Derailed and Delayed

So, it’s now been several weeks (I’m afraid to even count) since I last posted to this blog.

Well, suffice it to say, I got derailed from my progress by a self-induced computer crisis. I’ll spare you the details, but it wasn’t pretty, and it took my husband many, many hours to fix the problem I created with one “click of the mouse” as it were.

This was followed by a series of tiny little projects…doctor’s appointments, dance lessons with my husband, dealing with a tenant who isn’t paying the rent in a rental house, holiday plan making, and much more.

One of the downfalls of the scopist training program is it is “work at your own pace.” At least when I was doing the MT training program, we had a syllabus with a list of work we had to get done each week, so while it was self-paced, there were still hard deadlines along the way. On the other hand, one of the upsides to the scopist training program is that it is “work at your own pace.” So, there is flexibility for those times when you get derailed causing delays.

So, before I bend my nose back to the grindstone, I wanted to let you know that the first section of the program is grammar. Since a court reporter and scopist produce the document in a verbatim capacity, perhaps it is more accurate to say the first section of the program is punctuation.

There are 32 “grammar” lessons. Each accessible PDF lesson is accessed via a webpage link. There is some reading, followed by some exercises which are self-corrected using a provided answer key, followed by an exam on the subject at hand (also self-corrected using an answer key.) Then, there is a focus question which is usually something fairly simple which involves emailing one of the instructors simply as a means to indicate where you are in the program.

The lessons are interesting and presented within the context of the court reporter/scopist application. I think I’m on lesson 4, so I need to get my butt in gear.

Scoping Income and Outcome

I recently received the following from an experienced MT:

“How much can a scopist expect to make? How likely do you think it is that this industry will go the way of the MT industry?”

Great questions and ones I posed to Judy at BeST Scoping Techniques.

I was particularly interested in the role of audio/video recording of legal proceedings, since I had just submitted my resume for employment as a transcriptionist with AVTranz. If you scroll down and read their press releases, it appears that “everyone” is going to straight audio for the recording of courtroom proceedings. I asked Judy about this in particular.

She said that, during her many years as a scopist, the audio/video recording trend ebbs and flows. She explained that someone in a state court system will get the bright idea that they can save money by getting rid of all of the court reporters and just record everything on audio or video tape. They get all excited, make the equipment investment, and everything hums along just fine for a while until… Then, one day, there is an equipment failure, and – depending on the circumstances – this could cause a mistrial, and the case has to be tried all over again. It stands to reason that it doesn’t take many of these “do overs” to negate any cost savings that might have been realized.

A very cursory Google of the topic produced this interesting example of just such a thing.

In addition, the actual court proceedings are only a small portion of the system where court reporters (and potentially scopists) are utilized. Before anyone ever gets to the courtroom, there are hours and hours of depositions which are then used to write the many pretrial briefs and motions, as well as to prepare for direct and cross examination of the witnesses during the trial itself.

I can tell you from recent experience over the past year that during the case in which I was personally involved we burned through hundreds of hours of depositions before we came anywhere near the actual arbitration hearing, and there were court reporters present throughout the entire process. The interactive nature of their physical presence in the room with us ensured a significantly more accurate transcript, as they would ask witnesses to slow down, to repeat their answer, to spell a particularly technical term, and read back questions or testimony that had been asked/given previously. A digital recording – audio or video – could not have done this. It should be noted that in at least one instance the court reporter did have an audio backup. But, as she explained, it was strictly for her personal benefit should she realize she had miscaptured something later.

The other aspect is the need to produce searchable transcripts. In our particular situation, our attorney used the electronic copies of transcripts from depositions to copy and paste directly into briefs or motions. Likewise, during the hearing itself, witnesses were often shown the print version of their transcript in order to remind them what they had previously stated under oath. Again, this would have been extremely difficult, if not impossible, with audio or video files.

Again, a quick Google unearthed this interesting discussion of the very issue at hand.

The question of income was one in which I had a particular personal interest and one I find frequently discussed on various forums out there where anyone is considering scopist training.

A perusal of the websites where scopists advertise their services revealed a wide range of page rates anywhere from $.85/page to $1.50/page and up. This was consistent with what Ms. Barrett of Scoping Careers International told me. Depending on your speed, technical knowledge, quality of the translation being produced by the court reporter, expected turn around time, etc., a scopist could be looking at an hourly wage of $18-$35/hour. However, in the BeST Scoping Techniques Course FAQs section on the BeST website, I found:

Q. How much can I expect to make as a scopist?

A. That will depend on many factors. First, will you be working as a scopist full-time or part-time? The average page rate is $.85 to $1.10 and up (based
on varying factors). It will depend on how quickly you can do the jobs and how heavy your workload is. An average full-time scopist can make between $18,000
and $25,000 a year.

So, doing the math on the high end quoted here, this broke down into $12.50/hour. Personally, I found this a little disappointing, so I asked Judy about this directly.

She indicated that given the terrible reputation of “work from home training programs” to promise “get rich quick” and “pie in the sky” earning potential, they had opted to underestimate the potential so that their graduates were pleasantly surprised and not deeply disappointed. She assured me that, in reality, a good scopist could earn much, much more.

This is supported by the April 2010 Rates Survey published on the BeST website. Every two years, they conduct a survey of scopists on various forums, and while it is not scientific, it gives a pretty good snapshot of the expectations.

From the survey:

What is your income goal per month?

Part-time scopists had an income goal of $800 on the low end, $1,500 average, $2,000 high end.

Full-time scopists had a low income goal of $1,500, average goal of $3,000, high goal of $5,000.

Note, the survey strictly deals with rates charged and income goals desired. The question regarding actual income earned is never asked. However, I will add that these numbers do coincide with discussions on the topic from various work at home mom type forums based on postings from actual scopists (as best one can ascertain).

Now, having said all this…only time will tell. I’ll keep you posted.

Accessibility and the Ability to Access

If you are blind or otherwise visually impaired and use a screen reader or screen magnifier, then you are well aware of the meaning of “accessibility.” For the newly initiated, in a nutshell accessibility means the ability to access information in the same or similar manner as sighted people. In terms of technology, computers, the Internet, and software, there is – well – a more “technical” definition: the ability of individuals using assistive technology to access the website, software, or digital media. If you want to get more technical than that, then I’d suggest you visit the website of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) , in particular their Web Accessibility Initiative.

When Ms. Barrett of Scoping Careers International so graciously allowed me a behind the scenes peak at her training curriculum, I found an extremely professional presentation of the material utilizing PowerPoint slides synchronized with audio and video and presented onscreen in a Flash presentation utilizing Articulate Presenter. While both PowerPoint and Flash content can be made accessible, surprisingly enough, Articulate Presenter remains one of the digital dinosaurs on the market today generating content that remains virtually completely inaccessible. Apparently, they had made some promises regarding accessibility, but when their latest version was released in 2009, accessibility was nowhere to be found. If you want more information on the topic, Google “articulate presenter accessibility,” and you’ll find several forum discussions on the matter.

Essentially, if you’re a screen reader user, you’ve seen the scenario before…Flash content with a bunch of buttons which JAWS then identifies with “unlabeled button” and some kind of (what appears to be a) random number. So, there is no what to tell if button “45” is “play” or “fast forward.” It is similar to the JAWS user experience on You Tube except that the “play” button isn’t labeled. I got my sighted husband to help me identify the controls positionally, but then depending on what controls were activated, they changed positions on the screen, so that didn’t work. In addition, the controls did not appear to respond to keyboard commands (i.e. pressing enter or the space bar), and when I attempted to use the JAWS cursor, the page “appeared” blank. Finally, after much Googling on the topic, I found one very obscure reference where someone recommended turning off the virtual cursor and tabbing through the controls, and I was finally able to at least move from one slide to the next utilizing this method and the left and right arrow keys. However, it was extremely tedious, and I had to keep toggling virtual cursor mode on and off to navigate the screen.

In speaking with Ms. Barrett, all of the course material is available in PDF files, and I perused a representative sampling of these and found them to be very comprehensive and accessible. Although the PDF files weren’t available as a direct download from the website, Ms. Barrett was more than willing to email them to me directly. Therefore, I have every confidence that blind individuals using assistive technology could successfully complete scopist training with Scoping Careers International. So what about the CAT software?

For a quick recap, the court reporter takes notes using steno – a type of short hand which is captured digitally – and then runs the steno code through a sort of translation process using CAT, or computer aided transcription, software. This produces a rough English translation of the document which still contains raw steno code that was not automatically translated by the CAT. The scopist – using an “edit” or “scopist” version of the CAT software then manually edits the document, correcting the raw steno, court reporter mistakes, punctuation, and format thereby producing a finished document. Therefore, in order for a blind individual to successfully work as a scopist the CAT software – at least the edit or scopist version – must be accessible with assistive technology.

There are several industry-leading CAT packages on the market today with CaseCATalyst, Eclipse, and DigitalCAT leading the pack.

The SCI program trains their students on the Eclipse CAT system, and I had the opportunity to speak with their tech support regarding accessibility. I actually called on three separate occasions, and each time I asked the support technician who randomly took the call about accessibility with JAWS. In every instance, the technician knew about JAWS and what it was, and each time I was told that JAWS worked with Eclipse out of the box. In addition, each technician was aware of several blind scopists and two blind court reporters who used Eclipse to do their jobs very successfully.

The Center for Assistive Technology training program through SUNY Buffalo opted to go with the CaseCATalyst software exclusively, though the reasons for their selection were not mentioned, and I did not ask. In speaking with the Center’s representative, it was my understanding that the Case training program was not accessible and required some adapting, and JAWS scripts had to be written to facilitate a more accessible user experience. They were also recommending that their program participants use a Braille display to fill in the gaps. As an adequate, but hardly speedy Braille reader, I have never used a dynamic Braille display in any other situation beyond a demonstration in an assistive technology lab. Therefore, I have absolutely nothing to bring to the table on this aspect of things. Perhaps someone else out there who reads this and does have relevant experience could comment appropriately. I did not contact the software tech support for CaseCATalyst, though it was my understanding from the SUNY program representative that they had a couple of program graduates who were using the Case software successfully.

I have not spoken to anyone regarding the DigitalCAT software.

Since the SUNY Center for Assistive Technology program was utilizing BeST Scoping Techniques for the scoping training, I decided to check them out first hand.

After scouring their website for information, I picked up the phone and called Judy Rakocinski, one of the BeST founders and co-owners. Judy could not have been nicer, and she and I chatted about the BeST program for more than 30 minutes. When I asked her about accessibility, she told me the story about how they had been approached by the SUNY Center for Assistive Technology regarding participation in their program to train blind individuals to be scopists. As a result, the BeST training online curriculum and supporting training materials had been redone from the ground up in order to make them fully accessible to blind users of assistive technology. In addition, though the SUNY program had opted to train with the Case software exclusively, the BeST program actually offered students the option to choose their own CAT package. As working scopists themselves, both co-owners of BeST each have their own favorite CAT package as Judy uses Case and her partner Cathy uses Eclipse.

As I said before, I am confident that a blind person could make the SCI program work for them, but I’m afraid the BeST program had to be my ultimate choice if for no other reason all the hard work they had done to intentionally make their program accessible. Though Ms. Barrett of SCI was more than willing to work with me, the freedom of “out of the box” accessibility speaks directly to my hard earned and deeply entrenched independence streak, and the opportunity to complete a job on my own without assistance will always win out over completing the same job with sighted assistance…every time.

So, on October 19, I registered with BeST. Let the journey begin!

A brief word about cost…

Both the SCI and BeST programs were comparably priced – SCI slightly higher - with a slightly different menu of benefits offered by each. The price of the CAT software is not included in the cost for either training program. A quick check of the websites for the three CAT packages previously mentioned show a price range of $1600 or so for the edit or scopist version of the software if purchased directly from the website; however, the websites, both training program reps, the SUNY program rep, and even the Eclipse tech support technicians mentioned discounts for students, as well as software leasing options with monthly payments.

For me personally, I am going to need a computer upgrade to do this professionally. The same would have been true had I embarked on medical transcription, as well. Costco has a super nice system that will more than fulfill my needs for around $500, so I am looking at about a $3800 investment ($1795 for the BeST program, $1500 for the CAT software [not including any student discount], and $500 for a new PC.)

Both programs are self-paced: SCI suggests 10 weeks, and BeST mentions 4 months though they give the student a full 2 years to get it done under the initial tuition payment.

So, the research is complete, the decision is made, the tuition paid. BeST Scoping Techniques, here I come!

A Light at the End of My Telescope

At the time I completed the MT certificate program, I was involved in a project that required my almost full-time attention that I had committed to follow through to the end. So, I did not seek employment in the MT field immediately upon graduation, although I closely watched for MT job postings and poured over MT job newsletters and related forums in an effort to both assist my fellow graduates who were seeking employment as well as identify those companies who might be the needle in a haystack…the exception to the rule of hiring newly graduated MTs for me personally.

In the May 27th, 2010, edition of the MTJobs.com newsletter, I found this ad:

Scoping Careers International

Jennifer Barrett

223 N. Guadalupe #498

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501

judybarrett@primemail.com

www.ScopingCareers.com

Phone: 5054714134

Title: Other

Experience Level: No experience

Location of position: United States: Nationwide position

At Home or Company: At Home

Employee Type: Independent Contractor

Type of Transcription: Varied Types of Transcription

Specialty: Any Specialty

Train to work at home editing legal transcripts for court reporters in the lucrative scoping field. No experience necessary. Visit www.ScopingCareers.com, or call, toll-free, (866) 662-6686 for detailed information.

Hardware/Software: Varies.

File Transfer Method: Email and FTP transfer.

Compensation: Varies.

Scoping? What the heck was “scoping?” Needless to say, this sent me to Google to see what this was all about. Obviously, this involved some kind of training (more training?), but it also seemed to describe some kind of potentially viable income earning opportunity (“Like MT?” I couldn’t help but ask myself.) Thus began the journey.

My very first stop – and perhaps my most informative one – along the informational journey was the website www.Scopists.com which called itself “Internet Support Website for Court Reporters, Scopists, Proofreaders and Transcriptionists!”
On the website I also found an extremely informative and very comprehensive e-book (now a free HTML resource) entitled Scopistry, which I devoured “cover to cover” as it were.

For me personally, this was very exciting, since I had seriously considered – had even applied to – law school at one time in my life, and the project in which I was presently involved was also legal in nature. Equipped with my new vocabulary and my list of related questions, I finally emailed Jennifer Barrett from the ad for Scoping Careers International. She called me back a few days later.

Ms. Barrett could not have been more gracious. She very patiently answered all my questions in terminology I could understand. She even explained how being a certified medical transcriptionist was a huge benefit to professional scoping, as many of the transcripts involving medical malpractice and personal injury cases get extremely medically technical. (It should be noted that when I surfed the Net for ads by scopists, many of them did list “Certified Medical Transcriptionist” in their list of qualifications.) When it came to the matter of accessibility – both for her training course, as well as the CAT software utilized by professional scopists – she went exceedingly above and beyond.

Ms. Barrett actually contacted the software vender on my behalf and inquired regarding accessibility. In addition, she allowed me a free, “behind the scenes” test drive of the SCI training program and even emailed me numerous PDF lessons and documents for my review before enrolling in the program. The SCI training program has been producing scopists for more than 20 years now – first under Judy Barrett, SCI founder and Jenny’s mother, and now under Jenny as the result of her mother’s passing. As I scoured the Net for information about SCI, I found many professional scopist listing “graduated from Scoping Careers International.” I actually contacted several of them at random and asked them about their viewpoint regarding the training they received through SCI and if they felt they had been properly prepared to enter the professional scopist arena, and I received nothing but overwhelmingly positive feedback.

Between late May and mid-October, I intermittently researched scoping, depending on the time I had on hand while finishing up my previous commitment. During that time, I ran across an obscure reference to a training program taking place through the Center for Assistive Technology at the University at Buffalo, New York. They had partnered with the New York State Division of Blind Services in a project to train blind individuals to be scopists. So, I picked up the phone and contacted Tina Oddo to discuss the program.

She confirmed that they were indeed embarked on such a project and that – while it was ongoing – they were seeing some positive results, including several individuals who had already graduated and were gainfully employed as scopists. In order to accomplish this, the Center had partnered with BeST Scoping Techniques for the actual scopists training.

I’ll address the more technical aspects of what I learned through the various resources mentioned in this posting in my next posting, but suffice it to say, it was beginning to look like scoping was going to be a seriously viable option for a work-from-home career for me as a blind person. Only time will tell.

Critical Condition

Along about my second quarter in the MT program, I began to sense that all was not well in the MT industry. Our instructor began to talk to us about the need to “suck it up” (my words, not hers) insofar as our first MT job was concerned and how we needed to be willing to take whatever kinds of MT jobs we could find and whatever shifts that were offered. This wasn’t quite in keeping with the rosy picture painted by the Department of Labor projections for the field or the promotional materials sent by the school in the new student packet; however, it wasn’t that far off the mark from the advice I would give anyone breaking into a new industry as a newbie, so I didn’t get too concerned. I had medical terminology to learn and reports to transcribe.

During the third quarter, however, I began to become seriously alarmed as we began discussing actual pay scales and production expectations by looking at actual job ads. I will never forget the first time I calculated my hourly wage based on a conglomeration of typed reports that were only computer graded for “completed/not completed” at a quality level of 70% - less than $2/hour, and the ads were expressing an expectation of 98% accuracy rate. I don’t think I ever came anywhere near a 98% accurate report during my entire training program, and even at that, the very best report I ever typed literally took me hours.

In addition to that discovery, I began to realize that every job ad indicated a requirement of 2+ years of experience. Despite being told that we needed to maintain a 3.5 GPA or above in order to get hired and to be bold and assertive and apply for the “experience required” jobs anyway, the reality turned out to be very different. Many of the job ads were very clear that they wanted 2+ years of actual experience and that they would not accept applications from newly graduated MTs. Nowhere did anyone ask about GPA.

There just seemed to be this huge disconnect between professional journal articles that decried the enormous shortage of qualified MTs, an educational industry pumping out certified graduates from AHDI accredited programs, and MT companies refusing to hire anyone with less than 2+ years of experience.

Something was terribly wrong here, and I sat at my computer and literally sobbed at the tremendous frustration and realization that I had invested so much over the past year into this dysfunctional and deceitful industry.

Somewhere along the way I subscribed to an email list of blind MTs and discovered that – on top of the overall general dysfunction of the industry– the situation for blind MTs was absolutely horrendous. As an advocate for accessibility back in the late 90’s, I was appalled at the accessibility-related circumstances that blind MTs with literally decades of experience now found themselves. Perhaps the best way I could begin to describe it is to share a representative excerpt on the topic at hand from a posting in the words of a blind MT with more than 35 years of experience:

I am afraid I have to agree with you on much of your message. I have worked
in the field for over 35 years. When I first started obstacles were books,
then I got the Optacon and life changed somewhat. Then came in the
computers at a time when screen readers were sort of on the market but
certainly not for the system we had so I used the Optacon to read all my
reports spell check etc. I managed to stay pretty competitive despite the
slow nature of the Optacon. Used a few different platforms, some worked
well, others were pure torture . Finally we really entered the computer
age, and for a short time I was actually able to work circles around office
mates locating information on Google or other search engines, had all the
Stedman books on a different computer but available to me and was faster at
finding a term than most of my coworkers who used books. Then Stedman's
changed book format, the web became harder and harder to navigate with tons
of graphics, office started doing image files of documents that they wanted
us to read immediately, the platforms became less and less accessible and
those had to be heavily scripted for. So now, other than the fact that I
have a head full of technology and terminology, I feel almost like I am back
in1975 minus the typewriter and correction tape, back to the days when the
books were on my desk but not usable for me, back almost to the time when my
husband and I would wander around the drugstore searching for items I
needed to know how to spell, carrying the tape recorder with us so I could
then go home and make up file cards for them.

We want equality to do our jobs, materials access that is current and the
ability to gain certifications in a similar manner with the same amount of
time spent as our peers. If that can't happen, then I can't recommend
transcription is a viable choice for younger blind persons.

Once a few years ago I thought I could help make a difference, I now know
that even if there were 500 of me, it would not make a difference.

Sorry folks, this is one of my hot buttons lately, too often we are handed
something inferior and expected to be grateful for the crumbs. I would
prefer the whole enchilada with exactly the same tools, ability to use
platforms as my office mates have. I have spent my whole career playing
catchup for the most part except in the beginning of the computer age when
maybe not seeing helped he get the concepts faster because for a while I was
the computer guru of the office, the person who could figure out
consistencies in problems and direct the programmers on what was happening
to cause something that should not happen to happen, I knew Word Perfect
like I knew the back of my hand, could answer questions in my sleep if I had
to, my husband said I did for him a few times. I was good at our initial
contacts with the web, could teach people how to construct search terms to
get results. These days almost nothing is easy, I still have all that
knowledge but can't negotiate sites I could have in the past and Jaws will
not help me at work as I am stuck with 9 to accommodate the script writer.
I now feel like I am the token handicapped person just like I did in 1975
when I started into transcription.

And it’s not just the experienced MTs having difficulties. From a newly graduated blind MT:

First of all, i agree with you guys on all the frustration going on. i
have looked far and wide for a medical transcription job and have been
told more times than i can count that i need to gain experience of at
least 1 or more years and more often 2 years or more. I am so desperate
enough that i am willing to transcribe for free or low pay to gain
experience or even a little pittance of money because I do not have
money to go back to school and the job I have needs to be from home and
preferably contractor position because employment in employee status
affects some aid I get rather negatively before I even get my first
check. i am so down that i have no idea what i am going to do. i would
take any transcription job or externship or anything as long as it will
give me more experience or put a little money in my pocket. i do not
care anymore if it is even transcription or if it is even medical
transcription. I even tried to get on at quicktate but some of the info
on that site was confusing. I have found some extern ships but they
only take people who graduated from their program. I do not know what
to do. if you have any suggestions please let me know.

And from the same individual:

I am not certain how it would help to take the RMT exam although
right now I am so frustrated since the 2 prior jobs I got had
accessibility issues, and the places I know who take new grads and use
workable software now do not take new grads. I would even be willing to
do a low pay or no pay internship to get the experience as i am just
getting lower and lower in depression, and i am also limited by the fact
that I really need ic work instead of employee status. I won't go into
the reasons, but it is just in my best interest to do it this way.
Could someone please make a suggestion as to anywhere else I could try?
I know I asked months ago, but now I am begging, and I am so
disheartened after graduating with honors from Career Step.

One final note on the MT industry before I move on to more positive things.

I am aware of at least 3 sighted graduates from my MT course who have gained employment since graduation. At least 2 of them – like me – graduated with honors.

Two of them went to work with Entrada as VR editors starting with an 80 hour, unpaid internship, then getting hired on one full time, the other part time. The full-timer who started her internship the week we graduated emailed me nearly 3 months after graduation to tell me, “Oh, and I am almost at minimum wage now... Not quite but getting there.”…this after weeks and months of 12 hour days, 6 and 7 days a week. The part-timer made $5/hour week before last. The third one is working for DIT Transcription earning $.05/line. Both of the full-timers were in search of a second job when I last heard from them.

I would suggest to you that – so rare are the companies who hire newly graduated MTs – that a sort of “underclass” or, dare I say, “black market” of sorts has been allowed to spawn and even grow. What truly amazes me is that – were the employers Wal-Mart or Costco hiring newly graduated MTs at sub-minimum wage rates with the line, “Just hang in there for a little while…just until you get a little experience under your belt…” the public outcry would be deafening. Instead, however, MTs – most of whom work from home and are often single mothers, caretakers of ill or disabled family members, or even disabled people themselves – are being “hired” as independent contractors (over which the Fair Labor Standards Act does not have jurisdiction) at significantly sub-standard wages creating – what can only be described as – 21st century sweat shops…right in their own homes.

Here are two excellent discussions of the issue:

• Minimum Wage and Medical Transcription
  
• WRONG!!! Time for the Truth [Note: While this complaint is filed against a particular MT school, I would argue that all of them advertise the same outrageous wages. There is nothing specific to just this one school.]
  

While I admire my former classmates that have persevered, for me personally, I decided that I was not going to invest any more of my time and effort into the critically ill patient of medical transcription, hobbling along on life support. It was time to pull the plug.

Certified

Having spent many years in the corporate office setting, I knew I had zero interest in returning to an office environment. The drama…the politics…the power struggles…the performance reviews based on predetermined Bell curves and statistical analyses rather than actual performance… No thank you…not interested in the slightest. So, I set about to determine what I could do from home, hang out in my pajamas, and endure a commute of under a minute. I wasn’t looking to get rich, but I wasn’t going to work for minimum wage, either. My husband had a good job (still does), so anything I earned would be for the “extras”…help out with college tuition for our two daughters presently in school and our two sons as yet still in high school…maybe I could make enough to allow my husband to dedicate more time to pursue his photography. So, the search began.

I can’t honestly say how I found medical transcription. I’m not sure if I was Googling related terms and it popped up in the search results, or perhaps I was reminded about the time some 30 years ago when my Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor offered me medical transcription or piano tuning as my two employment options upon high school graduation. It’s been two years ago when this journey began, so I don’t honestly remember. Nevertheless, I began researching medical transcription, and before I knew it I landed at the U.S. Department of Labor discussion of medical transcription as a career choice. I thought this looked pretty promising, so I started to investigate the local training options.

Since I live in Western Washington, I was familiar with Lake Washington Institute of Technology and was pleased to learn that they offered a certificate in medical transcription which could be obtained completely online. I actually attempted to contact the instructor of the program several times to ask about accessibility and the like, but I could never get anyone to return my phone calls. Finally, I spoke with someone in the admissions or customer service arenas, and they referred me to some website I can no longer remember or locate where one could find the MT training options in your state and the number of graduates they produced each year. This led me to Everett Community College which offered a very comprehensive Medical Transcription Certificate Program based on the Career Step curriculum. The program was completely online and encompassed 43-quarter hours spread across three full-time quarters and was intensely focused on medical terminology and grammar and punctuation and offered significant real-world transcription training from actual dictation files. Since I have no way of comparing the training to any other training option out there, I have no idea how it measures up in the grand scheme of things; however, I do know the program was AHDI accredited, and I personally found it interesting and challenging. I was really looking forward to my new career as a medical transcriptionist.

In March of 2011, I completed my MT program with a 3.9 GPA. It was official…I was “certified.”

A Glimpse in My Rear View Mirror

What does the description have to do with me? Well, very little except for the catchy play on words. I will call myself Galileo in hopes that the original doesn't mind that I'm borrowing his name. I am a business person, information technologist, medical transcriptionist, and life philosopher who hopes to make my contribution to blind individuals securing meaningful and profitable employment by sharing my journey to becoming a scopist. I'm just getting started and have no idea how this will end, so join me on this journey as we explore the unknown. Oh...and by the way...I went blind at age 6.

A little about me…?

Well, I’m somewhere between my 47^th and 48^th birthdays. I graduated from high school top of my class followed by a B.S. in Business with double-majors in Marketing and Management Information Systems and a minor in Computer Science. I have worked as a computer programmer, programmer analyst, project manager, program manager, and consultant - all of that in the “for profit” arena, as they say. For a period of time, while I was trying to find myself, I worked in the “not-for-profit” side of things as a front desk receptionist, program coordinator, special events coordinator, accccessibility advocate, and even a brief stent as a counselor (only this didn’t go very far, because my patience would wear thin after a while and I just wanted to shout at my client, “Get over it! Move on!”). In the more obscure department, I owned my own gift shop at one time (intended to be “for profit” but more accurately landed in the “not-for-profit” side of the spectrum), have worked as a special events coordinator and “expeditor” for my church for several years, and have just wrapped up the last year as the legal liaison for my church (“go between” between the church’s Board of Stewards and our attorney in the daily management of legal strategies and related matters) as our denomination has attempted to prevent our local church from leaving their august organization through legally binding arbitration. The last one could be a blog all its own, but so far the details are still under a confidentiality agreement while we await the arbitrators’ decision, so for now, we’ll move along.

In 2002, I married the love of my life who brought five children – ages 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 - to the marriage over whom he had complete custody. When we married, I quit my job and stayed home and raised children and generally kept track of where everyone was and had to be at any given moment of any given day. Now, however, some 9 years later, they are rapidly hurling toward adulthood, and my husband and I are exploring the “what next” for the new season of our lives – kids in college, followed by an empty nest. Thus, about to retire from the “career” of being a stay-at-home wife and mom for the past 9 years, I embarked on my journey for the next professional pursuit of my life.