to dictate and I am sure that someone with experience could have handled it... I could not ... I asked for help no one responded because it was late at night, I'm I looking to cry on anyones shoulder, I am just stating the fact that we are a profession of experienced and newbies, everyone deserves a chance and should not be thrown away like your nothing
ESLs are hard enough for exp MTs...sm
I was wondering if you had a QA department to rely on (tell them you are sending a report with blanks and ask them to send it back to you when corrected), or if you had a leader you could have told that the ESL was just too hard, and you needed some help. I think, and hope, that QA would not mind helping in this kind of situation.
When I have a troublesome doc, I do my best to finish the report leaving blanks throughout, then I go back through the report and fill in what I can, and then send to QA or supervisor. Unfortunately, the last 2 nationals I have worked for did not look kindly on that, and one national ignored my request and never sent it back for me to learn from. (I've been transcribing for 24 years, and getting the corrected report back and being able to relisten is great way to learn, I think).
I really feel for you, and we're not garbage (new or old). Most of us have been there, done that, so please don't let this keep you down. Keep applying; you will find a job where they will support you.
I hate to recommend a national that I left because I felt so taken and the work dwindled down to nothing, but I have heard Medquist accepts new MTs. Don't work for free, but you may have to work for a reduced rate, I'm not sure. Keep your chin up fellow MT, you will find your place!
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