A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
Accents - Fed up
Posted: Jan 15, 2013
Wondering why there are so many dictators with thick foreign accents? American doctors can be mumblers and use cell phones and also cause you to tear your hair out, but just wondering why there are so many of these horrible dictators with extremely thick accents? Aren't there enough American-born doctors here? Just curious why they hire so many foreign-born doctors. Do they pay them less maybe?
Accents - cr
[ In Reply To ..]I'v noticed most hospitalists are foreigners with heavy accents, and I wonder if it's a way of getting their foot in the door in this country because it's got to be a hectic job not many would want.
Foreign accents - Fed up 2
[ In Reply To ..]I will get dissed because this is not politically correct, but many of these foreign docs will come in and work at half of what an American-born doc will. You know what? If someone cannot speak understandable English, they will not be treating me or my family members or anyone else for whom I am legally responsible.
I guess that would be too bad for you if they were the - right person to save the life
[ In Reply To ..]x
Something that I have thought of before - Precious
[ In Reply To ..]If we as MTs cannot understand half of what is being said even on a face to face basis, how does the average person being given discharge instructions, med instructions, etc. understand half of what is told to them? I have seen my hubby when talking to ESL having a blank look and knowing he was not understanding spoke up and told the physician so. I get so fed up with hearing all the ESL speaks that I personally seek out a doctor who does notfracture English.
Answer to your questions - YD
[ In Reply To ..]Why didn't you bother to even do a simple Google search before posing your question? Yes, there is a shortage of doctors in the United States even when you include those foreign-born doctors among their number. Many areas have current shortages, including cardiology, endocrinology, anesthesiology, intensivists, and family practitioners in some areas. These shortages are only increasing, so be thankful that we have foreign-born doctors to keep things from being worse. Like you, I sometimes struggle with heavy accents, but then some of my worst dictators are American born who apparently were sick every day that English was taught.
If there is a "shortage" of doctors - it is only because
[ In Reply To ..]the medical institutions have limited funds to work with, and more than likely both a hiring freeze and a pay freeze. The "shortages" are self-induced due to our lovely economy and govt! As far as the foreign doctors go, they are rewarded with an education here in the USA that does not cost them an arm and a leg. They are allowed work and education visas to get a pretty much free education, paid for by us taxpayers. There is such an influx of the foreigners because they could never afford the type of education in their country as they can get here. Foreigners have first dibs over any US person who wants to study medicine, as well as any open job positions. We pay for it....they reap the rewards. ugh!
Actually it was the AMA - anon
[ In Reply To ..]After WWII the AMA specifically kept the number of medical schools and students low to keep the number of doctors artificially low in order to ensure high incomes for them. Further, foreign students do not get free education in the US; it is the opposite which is why universities like them because they pay full tuition. In fact it is the opposite, American students who could not get into American medical schools went abroad to school because their admission policy is more open. If you look at all the schools the foreign doctors went to on websites such as ucomparehealthcare.com, etc. you will notice they went to schools outside of the US, unless they are children of immigrants. So your post is nonsense.
judgmental much... - wow!
[ In Reply To ..]I am sure you have researched every single doctor in the whole of the united states to come to that conclusion! and your post is nonsense! add mine to the list of dislikes you have on your response!
Yep, agree with you, except for the timing historically. - sm
[ In Reply To ..]"The widespread shortage of physicians has historical roots, says Sheldon. Following World War II, the nation's planners - medical schools, government entities, etc. - wisely increased the number of U.S. medical schools from 88 to 126, increasing the number of young doctors from 7,500 a year to 17,000. By the late 1970s, those same planners, fearing they were overproducing doctors, did an about-face. A voluntary freeze on the development of new medical schools was imposed. Thus, despite an increase in the general population, the number of medical school graduates has remained static since the mid-1980s."
Where to start? - YD
[ In Reply To ..]I guess you got your information based on some parallel universe because it sure isn't based on the United States.
As the other respondent wrote, there are not enough American medical schools to keep up with demand. We absolutely need doctors trained in other countries to keep the shortage from being even greater than it is.
As for foreign doctors getting a free ride, again, in what universe? As the other poster said, foreign doctors have already completed their medical training in their home countries. They must pass rigorous testing and complete residencies once here, and residents are paid low salaries be they American born or foreign born.
Nothing in your post is even remotely based on fact. For even more information, including an eye-opening study that has shown the high quality of patient care provided by foreign nationals, see this article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/health/03doctors.html?_r=0.
Wrong, wrong, wrong! - SM
[ In Reply To ..]You are entirely mistaken! Foreign doctors do NOT get into US medical schools. They attend medical school in their own countries. They absolutely do NOT have "first dibs" over US students. That's just nonsense.
I'm kinda of insulted by this post. My daughter's boyfirend - Crabby
[ In Reply To ..]is foreign and is here studying to be a doctor. He doesn't get a free education and he will be massively in debt when he graduates. Secondly, my Rheumatologist is foreign born and is considered one of the best in the US. He also did not get a free education. You might be interested to know foreign doctors must pass an English language exam while they are getting their licenses here. They are not automatically allowed to practice as soon as they hit US soil. Matter of fact I read of one hospital (the name escapes me at the moment) I found when I was researching for school that helps foreign born doctors get their RNs so they can get used to medical terms in English before they get their physician licenses here. You may be frustrated by foreign accents, but don't dismiss a doctor because he/she has one. One of the best doctors I ever had was Indian and she brought Eastern medicine knowledge with her and treated her patients with a combination of both. I had to move, and unfortunately never found another like her. Besides there are areas in the US where the accents are hard to understand sometimes!
I'm with you on this - anon
[ In Reply To ..]Frankly, there's some American born Dr.s who aren't worth a box of rocks. What kind of accent a person has doesn't indicate what knowledge/skill they actually have. I also have had better treatment and care from some foreign doctors opposed to native English speaking physicians.
I think a lot of American kids aren't going into medicine any more because of the huge debt load versus the potential income, especially since Dr. salaries are on the decline. There are other fields where they can make large salaries, but with 1/2 the debt load and a lot less time served in school.
A lot - of it
[ In Reply To ..]is that the American doctors are being done in India where they get the easiest doctors to understand. We get the garbage.
Do not understand your post - P
[ In Reply To ..]I know what you are trying to say but it makes no sense. Just think about this. If the people transcribing are having to listen to English speaking doctors, do you not think they would be much better off listening to their own dialect speaking people from India?? Just think about what you posted. We all can understand where we come from better, be it the north, south, west or east part of the country. Would work for the same for another country, right?
Nope. Ironically, they have a harder time with ESLs than we do. - experience = expertise (nm)
[ In Reply To ..]nm
Think of it this way - if you
[ In Reply To ..]as a native speaker of English had to transcribe dictation in Hindi or Gujrati or Urdu, which would you find easier to understand--properly pronounced Hindi or Gujrati or Urdu or badly mangled versions of those languages?
When you learn a foreign language, you learn the standard version of that language, not a heavily accented version.
Feel I transcribe both, mangled and other - P
[ In Reply To ..]We are talking people from India transcribing supposedly the easier people English speaking doctors from America. You cannot tell me a person from India would understand some English speaking person from American better than their own language. Just does not make sense to me.
The point is - that
[ In Reply To ..]the person from India is transcribing English spoken by a native speaker of English, therefore, the standard form of English that they learned to understand when they learned English. The person from India is NOT transcribing dictation rendered in their own native language.
Of course they would understand their own language better than English if they learned English as a second language. Even if the dictation is going to be transcribed in India, the American doctors are going to dictate in English. The language of the dictation is going to be determined by the native language of the dictator, not the native language of the transcriber.
Do you know of any American (or doctors working in America) who dictate in languages other than their own based on the location where their dictation is done?
You completely missed the point of my earlier post.
Don't - know
[ In Reply To ..]what to tell you, but the only work that is staying in this country is the lousy dictators, whether foreign or English. We get the bottom of the barrel and the rest goes to India.
accents - feelsospecial
[ In Reply To ..]Stands to reason if offshore really does get the doctors who dictate beautifully then not only are we teaching SR to take our jobs, we are teaching foreigners how to speak English, thereby making it easier for them to take our jobs . . . double whammy. Jeez.
I totally agree - USMT
[ In Reply To ..]A few years back I worked on an account and worked weekends only at that time. I had the best dictator I have ever come across. He used to dictated every Sunday afternoon and dictate many jobs at once. He was very methodical too. I always earned the most when I edited his jobs. Then, all of a sudden they weren't there anymore. When I asked, the company told me that had no idea what happened. Yeah, right. That's back when I was naive and idealistic. I know now where those dictations went.
Accents - Fed up
[ In Reply To ..]What really pisses me off more than anything is when I can't understand an American-born doctor because he's mumbling so much and talking too fast.. No excuse for that!
Guess if I wrote "This dictator is mumbling" in the Comment Box, I'd be in trouble. :p
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