A visually impaired man excels in medical transcription

Aditya Modi is 22 years old. He lives with his parents in Barrackpore. On Thursday morning, he will make his way to Jodhpur Park for the first day in his first job.

Aditya is excited, but not nervous. But then, Aditya in no ordinary youngster. He is visually impaired, although that hasn’t stopped him from finishing a six-month training course in medical transcription in just four months.

He isn’t the only one. Sandeep Chakraborty, too, has excelled in the course, and is joining the new job on Thursday.

What began as a goodwill gesture has left the IT-enabled services BPO company Transtek stunned at the skills of the handicapped young men of Ramkrishna Mission Blind Boys’ Academy, Narendrapur.

On Wednesday, five of the schools’ students were felicitated for their efforts and skills. Four months ago, Transtek, which does medical transcription work for doctors in the US, approached the Narendrapur academy to train some of its students.

“It involves listening to tapes of dictation by doctors of interaction with their patients and typing them out. These reports are then sent back, which the doctors attach with their bills and send to insurance companies. We had heard that in the US, visually-impaired people were doing this. So we decided to try it here, too,” explained Sudarshan Bagri, managing director, Transtek.

The training was provided free to six boys on the Narendrapur campus. Initial doubts of both teachers and students were soon erased. “They are just too good. Their skills are no less than a sighted person,” gushed trainer Archan Haldar.

A doctor also took classes once a week, to teach the students about the human body, “since a general idea is required”. There were hurdles, of course, like complicated medical terms, American accents and learning about the human body without being able to see the diagrams. “It was a little difficult at first, especially with the keyboards. But I’ve had no problems. I’m confident,” smiled Aditya.

Three more students are gearing up to complete the course in another two months, after which Transtek will hire them, too. “We want to continue this project, but with corporate sponsorships in future to cover the costs,” added Bagri.

For those like Deepak Bhattacharya, such an initiative matters. The 30-year-old is excited about completing his course in another two months, and happy about finally being able to earn.