THE CHALLENGE OF GOOD AMERICAN ENGLISH Part II

To tell the truth, mastering English is really not that difficult. It is, if you think it is, but if you view it not as an insurmountable problem but as something that any human can do with a little application, and do quite naturally, then you will find that mastering English can become a lifetime first love.

We are all human beings. We communicate with each other through language. We 'learn' our languages as very young children mostly by observing others speak and correlating what we hear with their actions, facial expressions, body language... We do all of this without even thinking about it much. In other words, learning languages - any human language - actually is a natural human activity. It's no big deal!

We make a big deal out of the whole enterprise (of learning a new language, or increasing our mastery over one that we do use) by becoming "course oriented" i.e. 'take the 3-month crash course', or 'buy the best selling self-help book on the subject'. I wouldn't say that these approaches are wrong, but I do think they are unnecessary. Instead, the Phoenix approach is to ask the student whose English is not up to snuff (most of those who have been schooled with English as a second language and even many of those who actually think that English is their 'mother' tongue) to immerse themselves in American English. I encourage them to buy a good second hand American dictionary (Merriam Webster is a good choice). Then, they have to daily read an English newspaper (TOI, The Hindu, Deccan Herald...) from cover to cover. In addition I start them off with appropriate story books, mostly from my own library. The dictionary is to be kept handy and to be used to look up each new word that is encountered. In class they have to speak in English and this is then soon extended as a general thing to do with friends too. With their friends, I encourage them to play Scrabble and to take on simple crosswords, with the additional challenge of using each selected word in a complete sentence. Finally, the student is required to watch only American programs on TV.

Within a couple of months, and without realizing how much they have improved, we find the student tackling quite difficult medical phraseology (even in the HPI) that would have had them in despair a few weeks earlier. The rest of the fine-tuning of language skill takes place in class and with their edited files open for comparison. Here, the instructor should be able to pick up the remaining faults and weaknesses and systematically set them right.

It really is not then a big deal at all. Just as the three-year-old effortlessly picks up quite complex grammar and handles the built-in illogic of the language, so too can you, if you will just consistently and conscientiously start working on mastering American English.

CAREER'S THAT LAST THROUGH HARD TIMES

There's nothing quite like having a good, secure, job when times are tough all around. MT is like that. There are no rainy days!


We, at Phoenix, are approached daily by folks who are worried about their futures.

Well, with a thorough grounding in MT, your worries are over.

In fact, health and healthcare are basic necessities the world over, so there's never any shortage of jobs to be had if you know MT.



A good grounding such as we provide, with some cooperation from you, will allow you to effortlessly get through your interview for an MT job in any good company.


For those who need hands-on production experience to get their first Home-Based MT job, Phoenix provides production training and referrals.

The skill that you need is not difficult to attain in our customized 20 week (part time) training schedule.

Phoenix gives you 150 hours of theory training and an EQUAL amount of time hands-on at an individual workstation. We teach, and you learn, at a comfortable pace.


In fact we even have a unique and custom designed training for people with certain handicaps. MT can be done effectively with just one functional hand.


MT can be learned by the sight impaired or even by totally blind persons... like the girl on the left.

All the special software needed for blind training is available at Phoenix as is the skill to train...

MT can be done anywhere, even while surfing if you're so inclined.

Medical Transcription is challenging and if you really get into it MT is a fascinating field with lots of space to grow.

The rewards are good pay, excellent job satisfaction, and very good job security - even in hard times.

MT JOBS AND PLACEMENT AFTER TRAINING

Outside our new training center recently set up at Gandhipudur we mounted a spanking new board announcing our advent. The response was gratifying and also quite surprising.

A very large number of the walk-ins were job hunting. They had completed some sort of training in MT and were now desperately searching for the promised jobs. A lesser number had some work experience but were unhappy with either their current pay or working conditions and wanted very badly to switch.

Our own placement wing has always been very active and it is no exaggeration to say that our Phoenix trainees have never long been without jobs. The fact is that the job market for MTs is actually excellent, and hence our surprise. But the surprise turned to dismay as we found that on testing, most of those who have supposedly completed training in MT (from various other places) and a majority of those who claimed some work experience were actually quite incompetent as transcriptionists both in theory and in practice!

The job market really is very good for those who can demonstrate their competence. When we refer our trainees to standard companies for placement and they do well in the screening tests that each company utilizes, getting a job and at a decent starting pay is always the next step.

Of course, it is our job at Phoenix to know who is hiring and what their requirements are and we can then send the right people there for selection. I do think that it is incumbent upon any decent training center to:
1. Provide a solid foundation in both theory and practical work that will enable a candidate to pass a good screening test setup.
2. To give the trainees and potential trainees an honest picture of what skills they need to develop and their actual prospects for getting a job.
3. To prepare the trainees not just to pass but to be able to do enough in the way of productivity to earn themselves an initial livable wage while also satisfying the hiring company that they have indeed selected a productive employee.

At Phoenix, our tailorable and mentor based training philosophy means that not all candidates will get exactly the same training. Some folks whose comprehension skills require more work to really develop competence should be provided with that extra time and effort. Others will find the language of medicine more difficult to cope with while others will struggle with their mastery of basic computer skills. All these individualities do need to be individually adjusted for. The result, at Phoenix, is that our trainees do well and land good jobs.

For those who have had some external training and who for some reason or the other are subsequently jobless, we do offer a comprehensive screening (it is NOT free) that can take two days and after analysis of the results we counsel. Very often these folks are found to have rather glaring lacunae (big gaps) in their theoretical or practical bases. Without undergoing a remedial program, such folks will never get themselves competent enough to land good jobs in standard companies.

Those who do wish to apply for jobs through our placement service may do so if they are first willing to be thoroughly evaluated at our own facility (at their own cost). If we find you to be competent, we will send you to a job interview with a company that is seeking your sort of skill set. Do feel free to send in your CV (resume/bio) as a Word attachment by email and marking the subject line "Placement - "your name" to phoenixbpo@yahoo.co.uk. Remember, a decent and specific covering letter always makes a good impression...

MT Mentors are Essential for Effective Training!

"Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well." Aristotle

"So, who's your mentor?" There is a question that needs to be asked every time we notice a fresher MT excelling on the production floor.

Many have undergone some sort or the other of MT training only to find themselves unable to get into a proper job. Jobs in the ask-me-no-questions types of operations typically do not pay on time and whole units tend to suddenly fold up and disappear leaving their employees with debts in hand and wondering why they ever thought of doing MT in the first place.

On the other hand, the established companies can expect to pick up people who have a couple of years of experience behind them (the survivors) and these comps will have little patience with beginners. You are expected to quickly get used to the formatting and client specs, and get on with regularly turning out high quality work. In other words one should already be a "PROFESSIONAL".

A good MT training program should coach you to at least a 95% accuracy level. Many companies, on the other hand, expect starters to be able to deliver 98.5% and better. Once you have completed your theory and are fluent in processing skills, it is the accuracy that has to be worked on, and here you will find it that much easier to progress if under the tutelage of a good mentor.

There is therefore a gap between what a 'fresher' can hope to accomplish and what the hiring firms require. Bridging this all-important gap is largely the job of the mentor. Almost regardless of the length of training, turning trainees into professionals takes more than just X hours of LOM, Y hours of English, and Z hours of hands-on lab time. Formulaic systems will work only for self-starters and each student is an individual, thus an essential part of mentoring is to get to know the individual, and to tailor the training process to maximum effect. It is very important in this process to get each of the trainees to be in constant touch with their mentor.

For example, at Phoenix, we assign homework files and we expect our students to be on-line with us on IM while they work. It is the nature of the job anyway for trainers to be online with their own production work, so having trainees come through with a few Qs now and then is not any great sacrfice. In fact, it is this highly personalised training that has helped so many of our students comfortably and quickly become thorough professionals. One of the very first things that I do when starting a class is to share email and IM IDs with the batch and encourage them to do the same. I insist that I should have one ID for each student (specifically created if necessary) and then I always check to see that I am 'getting through' with that.

Mentoring can not happen effectively when batches are large. At Phoenix we stop at a maximum size of 10, and no instructor is allowed to handle more than two batches at a time - this is about what's manageable if we are serious about really mentoring and not just doing some form of training just to get by.

But mentoring is more than just the occasional on-line help. Mentoring requires a lot of involvement. The most fundamental determination for the mentor to make is whether the individual is going to succeed and what this individual needs to do to actually succeed. Yes-anyone can become an MT, but only those who have the dedication and drive will actually make it.

Mentoring also means helping the students to learn to help themselves. Relationships between batchmates are a great boon. We have found that forming strong bonds of friendship between batchmates leads to greater and faster success in the workplace. These networks, once formed, can help for a whole lifetime!

If you have never had a mentor in MT then we would encourage you to find one. You will be amazed to find the difference that it makes especially for freshers. For those who are more experienced, why not share your experience with any who want to learn? Mentoring can be demanding but ultimately is very fulfilling to do. So many of my old students are still in touch even though their need for mentoring no longer exists. Give it a try!

Apart from Phoenix, there are other websites and online communities that you can join where the all important 'instant help' of mentors can be accessed. Write in to us for more details...

LEARNING MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION

So, what is medical transcription all about?

Well, there's a huge demand for doctors' dictations (audio files) to be turned into text, in a standardized format, and that is what doing medical transcription is all about.

Doctors, patients and insurance companies all need to have reliable transcripts of the diagnosis and treatment that has been done for the patient. Doctors do not have the time to sit and type out reports (that was the old way of maintaining patient records) and so this service is provided by companies who specialize in doing the job.

Accuracy is expected to be 100% but in practice anything over 99% is considered to be good. Because patients' lives depend on the accuracy of the reports and because speed is also of the essence, good medical transcriptionists are much in demand.

It takes a solid amount of training in language comprehension, medical terminology and computer skill to make a good transcriptionist. It also takes a lively curiosity, a constant desire to improve in knowledge-skill-speed and the discipline to keep at the job till the allotted files are safely returned to the sender.

Typically, in India, a good MT can earn over 25,000/- in a month.

But, for many transcriptionists the desire to keep improving and to do more and more challenging work will lead to moving on to proofing, then editing, and finally to taking responsibility for quality assurance (QA) or even to managing a whole team for a client. If one keeps at it, a salary of 50,000+ is not unreasonable.

One of the most exciting aspects of learning to be an MT is that there are no prequalifications. Anyone who has the will to learn can become an MT.

We see so many young people who failed to graduate high school but go on to become excellent MTs. If you have dedicated yourself to succeeding and are willing to put in some rather long hours on properly laying your own foundation, you can become a good MT.

Most institutes will have a look at your language abilities when you first apply and then give you a suitable training schedule. For those whose language is poor we put them through a three to six month foundation course. This FC will teach you both the theory and the practical aspects of understanding language. As a bonus, your spoken English will also get highly polished!

After getting through the FC, or if you already have a decent command of English, you can jump in with the core training program that lasts for 3 to 4 months. Intensive coaching can be expected taking 6 hours a day at the training center and at least a couple of hours of homework on your own.

You come out with a good working knowledge of medical language, computer skills, comprehension of even the incomprehensible and the ability to reference your way to more and more knowledge. If you have been sincere, the training center will also probably see that you go straight into a good job at one of the many MT production houses in the area.

The best institutes have a high student to trainer ratio (better than 1:12), will give equal emphasis to theory and practicals, and will set your standards high.

Perfection is always the goal.

Don't be fooled by offers to turn you into an MT with 2 or 3 months of part-time effort. Believe me it can't be done, and you will just be wasting your money, and your precious time, on such programs.

After getting through a competent training program, you should be able to get through an entrance test at any good production house with the ability to confidently transcribe at least 250 lines at accuracies of 95% and above. So, don't sell yourself short and settle for less!

Knowing MT is something that gives you tremendous flexibility. You can do MT whenever you need to, for there is always a good demand for good MTs, so it can help to tide over a rough patch, or contribute the extra income that you need. Home based jobs are plentifully available for good MTs and editors. Full time students in colleges, housewives, and househusbands can earn more sitting at home and in between chores/homework than those who hold down full time jobs outside. At the same time MT can be a very fruitful and rewarding main career with good opportunities for growth and the potential for excellent income generation. You know, the greatest beauty for me is that the only qualification is your dedication, and everything else will fall into place.