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

MModal emlpoyment test - bag

Posted: Nov 23, 2012

I took MModal employment test lately and i was very confident abiut my test. though I had 4 blanks on 1 report but for the test I think I did pretty good.

I received an email early this week that I failed on practicum portion.

Im a beginner and Im very disappointed of myself and discourage though I invested money and time on becomming an MT.

Any advice? Is there any company that hire newbies?

Thanks

bagsie

keep practicing - and try again

[ In Reply To ..]
don't get discouraged and don't give up! You might want to look a little at spelling of ordinary, nonmedical words.

Per your post, you need help with non-medical words - sm

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Also, pay attention to punctuation and capitalization.

Newbies are held to the same standards as the rest of us, 99% accuracy. You need to require perfection out of yourself. You will not get a company to hire you if you cannot pass a test, so keep practicing.

do they let you see your results? - downtime

[ In Reply To ..]
so that you can see what you did wrong?

as others have mentioned... - sm

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You have to have perfect spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and punctuation skills in order to compete effectively. Unfortunately, there are many errors in your post. It's wrong, in my opinion, for a school to have taken your money without first assessing your basic skill level.

I don't know why someone would "dislike" your post (except maybe OP), - but...

[ In Reply To ..]
you certainly said it nicer than I would have (and am going to). There is no way I would want this person transcribing my or my loved ones' medical reports. The basic English skills just aren't there, and that's not something you can take care of with a 6-week course or by "brushing up."

Adding: It denigrates our profession to act as if anybody can do it... - sm

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if they just try hard enough or practice more. Someone without at least average (hopefully, better than average) basic English skills is simply not suited to do this job ... at least, not to doing it *well.*

but I see no reason to discourage - someone who is obviously trying hard

[ In Reply To ..]
and has probably shelled out a good bit of money.

I see no decency in encouraging someone who may - not be able to make it. Only OP will

[ In Reply To ..]
know, but it's way past time for some self analysis to decide if she or he has what it takes to do this work. Not after a year or more of struggling, tears, and lost earnings. That said, though, the initial post was so substandard that I wondered, and still wonder if it could be a troll. Actually hope it is.

I see no reason to be dishonest - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
You have to master the fundamentals before you can learn a specialty. It is absolutely reprehensible for a school to take someone's money when the student's skill set is not up to par. I have no doubt that the student is trying hard, and it is for that very reason that I find this situation all the more heartbreaking. I would actually recommend the original poster seek legal assistance to try to recover his/her money. It's just not fair for these schools to profit from honest, unsuspecting people by selling them a false bill of goods.

I see no reason to be dishonest, either - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
Many decades ago when I was young and starting college, I had the idea I would like to become a civil engineer. However, my math skills were nowhere up to par for the School of Engineering, and my adviser told me so. Did it hurt? Sure, but he did the right thing. I would have been very wrong of the university to take my money and encourage me in a field for which I had no aptitude. (I majored in English, with honors.) Some part of me still wishes I had been able to become an engineer, but since I am incapable of doing advanced math, it would seem that engineering would have been a poor choice for me. Perhaps it is the same with many of the people who are being enrolled in some transcription schools. Not everybody has the capability to do engineering. Not everybody has the capability to become an MT. We need to know and accept our weaknesses as well as our strengths. Those who would encourage (and profit from) those people who will never make it in the MT world are, in my view, reprehensible.

question - have to ask

[ In Reply To ..]
Are you American? Your post sounds otherwise.

disagree; post sounds painfully American - nm

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"disappointed of myself" is not typical - American English syntax.

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xx

true, but it doesn't mean they are foreign - sm

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How about all the Americans who write "I would of" instead of "I would have". People mishear or misunderstand things sometimes, and it becomes part of their vocabulary.

Ah, one of my pet peeves, "would of" - or any of the "of/have" misuses.

[ In Reply To ..]

But that one is a somewhat understandable mistake in terms of how the syntactically correct "would've" actually sounds. However, there's no way to get from "disappointed in" to "disappointed of" as an adult native English speaker.

196,000 google hits for "disappointed of myself" - like I said....sm

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This is about mishearing and misunderstanding. Non-native speakers have not cornered the market on this phenomenon.

Yep, and on quick perusal, it's obvious that the vast, vast majority of them - are ESL.

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Except for that weirdly named Tumblr tag.

nope. cannot substantiate that - nm

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the vast majority of 196,000 hits? - lol

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Lots of people don't have good language skills, including native American speakers. Your agenda is not mine; it's not all about ESL.

Scary! - Angie

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Where did you go to school? - nm

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x

seems she went - anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
back to her side of the (multiple choice):

a) ocean
b) world
c) universe
d) all of the above

(excuse me, I have a case of the giggles today)

Or "he." Many (maybe even a majority) of offshore MTs - are male.

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x

ok, to cover both - perhaps IT went... - gender policing does not change the gist of post.

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I'm not fussy.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be snarky and gave your first "like." - was just FYI-ing in general, not policing

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x

apology accepted. I'm sorry too. - NM

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=

A Legit School - ...would have an entrance exam

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...I think we shouldn't necessarily judge people by their posts in terms of grammar and punctuation (we are here to relax), but if there are posts where the elementary basics aren't coming through, it's hard to answer your question.

However, yes, if you go to one of the good schools in the country (after passing their basic entrance exam), you should have no problem finding a job.

Yes, there are companies that hire newbies, but you DO have to pass their test. Those companies also know ALL ABOUT what school you went to, and they decide from there if it's worth their time and money to proceed forth with a test.

Owner of a very good, well known one doesn't - teach use of the semicolon. You know,

[ In Reply To ..]
the key directly under the right pinkie? Too many students don't know what it is, much less how to use it and have so much trouble taking in the concept that she, and others, just decided it wasn't necessary for them to know. They just teach them to break everything into short sentences instead.

She has to make a living in hard times too and has my genuine sympathy, but! So much for expectations of what standards reputable schools adhere to (will the check clear?) and "entrance exams." Presumably literacy levels so low people can't adequately comprehend the text show up fast and constitute the bar to be cleared.

I must be one of "the others." - Redpen

[ In Reply To ..]
Teaching students to use separate sentences instead of stringing them together with the semicolon has less to do with the student than with the client. It is easy enough to teach students to use semicolons correctly, but what is the point of using them when most clients either dislike them or are confused about their use?

If what you do is correct, but it causes trouble nonetheless, why would you insist upon doing it when there is an alternative that everyone accepts?

Teaching MTs to use individual sentences instead of semicolons improves client satisfaction. It also improves a new MT's ability to be successful on the job when they are in no position to argue about something as controversial as semicolons.

We are not supposed to point out grammar and punctution errors on this board, but in light of your criticism of what must be your former employer, I will just suggest that you might want to examine your post more closely.

Your students should know semicolons before - signing up, and why do you not teach

[ In Reply To ..]
them when only some clients request they not be used? In all these years transcribing and editing for several large MTSOs, hospitals so many I lost count long ago, and thousands of clinicians, I have never been told not to use semicolons.

Semicolons have real function. Using a semicolon is not only often the only way to be true to the dictation, but often a cleaner and faster way to edit, with no unnecessary key strokes. Sometimes I will even connect 2 sentences with a semicolon to make their close relation of meaning clear. I use all available punctuation methods every day, and not having the semicolon in my tool box would not only slow me down but lower the quality of my editing.

All in all, I question the reasons given for dumbing down the skill level this way, especially because I've worked with a number of MTs, and physicians, who did not use them properly, so it's easy to imagine an MT school facing this problem routinely. It wasn't that our public school systems didn't teach them, BTW. They were taught, but it didn't take. That's where you would normally come in when they paid you to teach them to be competent editors.

How might someone unaware of proper semicolon usage - punctuate this?

[ In Reply To ..]
(internal punctuation removed)

This is an xx-year-old woman with extensive past medical history including atrial fibrillation positive pacemaker not on Coumadin only aspirin moderate to severe mitral regurgitation vasculopathy including peripheral vascular disease and renal artery stenosis COPD diabetes mellitus and depression.

That is not what she was talking about. - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
She was talking about semicolons used to join what could otherwise be written as two sentences, not how to use them to separate items in a list.

Original post said "doesn't teach use of the semicolon." - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I would guess that doesn't mean they teach selective use of the semicolon, such as only how to use it in series but not how to use it to join independent clauses?

I believe the semicolon use was covered in elementary school. should - not have to be taught in MT school. nm

[ In Reply To ..]
Aren't there entrance exams? If not, there should be.

imho

I've seen people on this board not know what that key - was for in any use. Literally. BUT, physicians

[ In Reply To ..]
very often dictate in "semicoloned" sentences. Those people who don't use it can't transcribe complex sentences correctly. Breaking connected ideas, one flowing from the other, into two disconnected sentences is to change the meaning, often so subtlely it really doesn't matter, but sometimes it does.

Then, of course, there's the separating phrases and groups function as in the sample sentence. That's a plain mechanical function that every editor of course needs know and use when called for.

You might enjoy this (link inside) - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Sad but not really that surprising to me to see that several consider the example I gave to not require any semicolons but only commas. I guess those of us with more "literary" standards are a dying breed. (oh dear, that must be my "ego" talking)

The example needs commas, not semi-colons. - nm

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xx

correct - nm

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Semi-colons - Incorrect in example

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You do not use semi-colons within anything that could work as a sentence with commas. You don't do, patient has several disease, including, heart disease; peptic disease; depression. That runs as one sentence with commas between the diseases. Not sure where you were thinking the semi-colons would go, but I don't see this as a semi-colon situation.

They have their place but I don't use them much. I will use it for when they're running a series of numbers in a labs with the phrase beginning with a numberm like this: 94 neutrophils; 3% bands.

If someone didn't have semi-colon training in their elementary years, it seems useless to try and teach it in an MT school. Most of the time, you can live without the semi-colons, but they do just come on so handy sometimes. If the school is focusing on periods and commas, that is more important. Most schools at least still teach the basics in that, and a brush-up might be needed for the comma thing. If you seriously don't know how to end a sentence with a period, then it's back to basics and take a full grammar course, then get back to MT.

You could conceivable use the semi-colon in a list, but not a list that's within a sentence. You can do this: Medications: Aspirin; Tylenol; Ambien.

I barely bother with it in the however thing, but you could do this. Patient was not feeling well yesterday; however, he is better today.

Curious, is that one that starts with an "A"? - onthejobber

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Please do not be discouraged.sm - Kindred

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I am embarrassed to say this, but I do want to give you emotional support. I have not passed MM test twice now. Once I made a 95, I believe, on the written test, missing only a couple, and that was several years ago. Back then, they would show you the graded test. One of the answers marked wrong, IMO was correct, but whatever. They told me I could retest in 6 months.

Tested recently. Passed the written portion, failed the dictation portion with an 80. I do not know what my mistakes were.

I have 10 years of experience. I am in no way saying I am a premier transcriptionist, I learn every day and struggle every day with certain dictations.

I am just saying do not give up. While I have failed MM testing twice, I have also passed many tests and been offered jobs. It is ironic how I just cannot seem to get my foot in the door at MM. LOL!

Keep on keeping on. I know you will find a decent job. Nothing about this profession comes easy, for sure. Constantly crossing hurdles and perseverance and determination are part of the job. I have cried many times and then pulled my boot straps up more determined than ever to make this work.

I am wishing you the best. Know that we have all felt the discouragement you are feeling right now.

Kindred - Old school MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Your efforts to be kind are commendable, but not everyone is capable of becoming an MT. To encourage someone with such poor English skills is akin to recommending engineering as a career to someone who can't even do algebra. Maybe this person would be better off in a career she (or he) is better suited for? One for which s/he actually has a working skill set?

Bagsie, my best guess is that you need a lot more - experience with written English. I recommend

[ In Reply To ..]
starting by reading the Readers Digest, the one that used to be by all the supermarket checkout stands. It's on the web now, also. It has an excellent straightforward writing style, and the material is typically quite short and varied (articles, jokes, etc.). Most novels will also give you that practice you need.

Find things you enjoy reading and plan on doing a lot of it you find you've internalized written English style. Now and then look up the punctuation used to connect what you're reading with some of the common rules of grammar.

Be aware that there are often a number of ways to punctuate something "right." This can be confusing at first, especially if teachers in school made you think there was only one way, but it'll come together for you eventually. As you immerse yourself in reading, your skills should improve at least to the basic level you need to do this work.

I don't know how encouraging one should be, though. Please be aware that to make any money at all at this you need to be able to read very fast with the dictation sped up anywhere from a third faster than dictated to as much as twice as fast as dictated, and to edit just as fast as you can type with almost no delay. NO stopping to figure out where a comma goes or how to make sense of garbled dictation, seldom going back to fix something that wasn't right the first time, which is why I strongly recommend lots and lots of reading as the means to the proficiency you need. If you don't see yourself doing that you need to take your new skills to something else, like unit clerk at a hospital or some such thing. Probably the better move regardless.

This is a joke, right? - NM

[ In Reply To ..]
x

Its another Indian, trying to take our jobs - Try on an Indian Board please

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This one is for US Medical Transcriptionists! See... Look up at the top where you see the American Flag! In cute little white letters it says, "A community of US Medical Transcriptionists"

Be honest, if you had the chance at a good-paying - Maggie May

[ In Reply To ..]
job, would you turn it down because you didn't want to take an "Indian's" job? Why should someone in India turn down the chance to make a living because it's an "American's" job? Guess what, people in India have families and need jobs too.

they also have doctors to transcribe for over there. - just sayin. nomsg

[ In Reply To ..]
;

I've wondered about that, and there's a huge population there. - sm

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But it appears that there's not much formal record keeping in their healthcare system, and according to the below article, much of it is "manual." ("The traditional method of keeping records that is followed in most of the hospitals across India is the manual method involving papers and books.") I'm guessing that means handwritten.

"It is disheartening to note that inspite [sic] of knowing the importance of proper record keeping it is still in a nascent stage in India."

and: "Medical record keeping is a specialized area in bigger teaching and corporate hospitals with separate medical records officers handling these issues. However, it is yet to develop into a proper process in the large number of smaller clinics and hospitals that cater to a large section of the people in India." (see link)

they just don't have the money to go around. Send - Obama and his incentives. joking.nM

[ In Reply To ..]
.

yeah that always cracks me up - no I wont take an Americans job

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It's not the Indian's fault, it's the fault of the companies who give them the opportunity to take our jobs.

Hey, don't bash the Indian MTs - See Msg

[ In Reply To ..]
Hey, it's not their fault they have a job! In India, there are very rich people and very poor people. There's not much inbewteen, so if someone has a chance to make an okay living over there, don't bash them. That's cruel.

BUT, you should blame the companies who send our work there and then give them special treatment. They say they hold the Indian MTs to a higher standard, but NO THEY DON'T. I used to do QA, and their English language was a mess on those. WE had to fix them when the client complained, so those accounts would come back onto full QA. We fixed them, client now happy, then they go back in the general pool, then back again on full QA, a big circle.

That was many years ago, back when QA people were actually respected and made a decent hourly rate to fix these messes. Of course, giving feedback to people who you know are going to take your job away wasn't good for morale, but I made some plenty good hunk of change back then at their hourly rate.

I'm not sure how they work that Indian thing now. Got out of that department fast when they started paying chicken feed for it.

I'm an American for American jobs but I say - LJ

[ In Reply To ..]
that you do not know if this person is Indian or not. Please take your racism someplace else.

bagsie - Old Pro

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I say this with kindness and trying to help: It would appear that you need to work on the essentials of spelling and grammar before attempting to enter the world of MT. Are you a native speaker of English? What is your educational background? How did you train for MT? Your post is full of errors (not being a grammar cop here, just trying to help you identify problem areas so you can overcome them and become marketable). If I were to receive an application so filled with basic errors, I would, quite frankly, not take it seriously. With work and effort, I think you can you overcome these problems. Good luck to you!

maybe we should suspend discussion - till this person comes back

[ In Reply To ..]
We've had some kind souls gently inform the OP to work on spelling and grammar, and some others saying we should not encourage someone who will never succeed in MT. We have a group who thinks the OP is not American, and some who think it is a troll post. But so far, the OP has not responded to anyone. I think we should drop it now and see if the OP responds.

I wouldn't respond either after some of the posts - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
on here...some were "nice", most were not. too many egos and attitudes on here to post pretty much anything, as someone will jump on it with all claws out. poor thing never stood a chance and most likely will not be back.

To be quite brutal, and - giving you the benefit

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of the doubt that you are not a troll or a foreigner or both (although my foreign troll radar is blaring), and not wishing to play police for all the other grammar and spelling errors in your short post, my feeling is that a person who at the very least automatically and without thinking doesn't capitalize his/her name is probably not ready to take an MT test at this time, and most likely never will be. Sorry, but my advice to you is save yourself a lot of heartache and find another line of work.

I think bag-lady/man found another board. - n/msg

[ In Reply To ..]
.

Honestly, the MModal test was the easiest one I took - anon

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There were 5 reports and I left zero blanks. None of the speakers had a heavy accent and they were straight forward.

Nuance test was 100 times harder.

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