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Today I want to continue some of the discussion about medical transcription, how medical transcriptionists can walk away from things now and then (and why we don't), and explore the WHY of why someone chooses medical transcription as a profession. Stick with me because this could get lengthy.
The State of the Industry Through the Eyes of Medical Transcriptionists
Hearing discussions that talk about MTs working more than one job, or many more hours in a day than they should, just to make ends meet isn't uncommon. In our recent discussion about how we don't walk away and give ourselves time to refresh, it was pretty clear that a lot of people just feel like they cannot do that and do what they need to do to support themselves.
One trend I am seeing in a lot of people who have been in the profession for a long time is a return to school and continuing their education. In some of those cases, it is leading them away from the profession of medical transcription into something new. In some cases, it is even leading them away from the healthcare industry all together. I often wonder what the message is there.
Our industry has some great employers, and like any other industry, some not so great employers. It's not my intention to name names here because what's great for one person might be not so great for someone else. There simply is no one size fits all. All you have to do is peruse the medical transcription boards and forums on the internet to see there are a lot of people talking about how unhappy they are with their work situation. It must create some real fear for students and new graduates coming into the profession.
The profession has, according to surveys done by AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity), an aging workforce. What that means is that many of us will retire, or simply stop doing this in the not too distant future. (Okay, I can hear some of you laughing now and saying you'll never retire!) That would seem to point to the need for educating more medical transcriptionists so that those openings created by attrition are able to be filled.
So let's talk education. Schools are attempting to diversify their offerings. Not too long ago a well known AHDI-approved school began to offer training in billing and coding, and then opened a program to train scribes. Many schools that previously only taught medical transcription now have additional offerings. That would seem to point to those businesses feeling that medical transcription training alone will not sustain their business model in the future. One school administrator that I spoke with recently told me they see less interest and enrollment in their transcription programs. Is that because interest is dwindling, or could it be those potential students are reading those same boards and forums where they are told this is not a good profession?
And Still We Stay
Even with all of the above, people come into this profession and stay. It doesn't matter that MTs must work longer hours to make the same money. It doesn't matter that some feel they are taken advantage of by employers. Still, we stay. I wonder why that is.
Often if you ask a medical transcriptionist, the response is "I love to transcribe," or "I love what I do." I understand that thinking because for many years, that was me. Today, I love the profession and the people who are in it (okay, most of them), but I don't sit at the computer and transcribe all day. And I'm not sure even if I could it that I'd want to. Does the ability to work from home make a difference? What if you couldn't work from home, would you be in the same profession? And for those who work in an office, what if you had to work from home, would you still do it? So my first question is what's the driving force there?
Are You Happy?
And now the tough question. Are you happy? I didn't ask if you love what you do. I didn't ask if you loved to transcribe. I asked if you are happy. I've always said in my life, at least for the last ten years, when something is no longer fun, I will stop doing it. And if you're happy, what is it that makes it so for you?
Let me be really clear. This is not meant to be one of those negative stories that says run for the hills because this is a bad profession. It's a profession that has frankly served me well for 30 years now. What I hope it will be is a way to open the dialogue about why we stick and how we create happiness about it.
So over to you. How would you respond to those questions?
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