In our field of work, its never been openly

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I think it's human nature.  I used to hang out on the General Hospital board on ABC.com (I'm a soap opera geek) and it amazed me at how nasty some of those women would be to other posters who weren't quite up to snuff.  I've seen all out board wars develop.  If it was a full moon and I was PMSing, I enjoyed the spectacle, but most of the time I got a little disgusted with them.  Don't even get me started on how nasty it got before the election.  

I do get surprised at some of the negativity that is posted here, but I can understand how it's hard to be really super positive in today's world. 

It really shouldn't be that hard to find out which female MLS started 4 months ago with 15 years experience and is making 10 cpl, since 10 cpl is NOT a normal starting wage at Transcend.  You are aware that discussing your wages is ground for termination, right?  You really have to be careful when trying to get those referral bonuses that you give accurate information.

Everyone is always bickering and knows it all.  I am by no means a recruiter.  I was just reading the posts, had been there myself, and thought I would offer some friendly advice, but some people think they know everything and try to discourage others from something good.  Sad world today.  Sad people.

Hello everyone, I have been reading the posts on this board for the last couple of weeks.  Most of the postings are helpful, but there are some who just break out into an all out war with one another.  I have not been able to tell if it is the majority or not yet.  Why do you think that is?   

Do you think this field makes you feel that you have to compete one another?  Do you think that is because of the isolation?  Working at home is isolation, but even in a hospital setting you are isolated.  Let's face it, we have those earplugs stuck in our ears all day.   We have the ongoing pressure that we have to get our line count, or more.  Do you find that there is a lot of hostility in this field, or is it just because we are women?  Do you think it might be that we feel unappreciated?  We were even told by a coder, at the hospital I worked at, that we were nothing more than glorified typists.

Let's face it, with the amount of time that it takes to master this occupation we could have all had a degree in something.  Some of you already have.  If you work by the line - if you have the experience, the typing skills, use your abbreviation expander, and have a steady work flow - you can make a decent living - but based on the typing skills, work flow, etc. etc. it is not a guarantee.  That is a lot of pressure when you think about it.  That is a different kind of pressure than other jobs.  I am not trying to be negative, I just noticed that there seems to be a lot of hostility and I noticed that at the hospital, where I worked, for 15 years also.  I got along with everyone I worked with.  In order to be able to get along with the transcribers I use to work with, I had to become very thick-skinned, because basically they were just mean.   Has anyone else noticed this?  Do you think it is the job?  What do you think?  I am not attacking the transcription field, just something I have noticed over the years.       

Why isn't there anything that we can do as transcriptionists to make our profession stable again?  I take this career seriously because I NEED full-time work.  There are so many companies out there that are using this forum to really take advantage of the members here and elsewhere.  I recently interviewed for a company who actually had the audacity to expect me to work for a week before being put on the payroll, and this was after extensive testing.  I have over 20+ years in this industry and thought that I had seen it all.  This encounter  nearly created a hardship because I would have had to give up another position.  When you apply for a TRANSCRIPTION job, unless discussed prior, you should be given a Transcriptionist job and not have editing at 4 cpl be given as your put up or get out.

Just my opinion, but I believe that MTStars should screen their employers before allowing them to post.  The content and frustration seen in the posts can attest to that.  We are real people who need to have an income.  If I was doing this for just extra money or wanted to be home with my kids it would be another story.  But this a matter of survival here. 

Thanks for listening!

Thank you for your response.  I have found that when a name of the company is mentioned in a negative way, the post disappears.  I am not a newbie at this, in fact, I worked for one of the major companies who actually tried to recruit me (for extra time after my QA job) to search the board to find out if any current MTs were complaining, etc.  I, of course, refused and luckily did not suffer any repercussions because of it.  I feel that this board is valuable and should not be abused, but you must be careful whose name you mention and in what way.  I am beginning to feel it is a never-ending battle to stay employed in this field with some of the stunts some are pulling.  A recent one was a degree in medical transcription?  I guess there possibly is such a thing now, but what are the rest of us experienced MTs supposed to do - lay down and die?  Where I live the majority of major hospitals including the one I currently work for are either outsourcing or cutting wages down, so many of us fall victim.

Thank you for just letting me have my say.

I am leaving my current job as a secretary at the end of August.  I have been in this field for 30+ years.  I have pretty much decided that I would like to become a medical transcriptionist.  My typing skills are excellent (approx. 100 wpm with 0 errors).  I would like to work from home.  Can anyone tell me which MT on-line schools are reputable?  How long does the course take of you are diligent?  I assume that after training it would be best to work for a transcription service before branching out on your own.  Please, any advice, information on on-line schools, wages, etc. would be greatly appreciated!  Working from home is a life-long dream for me!

I know that is tough to get used to, but even when you have your own accounts, the workload can wax and wane. It can also change overnight.  I have my own accounts that wax and wane.  You can never really count on anything being absolute in this field.  These companies can only offer you what they have because it depends on the dictator and how much work there is at any given time.  Almost any company will tell you this if you haven't already experienced the same.  It is unfortunate, however, this field does require some flexibility.  I guess that may come with more years of experience and being in the know upfront that nothing is forever.  A lot of time these larger companies only can sign 3-5 year contracts.  I am an IC (not for Transcend), and when there is a need, boy the e-mails come sailing through asking can I help, but when the work is low, my e-mail is dry.  Adapting and adjusting is all part of this field for sure.    

P/S:  I was a employee at one time for Transcend, but I do believe they are offering contracts at this point to IC as I did see a recent post. 

Every OTHER medical field, nursing, therapists, techs, etc. are all experiencing the yearly salaries going up.  Transcription compensation is not increasing. 

While they may increase the RATES the ability to make the more money is not there because of VR, taking away the header allowances, more difficult accounts, more ESLs, stricter QA, etc., etc. slow platforms that require information inserted that you don't get paid for and anything else that lowers your salary.  If hospitals are looking to slash their transcription budget, they are going to pass that onto the service and the service will pass that onto to the employee. 

I know transcriptionists that were making 45-50K in 1987 working 40 hours and now they are making 35K and often times working more than 40 hours to make that lower amount.  Or I hear people say I can make the same money but I must work much harder and longer hours.  I think wow...you have to work harder and longer to make what you made in the 1980s. 

Other occupations have gotten consistent raises without the need for more hours and I don't think employees would put with up it.  Imagine a well qualified R.N. being offered a 1987 salary?  The hospital would have a hard time hiring nurses.  But the transcription service environment is so competative if they can offer the work cheaper and cheaper while guaranting accuracy they will get that contract.  So in order to stay in business they have to find a way to pay the Transcriptionist the least amount of money to see their profits which they need to stay in business. 

Of course if transcription is all you know and you don't to work in an office or get a job at Starbucks you keep going and accept the pay because we really have no control.  You have to work with what they offer you. 

so it is no big deal to me.  I do not have any children, so I have pretty much always volunteered to work the holidays so that others can be with their families.  As someone pointed out, when you work at home for the holiday, you can jump off and on whenever you want, so it does not really feel so much like working. 

Sorry that you are unhappy about it, but unfortunately, people still get sick on the holidays, and part of being in the medical profession is accepting that you will work some holidays. 

Hope the New Year brings you lots of things to be happy about.