The Philippine medical transcription market is one of the fastest rising business process outsourcing (BPO) industries in the country today. It is a part of the top 10 priority growth sectors under the IT-enabled services.
This industry is largely driven in part by its highly skilled work force known as medical transcriptionists, though, more appropriately called as medical language specialists. Now, looking at the numbers and their profile, it is absolutely dynamic how this group of individuals drives this multibillion-dollar industry. I will divide them demographically by gender and age, educational background, medical transcription experience and company tenure.
These figures and categories would mean different things to various people, but more important, I hope to shape an image of the newest type of world-class workforce that Filipinos should be proud of. Starting off with their age, this is generally composed of very young professionals with over 80 percent not more than 30 years old.
It’s a predominantly female environment with over three-fourths of the entire medical transcription population. Though most of the transcriptionists are with medical background, more and more people with no medical background but with strong English foundation and proficiency excel in the industry.
Considered one of the fastest growing sunrise industries, it is evident that the current workforce has no more than two years in experience and company tenure of at least one year. These parameters are a positive indication for would-be medical transcriptionists that they are still a part of the pioneering batch that would cement the Philippines in the medical transcription map.
Now, if one would ask, what do I need to have to become a world- class medical transcriptionist? First and foremost is a well-trained MT brain—something you acquire after being trained by a good methodology, exposure to different work types, various degrees of difficulty of dictations and significant experience in a corporate production setting. Adding to that, one has to have a well-tuned ear, technological savviness, proofreading skills, full understanding of the AAMT style guide, and familiarity with MT productivity tools, patience and keenness to detail—characteristics that are essential in producing accurate transcripts on time, all the time. In a nutshell, these things can all be gained through proper training and significant working experience in a corporate production setting.
The Philippine Medical Transcriptionists are a new breed of world-class Filipino workforce, who, without leaving the country, can definitely contribute in the country’s economic growth. Given these, well, what can I say—a true testament of what Filipinos can truly accomplish and achieve in the local and global arena.
