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I am so sick of foreigners who can't speak English! - Old and Tired MT

Posted: Feb 14, 2011

They expect us to understand their Vietnamese, Chinese, Arabic, Indian, Filipino, Hispanic accents when they can't even put a simple English sentence together! The hospitalists are the worst. I think they hire them right off the boat from their overseas countries and put them to work in the hospitals-- probably as cheap as they can get them, and then put them on VR. My MTSO increased their line requirements for this year and with over 30 years' experience, I struggle every day to try to make my lines with these incompetent boobs who can't even speak the language. They expect quality work but don't give us quality to work WITH! If I were younger, I would certainly go back to school and learn how to do something else and get out of this field ASAP. Sorry about the rant, but after last night, I have just about had it! I wish I could afford to retire.

They can be - Steph

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a pain. My favorite thus far though has been a patient who kind of gave the physician a hard time for not having a translator available for them. They needed a translator despite having already lived in the US for over 20 years. MD said it right in the note. As much as the MDs themselves can be pieces of work, imagine what kind of people they deal with and how they keep a straight face and do not blow their cool when faced with moronic situations such as I described. As much as it is annoying on our end, at least we are at home (most of us) and can just let the profanity fly and no one knows:)

Can you imaging being a sick old person - and getting admitted to a

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hospital where it is like the Tower of Babel? The sad thing is that even a lot of the American doctors sound stupid and confused any more and some of the foreigners speak beautiful English. No wonder so many people check into hospitals and come out feet first!

I am doing everything I can to avoid hospitals, but now am getting old and will probably will have to go into one sooner or later, very scary knowing what I know!

How many times have you heard - Old and Tired MT

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The dictators say that the old person is "hard of hearing" because they continually say, "Huh?", when the person just can't understand what they are saying. There is nothing wrong with their hearing-- they just can't understand the foreigners when they speak. How many times do they say that the old person "is confused about their medications or dosages" when the problem is they just can't understand the doctors? I feel so sorry for them, as if WE can't understand them, how can the patients? I guess the hospitals who hire them haven't figured this one out yet, but they will as soon as they are sued for everything they have.

Imagine being an old sick person... - sc

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I have often thought of that, especially when they say, "The patient understood and gave an informed consent." Of you know the patient is just nodding to go along as in "whatever."

No need here. It's a big fascinating world. My frustration - is not that they come here, but that

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I can't go visit all the many, many places people move here from.

Being conversational and literate in English - sm

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in social, retail and work environments is NOT the same thing as conveying and receiving technical medical and legal information in a language that is second to ones native tongue. In that setting, patients are not themselves due to illness and often are dealing with emotional overlay as well. If the MD were interested in eliciting precise HPI, PHM, SH, Rx and ROS history and/or communicating the nature of an illness, condition, diagnosis, treatment options (especially medications), surgery or discharge instrutions to a patient, he or she should have no problem whatsoever in attempting to find a translator. If one is not available, they may at least explore the option of getting help from a family member. The idea is to render the best possible medical treatment, not to pass judgment on the language skills of those who come in seeking medical services.

well said - great post

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It's nice to hear a reasonable voice.
You raise interesting points that we can all relate to, actually.

I wonder how many posters know some nice, white English-speaking people who cannot talk to a doctor without a family member present to "translate".

We could all be more understanding if we wanted to.

Thanks for the nice post.

Back atcha. It is unsettling when thoughtless criticism - trumps compassion

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especially in the practice of medicine. The need to seek medical care is something people from all walks of life and from places all over the globe share in common. There is just no place in that setting for this kind of narrow-minded mentality, either in the forefronts or behind the scenes. Maybe I am just hopelessly old fashioned, but I think we would all be a whole lot better off if we could try to remember our common humanity every now and again.

My paycheck is hopelessly old fashioned - cannot afford compassion

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If they want to pay me by the HOUR to listen to a garbled ESL mess a dozen times until I "get it" that's one thing. But I'm paid production. The more difficult these ESL docs make my life, the less money I make. And with costs of everything continuing to rise, I cannot afford to cater to their arrogance that "the typist can figure it out, that's what they're paid to do". No, we AREN'T paid to do half the freebies they "expect".

Then perhaps you should get out. We can all do without - sloppy and incompetent MTs, but

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we need competent physicians, wherever they come from. Many of us make a good income doing heavy ESL, plus all the others you might complain about if you weren't directing your spite specifically against these nice people. What do you think that says about where the real reason for your problem lies?

Their sloppy and incompetent dictation - equals nice?

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Imagine what better income you could make if they spoke clear English! They are endangering patient care with their careless arrogance - blaming the MT will NOT solve the problem when they are face to face with patients and staff who cannot understand them or their instructions. You are ignoring the real issue here and deifying a bunch of lazy people who can't be bothered to make themselves understood. You automatically assume they are "competent"? Why? If they can't be bothered to learn to speak our language what ELSE don't they lower themselves to bother with? What other corners do they cut? Do you want to gamble your healthcare on it? I don't.

And you are assuming - sm

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ESL docs are dangerous, lazy, arrogant, incompetent, cutting corners, etc. Your bigotry goes way beyond a resentment of bad dictators. We live in a multicultural society and you are dealing with this fact very poorly. If you are looking for validation of this stinky attitude, try Fox News or your next local KKK meeting. There is no place for this in the mainstream and certainly not in medicine.

WOW! Good for you, SM. Laying it on the line! - TrumpsCompassion and others of this type,

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again, I do MAKE JUST AS MUCH on ESL as US accents. I'm definitely a live-and-let-live sort and just can't imagine what it would be like to spend one's days mentally spitting and hissing at the dictators, refusing to get good at them, but I'm sure it's not good for your health either.

Right on. You nailed it. - nm

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nm

Arrogance? Really? - sm

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Careful dear. Your prejudice is showing. ESL docs speak with accents while practicing medicine. Your job is to transcribe. If you cannot hone your skills enough to accommodate this inconvenience, then you are in the wrong place.

Arrogant would be trying to hold yourself above the fray and harboring resentments over presumptions YOU have made with regard to how they think, ie,"...that's what they're paid to do" and their so-called expectations of freebies. If you are that unhappy with transcription, perhaps it is time you moved on, since obviously ESLs are staying firmly implanted right where they are.

why don't you - bb

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Why don't you send the worse ones to support? I don't waste my precious time and I've had it out with my CCM about which specific dictators should not be allowed on VR OR to dictate until sometime gets done. Granted, the only thing that got accomplished was that a few were in fact taken off VR, but they continue to come in.

All you can do, is do your best. And if you do your best, you shouldn't be tearing your hair out over it. It's really not our fault. Most of the one's I have complained about have actually been cooperative enough to submit samples of their mush mouth reports and I keep those very handy. It seems like the more samples they are willing to submit the more I am able to decipher their mumbo jumbo.

other than that I F11 them or just upload with a note: "DICTATOR EFFECT. CANNOT TRANSCRIBE DUE TO INAUDIBILITY!"

i HAVE never had a "ding" on those.

Try to keep sane because it is never going to get better. Stay calm and best of luck to you.

Question... do the foreigners just automatically - become US citizens

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because they are doctors?

re: citizens - hy

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this is becoming borderline racisit. That's a very silly thing to ask. i'm sure any American docs that go to practice in other countries are hard to understand too.

Yes, doctors and bankers get in automatically - .

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.

sock of foreigners - fastback

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I have to agree. I have never heard some gibberish from supposed doctors without no quality anything to work with. I would not like to be treated by these so-called doctors. They work for less and our doctors cannot find work. If they can pay to come to America and qualify as a physician, they should be able to speak out language and have our best interests in mind and be happy to be in America to start with. If they cannot use double tense, make a sentence and be understandable yet able to afford malpractice, they should stay where they are. I too am ready to head back to school and find a career that is satisfying. I loved my job all my life and now have an acct. manager who makes it impossible to buy groceries all because of these cheap, cheap hospitals.

I am just curious about how all these foreign - doctors get over here

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in the first place. Are they recruited? Are they fast-tracked to be citizens because they are doctors? Nothing racist about it, although I would rather see these jobs going to Americans, just like I would rather see our medical records being kept in the US and not done overseas.

And by the way, American born and raised MDs can be just as sloppy and ignorant as foreigners with their dictation and sometimes worse.

Furthermore, I doubt there are many US doctors who relocate to Pakistan, Nigeria or China to practice medicine, unless they are doing it as charity workers. If they do, they are probably expected to know the language pretty well.

re: foreign - cali gal

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I happen to know for a FACT that there are many US docs that opt to practice in other countries, namely doctors who are having trouble passing their license test. They go to MEXICO, CHINA and to the MIDDLE EAST and are in fact getting paid a very pretty penny because American doctors are usually regarded as being very expert and intelligent.

In my neighborhood, it's very easy to find an unlicensed doc who is willing to write rx and give exams for cheap, but you get what you pay for (I live near the Tiajuana border) Women look for at home plastic surgery, mostly cosmetic work, at home termination of pregnancy, liposuctions...

You have to know that illegal practice has been going on forever. There are just as many back alley docs now as they ever were.

Anyway, its not really on topic, just wanted to point out that just because they're from the good old U.S. of A, they ain't all treasures...

I worked at a local grocery store when - a lady who was a pediatrician

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She had just moved here from another country and was bagging groceries until she could prepare to take her boards and get actual citizenship. I think the whole thing is a long process. No, she wasn't brought here. The country she was from (My SIL is from the same country) you have to win a lottery to come to America. Doctors there in that area are not well off people.

I used to work with a doctor who went to other countries to work, and they do not have to be fluent in the language. I'm hoping they had interpreters.

I agree about the Americans being just as sloppy. I can almost tolerate it more from the foreign ones than I can from someone who was born and raised here.

I know some think that they are paying these physicians less, but I don't think that is at all the case. I think that would actually be a racism case if they did. The ones I have known from working in the hospitals and doctors office seem to be doing pretty well.

Gibberish and not being able to make a sentence - sm

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sort of like "from supposed doctors without no quality anything to work with?" or "sock of foreigners?" Just sayin.

oh dear - nm

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.

Entitlement issues and anger at MTs - we cannot understand U!

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What makes me furious is whenever we get a crop of newbies (or have to help out on secondaries we rarely do), we start getting angry complaints from these language butchers that WE aren't getting their eccentric phrasing just perfect. We can BARELY understand these people yet they feel entitled to perfection - WHY? Because the MTSO said they could have it? If they can't bother to enunciate their pet phrases that they desperately "need" in a report, then they need not have a tantrum when we are not psychic enough to anticipate what they "meant". WE are not lazy, THEY are, and they need to learn to SPEAK ENGLISH if they expect to have legible reports in ENGLISH. Simple logic that both the docs and the MTSO continue to ignore.

But WE can mostly understand them well enough. - to produce a competent report. Your insistence

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Your insistence that "ESL" are incompetent and impossible to transcribe is just a cover for the resentment you direct specifically at them as people and not their dictation.

I also really wonder how you could maintain that fiction in your own mind and produce the same clean competent reports that others do. Obviously, you are determined that you cannot, which is pretty dismaying for the dictators and the patients.

As said, they're not going away, so time for you to walk away? Before your face settles permanently into an angry resentful mask?

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