What Kind of MT Will I Be?
The September 8
th issue of
Advance was delivered to my house several days ago, and just like always, I was excited to read through it. The letter to the editor caught my eye and when I finished reading it I was left with a few questions.
The letter was in response to an article published in the July 28th issue of Advance titled "The MT Critic" which talks about using critical thinking skills as you transcribe and asks the question of what's more important, quality or quantity?
In my medical transcription course, I am required to transcribe verbatim. However, as students we are reminded that on the job we may be allowed to do minor editing. As I transcribe I am thinking of one thing, quality. Of course, I am being graded so I know that's part of it, but, these are real records and I find myself "pretending" to be on the job as I work through them. Will I be more concerned with quantity in the future? Is that what employers are more concerned with?
These are questions that I can't answer right now. I am not a working MT and I don't know what the workplace will be like when I enter it. I can tell you that I have spent up to 30 minutes looking for a term or trying to figure out a word or two on the tape I'm listening to. Is that reality on the job? I know that part of it is inexperience and I would hope that the more experience I have the faster I will be able to find things. But, in the letter I read that some employers will give a limit of how much time you are to research for things--is that really true? So far I have not had to leave a blank on a test that I've submitted but I know that may not always be the case.
The letter brings up another point, regarding pay. This is always a hot topic and I have yet to find out what is the reasoning behind how MTs are paid. Why pay by the line? Why not pay an hourly wage and then offer incentives to those who go above and beyond (but still produce quality reports) as the letter suggests?
I had an appointment last week with my primary care physician. It was a routine physical and I had to get blood work done. When I received the letter a few days ago with the results (all good, yay!), I found that I was reading it as if I was an MT and had typed it myself. I want to be proud of the work that I submit, both as a student and as a working MT someday, but I am left wondering if the place that I end up working at will support that or push for quantity instead.
I would love to hear what MTs thought of the letter and the questions it raised and maybe even a little insight into what a typical day is like for the working MT.