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A popularly prescribed career
India Today, in a feature on 'The new
economy careers', named Medical Transcription
(MT) as the fastest growing segment in IT
services. Pioneered in the country by the US
Corporation Health Scribe, Inc., Mapro Transoft
first introduced Medical Transcription in
the Pune in 1998. Since then, a record number
of institutions have sprung up across the city,
each one promising to train its  students
to be an ace Transcriptionist. The daily newspapers
are full of enticing ads. 'Golden opportunity
' says one, 'International
career' beckons another and there is yet another
where one is cautioned against fly by night operators.
Confusion and skepticism galore, but the MT craze
persists. There was a lot, we realised, that needed
to be known about Medical Transcription. Fortunately
we knew whom to consult.
Sumantha Rai Gupta is the Managing Director
of Crossover Software Technology Pvt.Ltd. Mr
Gupta has an interesting career graph. After a
four-year stint in the army, he moved to Delhi
in 1993 to set up business in garments. He shifted
to Pune in 1999 to set up a software company along
with a friend. Soon he ventured out on his own
to set up Crossover Software Technology Pvt.Ltd.,
a Medical Transcription training and production
company. It's been close to a year, and Sumanta
finds his job as the MD interesting, exciting
and actually thrives during periods of crisis.
In an informal interview with us, he willingly
gave us a doze of his chosen field, cautioned
us about the side effects of entering the profession
and prescribed that for ones with the right aptitudes,
it was a career definitely worth checking out.
What is Medical Transcription all about?
Simply put, doctors in the United States dictate
all details of their patient such as medical and
lab reports, the diagnosis, the treatment prescribed,
etc to a recorder or Voice Mail System. This is
then sent across over the net to India to be transcribed.
Medical Transcriptionists are people who transcribe
the words of the doctors into data files and then
send it back, taking advantage of the time difference.
How is the Industry
poised currently?
In the last six months MT has caught on in
a big way, especially in the bigger cities. Being
a labour –intensive industry, the market
is huge and growth potential tremendous.
What are the skills and aptitude needed to pursue
a career in this field?
A person wishing to take up a career in Medical
Transcription must possess, to begin with, good
hearing ability. It is crucial to be able to decipher
accents. A transcriptionist is not a typist. It
is necessary to have comprehension skills. An
effective Transriptionist is one who is able to
comprehend what is being said, must possess intuitive
skills and ideally someone who thinks in English.
What subjects does the training cover?
The training is intensive. A comprehensive
4-month training program would need to cover subjects
such as Medical Terminologies, English, American
Pharmacology and Phonetics too. Even after the
training period is over, a Transcriptionist
should make an attempt to constantly learn; refer
to Medical books; check if a new drug has been
discovered and constantly
strive to grow in this dynamic Industry.
 How
does one select a good training institute? Any
guidelines that you could offer?
Any professionally run institute should administer
an aptitude test. Applicants ought to be screened
and only the right candidates selected. The criteria
for selection in most institutions happen to be
the fees. Just about anybody who is able to pay
the fees is selected even though it is very apparent
that the candidate lacks the basic skills and
aptitude needed for the job. There have been so
many instances of people who have been taken for
a ride by training institutions who promise the
earth and deliver virtually nothing. Huge amounts
of money is spent by scores of people to get trained
and at the end of it find themselves at a loose
end with no job in sight. Secondly and more importantantly,
students desirous of getting trained in MT should
ideally join a training institute which also has
an in-house production unit.
Could you elaborate
on the concept of a production house?
Production houses have their clients based
in the United States and transcribe Medical files
for them. When you are a production house, the
concept of profitability is clear to you. You
train the selected candidates with the idea that
they would eventually be absorbed in the production
unit. Most professionally managed production houses
charge a deposit amount as training fee that is
then adjusted against the salary once the student
starts working for the production house. Besides
a production unit is able to provide practical
training as they have the files that need to be
transcribed with them. Institutes that provide
only training are unable to simulate production,
as they do not have the required files to provide
the crucial practical training.
Is the requirement
for good Transcriptionists being met?
Currently there is a dearth of good people.
However talented and ambitious youngsters with
the right aptitude are getting
drawn to this field and giving MT a serious
thought in terms of a career.
Would you recommend
it as a career option?
Yes, certainly. MT can be a highly rewarding career
if one is self-motivated to keep improving and
increase the average number of lines transcribed
and attain high accuracy levels. One can also
graduate to becoming an editor after about two
and a half years of experience as a Medical Transcriptionist.
What does Crossover technology have to offer
its students?
Firstly we make sure we select the right candidates.
We often have to turn down an applicant if we
are convinced s/he is not cut out for the job
We charge a training amount of Rs 25,000/- which
is actually a security deposit during the training
period. Since we have already chosen the candidates
on the basis of their potential, they are assured
of being absorbed in our production house On the
job training is an inherent part of the system.
We recognize that professional training has to
be practical and implement able Our training technique
(The Dynamic Interactive training Technology)
was evolved from a thorough study of our own requirements
on the production floor and industry at large.
We are constantly seeking feedback from the production
floor and monitoring the developments in the Industry.
We also touch on topics such as time and stress
management, both important aspects of the job
Wow, can I enroll?
You will need to take our aptitude test.
Crossover Software
Technology can be contacted at the following address:
Paramjyot, Bunglow # 5, Sind-Hindu Co-operative
Society, Lullanagar, Pune 411 040
Phone: 683 3434 / 683 2206
Email:
shumu@crossoverindia.com
Interview:
Shabari Shetty
Photographs: Harikrishna
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