A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Man, I feel for new MTs... - mtmtmt

Posted: Aug 07, 2010

I was just looking at the Word Help board - I can't imagine working at home by myself, having no one to ask for help. When I first started, you could turn to the person next to you and get some help. They've really been thrown to the wolves. Good luck, all!!

I have the same thought when I look at the word board - but probably for different reasons. sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I, too, had the luxury of rolling my chair with my cassette tape in hand over to the person at the next desk and asking them to give a listen. But I look at some of the questions on the word board, and I have to wonder what these poor folks have paid money for. Yes, despite what some would have you believe, this can be a very complex job and there's a huge difference between what you hear in a "classroom" lab and on the job, but some of the questions asked seem like they should have been able to be answered themselves if the schools had even provided them a rudimentary education. Like someone here said one time, these poor kids* don't even know what they don't know and it's going to just get harder on them. It's a shame there really isn't some sort of good mentoring program. Maybe they could find an experienced buddy in their neighborhood and go work at their house!

*I used the terms kid in terms of experience in the field, not as a chronological measure.

seems to me... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
the majority of the questions on the Stars word board are coming from students. I hesitate to offer help there as per the usage rules, that is not what the board should be for.

Plus a lot of times a simple Google search gives you the answer - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the people who give the answers on the Word Board and they have helped me a time or three.

A lot of the stuff that seems to be coming from newbies, though, I can find with a simple Google search and some reading. It's like no one knows how to research any more.

Word boards make it too easy - MT2long

[ In Reply To ..]
"It's like no one knows how to research any more. "

EXACTLY! Plus some of the questions I read, I, too, wonder what the education level is. I'm a self-taught MT with no one to roll my chair to for another ear but I knew how to open a book and keep looking (and learning) until I found what I was looking for.

IMO, the problem with a word board is you don't learn, you just get the answer and move on.

These MTs (and the older ones who still practice this way- again older as in experience not age) are the ones who will find it difficult to land and keep a job because accuracy is going to be carrying a lot more weight as we move forward.

Students? - Working MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I have wondered if a lot of those questions don't come from students. To me, some of if seems pretty basic that anyone who was actually working would know how to research. Other times, though, it seems a matter of not being able to understand foreign dialects. When a person is at home, there's no one to give them an "ear."

When I had people sitting next to me to "help" they refused or gave the wrong answers - because they were competitive

[ In Reply To ..]
They were a cold group. I think it's better now.

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