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Serving Over 20,000 US Medical Transcriptionists

Funny, but I constantly see posts of newbies lamenting...

Posted By: RockinMT on 2008-07-07
In Reply to: Ability to get job is what matters most - LK

that they cannot get a job because they have no experience.  There is no guarantee no matter what school you go to that you will have a job after you cross the finish line. 


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LOL both posts are so funny - thanks for sharing! (nm)
x
The last 3 posts are so funny, ash, seriosly and lay off
NM
It's funny to watch how many posts with nm actually get looked into anyway
x
You tell it like it is -- constantly being
asked to take on a new account -- causing me to lose money -- but makes mgmt "love" that supervisor of mine, thereby getting a big bonus/raise for HER.
Have a doc who does this constantly...
makes me physically ill! YUCK! WHATAPIG!
I have one that constantly says
'and' after every sentence. If I actually transcribed it like she said, the whole document would be one run-on sentence.
I have a doc who constantly
and I mean constantly uses the word "actually". The patient now actually feels better and actually has not been taking the meds even though actually etc etc

Drives me nuts !
This CONSTANTLY happens to me!
I'm almost to the point where I dread that people are going to ask what I do for work, because the minute I tell them what I do and that I work from home, all of the questions come flooding in! So many people think that they can just do it! I worked in the medical field as an EMT before going to school for MT, and I still was overwhelmed with all of the new terms and drugs that I had never even heard of when I first started! It just amazes me that people with no experience in the medical field whatsoever think that they can just sit down at a computer and do it with no problems! It makes me laugh because they just have no idea what they would be getting into!
constantly saying
as well as
Just do a search and read the posts. There are plenty of posts about OSI on this board. nm.
nm.
Yet YOU constantly bring this up.
YOU are doing exaactly what you are complaining about. Give it up. People come here to talk. That is what an open forum is all about. No one is forcing you to stay on this board and read, nor do they expect or want you to reply if you don't want to. You are the one who needs to give it a rest. Talking is what this board is all about. You are not going to stop that. If it bothers you, stay away. Thank you.
Any other MTs deal with this constantly?
Doctor dictates report, then a few dictations later, "this is a correction to a previous report..." which is full of stuff which was left out of the report, wanting to change the report, or adding new findings. We have to go back into the original report, do the changes, save (and hope it really saves), exit and then submit the new report. This is frustrating enough, but try training on it!!! Anyone ever train on an account with this crap from doctors going on?! If so how do you manage without tearing your hair out? All advice welcome.javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');
My son, who is 14, most definitely YES! He is constantly whining to me about being bored, but...
my daughter is starting Kindergarten this year and she is my baby and my last and I am going to be a blubbering fool probably the entire first week of school!
I am constantly connected to internet, during
s
There are a few terms I am constantly misspelling...
I make a shortcut so when I type it my (wrong) way it is "expanded" to the correct spelling. 
I am constantly getting the beeping sound
as when I hit a key, it doesn't register in Meditech, beeps are coming from my office all day. Some days are better than others. Defrag and cleaning disk helps. Also, it seems that during weekends and odd hours, it is faster.

This program has driven me nuts. There are others who do not complain about it and others who have it worse. That part is a mystery to me.

If I were paid for every keystroke I used getting through Meditech including getting in and out of documents, I'd be a wealthy woman.
We got an updated set of account guidelines constantly
put somewhere different than it was last week, they'd tell us to change something and when we changed it they sent it back and told us not to change it anymore.  They blamed things on us that weren't even anything we do, like if someone was on vacation and a report didn't get sent to the right place. People started to get threatened with termination (not me but I know people who were) for even the most miniscule reason like forgetting to sign off a doc as a DO instead of an MD. They were just unreasonable bullies and the more they complained and fussed the more Diskriter management bowed to their every wish and created a monster.  Good luck if you end up there.  It could have been a nice account if this nonsense had been nipped in the bud.
Make 12 cpl but constantly rewinding, going in/out of fields
If you can utilize speed typing engines, have same docs, the format is user friendly, it is possible, in the long run, to make as much as I do at 12 cpl.

I think you should try it for two weeks and consider that after three months you will be twice as fast due to familiarity.

I had a PA who constantly called Lyrica "lycra." nm
.
Remote 008Keylogger found constantly on my spyware.
Everytime I log onto the server for the company I work for I run my spyware.  Everytime  I open a job lately I have re-run my spyware and it seems to me that "008remote keylogger" is constantly on my PC.  This spyware enables the "server" to see everything I type, every email, and where I go on my internet.  Would anyone else be concerned?
YES my pitbull is doing this constantly. Was in the middle of an HUGE file and
i didn't pay attention to where i was. She came under the desk (she is scared of EVERYTHING) and sat on it. I got her out and started listening and I was like OH CRAP ... had to figure out where i was!!
Stay way from Penny Talk - you will constantly be disconnected..sm

It was nothing but a big mess.  Everytime I tried to pound off a job, it would disconnect me, and then charge me the 69 cents to reconnect, which I ended up doing about 50 times a day.  Not an option for any MT.  I have always used Vonage and have had no problems.  If all else fails, stay with onesuite.com until you can find a permanent unlimited long distance plan.  Good luck!


Unless she has animals that constantly snag on the carpet or intentionally sm
dig their claws into the carpet, I have to beg to differ with you on the berber carpet. We LOVE ours. Have had it for 7 years with 3 cats, 4 dogs (not all at once) and we don't have any snags! I'm serious. I'm not sure what grade of carpet you are referring to, but we have not had any problems with our Berber. I also think it cleans very well with a steam cleaner once every 6 months or so. Our Berber still looks new with all of these pets we've had.

So, I do recommend Berber, though it is pricey.

There are a lot of other durable things on the market that she can look for and afford but I just had to say something about Berber because we just love ours.
I have a doctor that constantly has a gurgling voice. It makes me...
want to clear my throat or at least yell and tell him to clear his throat. It is so annoying. I know if I had a gurgle I would at least clear my throat. It sounds so disgusting. Ew!
I beg your pardon. I have elderly relatives in nursing homes who are constantly in and out of
hospitals.  The elderly especially need our reports to be ACCURATE, as nobody gives a hoot to "talk" about them, let alone doctors getting to actually know and remember patients. EVERYTHING about their acute care in hospitals is taken FROM THE PAPER MEDICAL RECORD, and also when they get bumped back to the nursing home.  The caretakers take ALL info from the transfer sheet.  Reality check for those who need help most - elderly who cannot rattle off their histories themselves.
AAMT constantly changes the rules every time they have a new edition of their BOS to sell.
They've been taking advantage of MT's for years and have no shame. I want no part of it, and never have.
Autodialing- they told me it was a number called constantly and you are supposed to be voice to voic
nm
You're funny. Ignorant, but funny.
I don't live in NYC and I don't work out of NYC and I make wayyyyy more than $23 an hour, SandyGIRL.

I'm an employee at the largest national and I make anywhere from $58K to $64K a year.

You don't have to believe anyone but you show your ignorance by telling those of us who make that money that we're full of it.

Hahaha
Sorry, that was not an ASR funny, just a regular ole dictation funny. LOL! nm
.
Um have you read any of your posts and the other posts? I think everyone DOES believe me..you

newbies
I applaud your attitude towards mentoring (especially since I'm a student and crave that!). To hold employees that are worth having the employer would only benefit by training the way he/she wants the employee to work.

As a baby boomer, I think the majority of us will work well past the retirement age set forth by the powers that be. I don't see that my retirement funds will pay for me to live another third of my life unemployed. Not to mention, the need to feel productive that many of us have. MT is the answer, allowing many to work at home (or in our RV's - not that I'll get one, not my thing).

As far as education goes, some schools are most likely sub-par, in it for the money only. Some are developing, some are downright outstanding. However, even a student attending one of the 'lesser' schools might be worth mentoring. Perhaps they attend that school because of fund shortages (I know that's why I am), that does not mean the student is sub-par. Yes, I agree some are looking for an easy buck, but some are looking for a CAREER, not a dollar. I know that's my goal.

ok - I'm getting off my soapbox, and hoping someone someday will give me the chance to work and help others too, when I get enough experience!
Newbies
Good luck in a field where our pay goes down each year, and our business costs soar. I received an e-mail that offered to transcribe my overflow for 3 cents a line. How can we compete with that? It seems the doctors just care about cheap labor instead of quality work....
It isn't that most of us have anything against newbies. sm
Just as in any field, when people have trained and worked hard to get where they are, they expect to be rewarded. Forlorn hope. As newer people come in, they are eager to learn, willing to take less money while they train. That means those of us that have been at it so long (18 years here) have to sometimes cut our prices to compete for the jobs. I won't even mention the off-shoring. Eighteen years experience means little to a company that only asks for two years. We do get bitter, not necessarily at the new people, but at the situation we're in.

People in all professions find this. New people come into teaching making as much as people that have been there 15 years. In other professions, a long-timer is replaced by someone new who works for much less. Do you think there isn't bitterness over this? The list goes on.

We all feel cheated, even those of us making a decent living, like me. Yes, I can make $16 an hour, but have to buy my own equipment, software, insurance, pay employment taxes, income taxes, Medicare tax, internet, long distance, etc. I'm lucky if I really make $8 an hour. Not much above working at WalMart, when you look at it like that.

Don't take it personally, most of us understand being new. But the money was easier to make then, and the competition wasn't so stiff. We're sympathetic with you, but we're also worried about our families. Ten years from now, when you're fighting to make what you make today, and utilities have tripled in that time, maybe you'll understand better. Good luck.
newbies
It's because so many newbies want to work M-F, at their own chosen hours and want to make $50K a year to begin with. They think because they took a course, they know everything and have nothing to learn. They resent established MTs who learned on the job.

I'm from the days when MTs were hired because of their good spelling and typing skills. They trained us on the job. We had very few resources, about 5 good reference books to use, but we were able to get feedback from the doctors, who actually respected us and what we did for them.

Now, too many newbies think that an online course or a couple semesters at the local community college put them on the same level as an MT with 10+ years of experience. Not true. There is no substitute for experience.

To the newbies who think they are too good to work holidays and weekends, I just say, why on earth did you take a job in healthcare, which is 24/7 365 days a year, if you want a 9-5, M-F job? Go to work for an insurance company or an accounting firm.

If you can't raise your family and hold down a job at the same time, then quit and let someone else have the opportunity.
There are so many newbies who cannot get a job and would
probably take that and not think twice.  Twenty years ago I was making 6  cpl/gross line.
The newbies always do.....
d
Newbies.......
I have been in this field for 17 years and on 'another board' I was ridiculed beyond reason for posting a problem I had with a vendor who advertised on that site. Little did I know I was a site where there were cliques present, you know like high school. HEY we were all new at one time or another and how do you lean if you don't ask questions? Compassion, patience and understanding goes a long way.
we were all newbies once...
so what's with the vets vs. newbies attitude that has taken over this thread?

Sheesh people - it doesn't matter how many years we've been doing this - we're all in the same boat here. Just because some of us have more experience than others, that doesn't mean we're any better or that our opinions are more important.

I have to take back what I said earlier about having not seen any nastiness here because now I have - and it's right here in this thread.
Newbies
Like you, I had a mentor in a former R.N. who started a small transcription company. I knew some medical terms but not much. I did have the advantage, however, of being a very fast typist at that point. But I had never worked with any type of dictation equipment. I started when I was 26 and more or less retired at the age of 67. To say that this profession is on life support is probably the most accurate and honest statement I've heard in a long time. I was able to work at home with young children and it was a God-send at that time. For years I worked full-time for a large group as a salaried employee plus worked several nights a week at a local hospital because they had new computerized equipment and I wanted to learn that. I still love the medical profession and all that it entails and am truly sorry that now all the bits and pieces stored in my brain won't be used any longer for transcription. I still try to read about medicine and get on this site frequently just to "keep up" but, again, the profession as we oldies knew it is dead in the water. My own family physician has already switched to EMR. In fact, he types his own notes as he sees the patient. He said the group could not afford to hire a transcriptionist. To put it mildly, transcription "ain't" what it used to be, that's for sure. So sad, really.
Newbies
Hi! Where does a newbie get started? I am working at a large local hospital in the Transcription Dept. and have been here a year. I transcribe 2 days and I do tech work. I just finished my internship and I have my MT certificate. :) I do not know where to start to find MT work as a newbie. Anyone have any advice?  I am able to get 2 days transcribing at my current job but I want a second job transcribing. Any adivce is greatly appreciated! :) 
One of my PAs constantly rides the microphone, click, fuzz, missing word, chew, click,

I think 100 may be a lot for brand new newbies. nm
nm
Message for newbies
Please go to www.careerbuilder.com.  On the left hand side, enter into 'keyword' box, 'transcription work from home'.  Do not enter a city or state or category.  Now click on 'search'.  There are several jobs her for transcriptionists with little experience.  Some of them require that you live in a certain area.  Many of them do not.  When you call to inquire about these positions, make sure that it's not some sort of school thing that requires you to pay a fee.  I hope this is helpful.
I think the newbies who are just getting into the business sm
need to hear the truth about this organization before they get taken in by them. 
No, why do you ask? They are very good with newbies (nm)
a
Taking on newbies.
The company I worked for took on newbies who had completed an MT course or had experience in an associated field. They were hired on at a slightly lower rate.  Some were raised up in about a month when they proved to be good transcriptionists, and went on to become excellent employees.  Some realized very soon that they could not cut it, and usually quit on their own.  They were given only as much work as they could complete, and only were let go if their quality was awful and they did not improve over a few weeks time.  It can be done and is often very much worth the money and time spent. 
I know of svl newbies who get offered what I get now with 13+ yrs in!! Sad..and
s
Well, I will tell you newbies make
the same as you! That's pretty sad considering how long you have been doing it, but I made that right out of school
Why do you accept low pay for newbies?
I said it below but trascribing is a higher skill than alphabetizing.
The low pay for new MTs is unacceptable. Even after the huge discussion I do not understand the idea that putting in your time = working for low wages. I don't expect a new MT to make as much as an experienced one but they still should earn more than a file clerk or housekeeper.
Hospitals pay for *months* of training when a floor nurse goes to the OR. The floor nurse requires one on one training in the OR. They also pay for months of training for OR/"scrub" and anesthesia techs before they are considered productive. I don't understand why a new MT should work for $9/hour when a file clerk earns more than that. I understand the file clerk is productive after a few hours but the hosptial pays training time for other positions.
I am honestly asking this. I do not want a MT strike, MTs to type their initials on screwed up reports or a MT sit in at the medical director's office. Why is it accepted in the transcription community for a new MT to earn less than anyone else in the doctor's office?
Most newbies ARE screwed.
I personally know two people, one of whom I mentored through her training program, who could get jobs in the field. No one would let them get a foot in the door. So I understand that frustration from that point of view, because these people have had to count their training money as a loss and go on to other things. I was so sad for them, and angry at the penny-pinching MT profession as it is today, which has few opportunities for in-house training for new people to learn what they need to know to succeed.

I think a lot of the bitterness you sense is really toward the big companies and the direction that the profession has taken. There is no place anymore for newbies to learn and "pay their dues" the way many of us had to do it.

I also agree with the poster below who said this is something that is in EVERY profession nowadays. My own father was pretty well forced into retirement, and yet they had the nerve to call him afterwards trying to pick his brain because his successor, half his age, couldn't figure something out. (He informed them of his consultant rate, take it or leave it.) As the other poster said, you find it in teaching and other professions, as well.
What concerns me about newbies is
that often they write these excited posts and reveal how tiny their working English vocabulary is. That's a terrible place to start out from. I try to be polite, but I do remember being a newbie for hospital work and how appalled the trainer was with the other MTs who had tiny English vocabularies. She about dropped her teeth because the first time I had to spell shotty adenopathy I spelled it right. I couldn't believe anybody would think "shoddy adenopathy" would make any sense. It's not logical.

How do you train people to THINK and be logical in their transcription? Those are things the person should bring to the table if they want to go into a career in the written word. Then you can build on that logic as you interpret MD slurring.