Connect Series: Meet Miki Patel – Veritext Canada

As QC facilitator, Miki ensures each of our transcripts goes through a rigorous editing process. Miki lives in Clearwater, Florida. She just recently moved from Hoffman Estates, Illinois. She specializes in proofreading court transcripts.

Can you tell us why you love proofreading?

I love proofreading because it can be applied to almost any industry. Wherever words are used, proofreaders are needed to ensure that the quality of content is met. I also like that proofreading cannot be 100 percent automated. The need for quality proofreading will never go away because automation cannot replace the human eye.

Have you noticed a big difference between Canadian transcripts and US transcripts? Was it hard to adjust to our Canadianisms?

I haven’t noticed much of a difference between Canadian transcripts and US transcripts. One thing I have noticed is that what we call “discoveries” in Canada, we call “depositions” in the US.

The biggest adjustment for me was getting used to the Canadian spellings. Thankfully, we can change the English dictionary from American English to British English (close enough to Canadian English) in CaseCAT, so that definitely made the adjustment easier since I had spellcheck catch all of the instances of American English when I used it, which was a lot.

At Reportex our core values of team, mentorship, equality, community and industry are central to what we do. Veritext’s mission and corporate values dovetail nicely to our already solid foundation. Together we aim to be respectful, ethical, collaborative, accountable and professional. Can you tell us which of these values resonates most strongly with you and why?

Being ethical is a value that strongly resonates with me because it plays such an important role in transcript production. It’s our job to preserve the record and confidentiality of all of the information contained within the record.

We talk quite a bit about wellness and self-care on our blog and internally, through our Teams channels. Do you have a favourite way to recharge or any tips for staying healthy mentally and physically?

Now that I live close to the beach and the oceans, visiting the beach just makes me forget about all of the stress in my life. There’s something about sun exposure and the ocean air that is just so good for mental health. Since I grew up in the Midwest of the United States, where I didn’t experience nice weather all year round, I didn’t realize the mental health benefits of being close to the beach until I experienced it myself. I also get some physical activity on the beach too by getting into the water and moving around. I can’t swim, but I try.

My tip on staying healthy mentally and physically is to get out more. Even if there’s no beach around you, I’m sure there’s a nice park where you can hike and enjoy the sun if it’s sunny; otherwise there’s always a gym to get your physical exercise, although it won’t be the same as being outdoors. I’m a workaholic, but I try to enjoy the weekends as much as I can. It’s good to recharge once in a while, and weekends are the days when I do that.

Thank you Miki, for sharing your joy of the written word.