Going to college does not change things
Posted By: sm on 2006-06-16
In Reply to: Wrong - if you had gone to college you wouldn't be having this conversation. - Bad choices = no options.
overall. Some choose to go, some don't. Just because you go to college does not mean you will make more money or your life will be better. My husband is a CPA; however, works for a retirement corporation and guess what, after his 5 years of college and sitting through the CPA exam, I still make a lot more than he does. Another friend is a nurse working at a surgery center, and I still make more. Going to college is a choice but don't make the insinuation that going to college will make your life any better as it is just not true.
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Get out while you can. Things will *never* change unless you change them. (nt)
You need to change the way you look at things
You need to try really hard to find 1 good thing a day that that worked out well. Each night sit down and find 1 thing to focus on that went well. Each night do this and slowly try and change your attitude. You need to enlarge your vision. If you get a chance read the book by Joel Osteen, Your Best Life Now.
Very good book about life.
Things do change, and sometimes
You cannot always listen to what people say. And in saying that, you don't have to listen to me. But, I wanted to respond to your post and let you know that I am a Focus IC and I am having a very good experience. I know that in the past some negative things have been said about Focus, but most of the MT companies have that reputation. One poster or another will say negative things about a company for one reason or another. This does not dictate what your particular experience will be.
I do not get hounded by IM's as the other poster mentioned. I always, always have work. Have not run out once. If I have a question or a problem I can email, call, or IM any number of people from Human Resources to my Supervisor to Tech. Support to QA and I always get a response.
The other poster may or may not have worked for Focus Infomatics in the past. I don't know. And if they did, they may have had a bad experience with them. But, that can happen to anyone at any company. I'm just giving you my take so you won't think that EVERYONE thinks you are making a big mistake. I, for one, think you made a good choice.
Good luck.
Things can never change if you don't want them to.
I think we all have a pretty good idea of who wants things to get better, and who wants them to remain as they are.
Things change
This may sound optimistic in a failing economy and MT being as difficult as it is at times but I still think good MTs are hard to find and will always be in demand.
You talk about going back to school to study MT. Why don't you just take a local medical terminology class. It sounds like you know how to transcribe well have have a good handle on grammar. You are half way to becoming an MT already. All you need is some medical terminology.
Then just apply. Tell the recruiters/HR you've studied medical terminology and want to do clinic notes. Then take any job you can for experience, preferably locally.
Some might say this advice is absurd but with education costs the way they are and loans being hard to get, you might find employers dropping the bar. Years ago most MTs didn't have any experience or education at all other than a high school typing class.
Don't give up hope. Just try approaching the whole thing from a different angle. Good Luck.
Among other things that need to change,
MTSO's need to get stand their ground and RAISE THEIR PRICES. All this undercutting has hurt everyone, and cheapened what used to be a respectable profession. Now it's just sweatshop labor, hidden from view of the nation because its home workers are invisible.
If we don't do something to change things,
we're gonna lose the jobs anyway. Fighting back is the only way we'll manage to keep any of it in the U.S. And if we're gonna go down anyway, I for one would rather go down fighting, than just lie down and take it.
The only way to change things it to take that first step
nm
It's gonna take more than one person to change things. Until all American MTs realize the damage
things will keep going downhill. We need to all write letters, inform people, push for legislation that will prevent American patients' protected medical data from being offshored. We need to boycott any MTSOs that offshore and we should not accept peanuts for our skills.
That's what it will take, but with MTs like you who call us whiners for voicing our frustrations, concerns, and opinions and who sit around doing nothing, we will all lose.
Even 4.5 is too low. doctors do not change - they still hem and haw, change, change stuff along wit
It is just not enough for the work. Speech is great on the wrists but you are not just reading what is typed, you are making a lot of changes. I have a hard time doubling a lot of days with all the changes I have to make. Just my opinion.
Don't change. I had to change back to cable. SuddenLink DSL stinks! nm
nm
Change provider vs change to business plan
In your place, I would seriously consider changing providers if there were others available in your area, but I'd ask around about their service quality first. It may not be any better. If there are no other providers, then consider changing your service package to a business account rather than residential. They're usually more expensive, but they also tend to get faster service if there's a problem.
Last summer, I had no electricity for 3 days due to severe storms, but there were some 600,000 in the same boat with me. We just had to wait it out. It's a downside of working at home.
change attitude, change life
The first thing you need to change is that defeatist attitude! I know that's hard at times like this, but that's when you need to most.
I won't go into detail, but my financial situation is also at an all-time low, we couldn't even exchange gifts., daughter in hospital twice, & no med insurance)..but then I heard about how much worse things were for others around me this season. Now I'm thankful instead!
Bad things? what bad things? people's being petty and small?
x
I'm in college myself ...
Do you have an undergraduate bulletin from the U? If not, GET ONE TODAY. Look at the degree programs. He must pick out a major and register and be assigned an Academic Advisor first.
Make sure he fills out his FASFA anyway and has it sent to the university. Just because you make $40K does not mean he should not qualify for grants or scholarships whatsoever. I don't know who told you that or if you just are assuming that, but it is not true.
A university has many, MANY avenues for financial aid. He will be assigned a financial aid counselor and you need to call up there right now, TODAY (if he is planning on attending this fall semester in about 5 weeks) and go talk to the immediately. Do you know the FASFA website? Have you filled it out? You MUST fill it out, it will be processed and sent to the university, then they will send him an award letter and you can go from there.
Now, student loans are not bad debt at all. It is an investment in your future. Just make sure you are borrowing responsibly an amount that can be paid back easily. As well, it will not hurt him one bit to pay his own student loans back and/or you pay just part of them. He should have to be payint and investing in his OWN future.
He probably needs to find a part-time job, period. Nothing wrong with that. It will teach him discipline and show you whether he is serious about an education or not. If he has registered already (and he should have if he is attending this fall ... if he hasn't and wants to go, REGISTER TODAY)...you know when his classes are and he can hit the pavement today on finding a part-time job.
You've have a bad experience as far as academic counseling at the junior college -- at least from your description, I would call that near idiocy. At the U, he will have to claim a major and it should have a sports program so that should not be a problem. Do NOT---NOT---NOT---NOT just "put him in a major". This is his education. It must be what HE wants.
There's not a lot you can do until you:
1) Fill out that FASFA and process it
2) Call the U, physically go in with your son and see a Financial Aid Advisor
3) Register, see your Academic Advisor and get your classes
If I can help you in anyway, let me know.
I had it in college
I went for PT - they did u/s and massage and heat application. Also, I received medication via (I am going to get this wrong I think) iontophoresis.
I had to change the way I held my food trays (I was a waitress) and do some exercises with a one pound weight.
It resolved with cessation of what was causing the problem in the first place. Every so often it comes close to flaring back up if I am not careful. Now my big problem is mild tendinitis in my thumb .
I never needed surgery though I have heard some people do if it gets really bad.
Did they do the Finklestein test (is that what its called?) on you to dx it? Its where they have you make a fist and then they flex your wrist down. I yelped and almost kicked the dr!
Good luck.
What did you go to college for? nM
x
I was in college before
I attended college off and on from 1989 - 1997. It will only take me a year to complete what I started.
college or not (I did) - what you do....sm
What a person does for their entire lifetime is a career, a profession. Some of us went to college, some graduated, some never went to college. Who cares? I spent 27 years doing this so yep, it has become my profession......worked Wall Street for 3 years in the 60s-70s, well that was my profession at the time (decade). Worked restaurants as a kitchen manager for 5 years - that was my profession during those 5 years and what a chef I am....*LOL*
Worked in a major teaching hospital for 10 years PRIOR to doing full-time MT work.....so yep - the medical profession is my profession and I'm a paraprofessional !!!
Dream on..........
For College - sm
You may want to check with the school. At FSU, your laptop needs to have specific programs/capabilities if you want to take it to class with you to use in class, and also to download from their blackboard on the internet.
My tech also agrees Toshibas are the best and I was lucky that the Toshiba was compatible with many of the requirements.
college or not
I graduated in 2004 with an Associate Degree in Medical Office Administration, Office Systems Technology, when I was 18 yrs. old I went to nursing school and then worked a few years as an LPN. I don't regret my college or degrade college in any way, but, most employers want an experienced MT but won't give anyone a chance to prove that someone just starting out can do the job.I am now 50 years old, taking care of my disabled husband and CAN NOT get a job at home working as a medical transcriptionist, and can't afford to take the extra tutoring that some suggest. I would just like a chance to make a living, not a bunch of money, just enough to pay my bills.
They are not gone...they just went to college--sm
They will be around more than you think....when they need money...when they need their laundry done...and, of course, holidays. They will miss you too, I am sure. You won't be nearly as lonely as you think you are going to be. lol
College
I have 2 kids in college, one I helped on the front end and because of this career, one I will have to help on the back end (meaning help him pay off his loans while he is in school instead of giving him money up front). The Stafford loans have very low interest rates right now, the rates went down. I live in Western NY and there are 2 MT jobs that I know of at one hospital. The other hospitals don't have inhouse transcriptionists. One uses a service (used to be my competitor) and they are giving all new residents laptops for EMR and the other gave all their doctors laptops 2 years ago. I'm tired of MTing to be honest, 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week, first as MTSO as qualified people were hard to come by and then because either the service didn't pay, didn't pay on time or didn't have any work so I have needed to work for more than one. I would love to do anything else.
Thanks - I have 1 in college and 1 soon to be..nm
x
kid drinks in college
And what are you gonna do if you kid does drink at college?? Kidnap him/her and deprogram them? They are adults when they are in college. I would hope by the time a child gets to be 17, 18, they have been taught right from wrong and no I would not want to know if my child was partying and drinking in college. They are living a normal young adults life. I would want to know he/she is having fun and doing their studies and, of course, if they became a drug addict or alcoholic, they I will be there but normal partying for young adults, Im okay with that..better than being tied to my apron strings.
Paying for college for my son..
My son is attending college and I have paid for 2 years through a junior college, but it is now time for him to move to a major university. Because of my salary of just over $40,000 a year, he has never qualified for any type of scholarship, only student loans (which I have paid back). Does anyone know of ANY scholarships, etc. that can be applied for? I know nothing at all about how the system works and feel I have failed in trying to help him (it's all I can do to hold down 2 jobs in order to make the $40,000). We even tried to have him set up on a student work program, but they said you could not do the student work program if you were getting student loans. It was like at every turn, there was something to disqualify him from getting assistance. He carries an 'average' grade point (more interested in social aspects, of course, than his studies). He has never had a counselor at the junior college that helped much. He is interested in sports administration, so the junior college counselor did not know what field to put him in, so she put him in liberal arts, and now we find he needs some other classes instead. I'm searching for any help with limited time to search. He tries, but he does not seem to get anywhere either.  ANYTHING ideas would be appreciated, and thanks in advance.
Do you have a college degree, and in what?
I know there are MTs out there who have Associate's, Bachelor's, or Master's degrees. According to other posters, those of us with higher education who choose to do MT are pitiful.
48-1/2 WF, M, 2 kids, 1 to college
/
2 kids in college
I have 2 kids in collge, 1 in state and 1 out of state. My daughter's financial aid (out of state) is based on my income because she is still considered a dependent (she lives in dorm). My son's financial aid (in state GA) is based on his income because he is independent. The difference is if the student has a lease for rent in their name, they are considered independent and it is based on their income. Depending on what you and hubby make, he might be better off on his own financial aid wise for college. Both of my kids get about the same in federal financial aid ( I am considered lower end of income - long story) Both of my kids get pell grant and also get the subsidized and unsubsidized loans from government. College is very expensive even if they go to a local community university/college. Hope this helps
what are you studying in college?
xx
WHERE DOES YOU CHILDREN GO TO COLLEGE sm
Maybe our children go to the same college.
I will start
One daughter goes to Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. The other daughter will be going to UMass at Amerst in the fall.
What are you studying in college? nm
xx
No I never said that, they paid for college, I only - sm
helped with incidentals. I did not have too, I wanted to. They did not say I had to work but I wanted to contribute as much as I could to the expenses. Art supplies and books are not cheap and I told them I would take care of that. I spent about $2K a year in art supplies alone, w/o food. My first 2 years they paid tuition and board in the dorm, my Jr. & Sr. year I got an apartment which I shared with 1 person the first year, and the next year I got a bigger apt. and shared with 2 people, cutting the rent cost in the process. I also covered my butt by subletting in the Summer so they would not get stuck paying rent on my empty room (though I would have paid that from my summer job if it had happened). In no way do I think I put myself through college. All I did was try to save my parents some cash and be as self-sufficient as I could in the circumstances. I am very grateful for what they did for me. During 2 of my years in college they were shelling out $15K a year for my older brother to go to Drexel (his tuition and apartment), so they had their plate full. Luckily my dad had it all covered through extremely wise investments when I was just a little girl. I have been extremely fortunate but I never expected it all to be handed to me on a plate, and I have never said "oh, I put myself through college", what a load.
I also went to a community college
and never had any problems finding a job. In fact, I got my first job at home before I was even finished with school. I took all my classes online and have worked from home for the past 3 years here with my kids. I say go for it!
Actually I did go to college and I'm not bitter at all....sm
Just realistic, as I said. Obviously you've not found the right company - there are out there, believe me. But the previous poster did say it correctly - if you were working in an office with your degree, you couldn't just jump up and run. An MTSO or company has a business to run, too. I schedule my appointments after my working hours - pretty simple it seems to me.
Free college in GA?
Is that a statewide program? What do you have to do to qualify for it?
Not so. You can go to college and work
around classes. That does not prohibit you from obtaining unemployment.
Not so. You can go to college and work
around classes. That does not prohibit you from obtaining unemployment.
College and unemployment
My son is going to college because his boss of two years told him he couldn't use him this semester even though my son could prove he was available for the same amount of hours he had always been available for and he has been going to school the whole time he worked for him.
you don't want to know if your child drinks at college? (sm)
I am praying for you and your daughter. Honey, you had better get your head out of the sand and make it perfectly clear to your daughter, whether at college, home, friends, etc, it is not a good idea for a young girl to drink and lose control or insight into what is going on around her. That is just asking for something horrible to happen. Please talk to your daughter! Don't turn your back on something potentially dangerous to your child! When all is said and done, she is still your child, your responsibility, and God forbid something horrible happens to her, you will be blamed.
A college professor I had explained it like this...
We all have "breaking point" for getting cancer. Has a lot to do with your immune system and what you are doing to your body, i.e. smoking. One person smokes and gets cancer at 38 _____1_____________ and the next person smokes and gets cancer at 78 _______________1____. It's individual and you just never know. However, the fact that a person gets cancer 10 years after quitting cigarettes doesn't mean they wouldn't have gotten it if they had continued to smoke. Probably would have gotten it sooner, but since the prior smoking has done it's damage, they got it anyway.
I heard that if you quit before age 35 you can usually reverse the damage and your risk factors, but after that, there's no going back in a big way. The damage is done.
Health Insurance in College
At all the college i went to, they had their own health insurance that a student could subscribe to while they attended there. Now I went full time at each college and that may be a prerequisite. So I would have him check there before searching out some expensive private plan.
I would check out what all they covered, but if I remember correctly, it was very comprehensive.
Hope this helps.
R
I read that about the college exams! sm
I don't think my son will have a problem. He wants to be a pharmacist. I've tried to talk him out of it and have tried to have him concentrate on his writing.
He has written several stories that have won awards.
Pharmacists are being held up at gunpoint for OxyContin. Scares the jeez out of me!
Oh well, you gotta let them choose what they want to do for a career unless they decide to deal drugs instead of dispense them legally.
Met at a beer blast in college -nm
X
Forgetting to hang up - got me my job in college
I actually got my transcription job in college when the original Transcriptionist find out she was getting fired. The doctor didn't shut off the recorder and he and his partners started discussing putting an ad in the Sunday paper for her job. She quit - I walked in the next day (before the ad was ever placed) just going from office to office dropping off resumes and voila - MY LUCK ... well, not really. It was a horrible place to work and I ended up quitting after 3 months.
Given by a community college? What school is
z
You don't owe your children a college education at all.
My personal advice to my own children was/is this: As long as you want to invest your effort and energy, I will help you past high school in getting an education.
If you stay home while you attend and keep good grades, I will provide your transportation, you can live here rent-free, eat here, and we will work together to make sure you have all your college expenses paid for and have some pocket money.
If you choose to live out, as long as I see you are keeping your grades, I will give you a limited set amount of financial aid.
However, if you feel I owe it to you or you fail to respect my effort to assist you, then you are on your own.
I also tied their inheritance to their achievements. The more they do for themselves and the higher the education, the greater the percentage of their inheritance. If they felt it wasn't necessary to prepare themselves now, don't count on my estate assisting them later.
It is hard to let them make these mistakes sometimes but the more painful it is for them, the quicker they learn. Doesn't take but touching the hot stove once for a kid to realize I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN!!
I think people should wait to go to college.
Do a couple of grunt jobs and figure out what you want out of life. My grunt jobs were waitress and motel housekeeper. Then pay for school yourself instead of expecting your parents to foot the bill. I'm still paying for mine. And actually figure out what you want to be when you grow up so you don't waste your education. When I was 18, I wanted to be a graphic designer and live in New York, LA or Las Vegas. However, that's not my passion in life. It just sounded kind of glam from movies and yuppie stereotypes. I am so completely opposite of that.
FWIW, nobody else in my family went to college and they all make way more money than I do. But priorities change in life.
No thanks. I don't want to be 70 years old and have a college student.
There's a time and place for everything. Mid-40's is no time to be having babies. It's unfair to us and to them.
How many jobs are out there (without a college degree) that actually pay this well? NM
Hey, I admire you! I am 50, my DD is in college, and is always encouraging me to go, SM
I just don't know what to study! I am thinking of culinary arts.
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