I probably shouldn't bite, but (sm)

• $$ - Nosey-Rosey
  • Ask me next year. sm - Can't say
  • close to 17g with 15 days off w/out pay, w/benes at national - nm
  • About 16,500 - A
  • A lot! - asdfjkl;
  • 16,000 mid year, feel bad about myself after SM - $$
  • $$ - TMI but....
  • as of June, I'm at 47,000 and that was with one month off! - nm
    • Who? What? Why? When? Where? How? LOL - PLEASE TELL US
      • auto text, auto text auto text - I also have ... - noname
        • Hi. I emailed you. If you didn't receive it please - Amy
        • Oh.. "off the books" pay? You mean tax evasion. LOL nm - Oh Really?
          • I do pay taxes --- MOST DEFINITELY PAY TAXES - no name
            • Maybe I misunderstood but you said they pay you "off the books" -- so you don't report THAT - Oh Really?
  • $36.5K, national and - no life
  • $1,200 month working part-time with National/other. nm - That's all I can stand
  • I probably shouldn't bite, but (sm) - here ya go --
  • $18.5K two smaller nationals. nm - IC
  • half year mark - Patti
  • $15,000.... Hospital employee, telecommuting from home, working less than full-time. - nm
  • $18,000+, small national. nm - WAH
  • 20K as of the end of June ... sm - Dana
  • $6K....would have been more but my kid comes first! - nm - Laura E.

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1. How long have you worked as a medical transcriptionist?

18 years

2. What certification have you received?

Just medical secretarial certificate and Microsoft applications though a local hospital that offered classes on-site.

3. What attracted you to pursuing a career in medical transcription?

The money.  It paid more than the unit clerks at the hospital.

4. What type of environment do you work in (i.e. from home, physician’s office, hospital, other).

Home currently.  Hospital for 17 years (benefits were not that great and hourly pay was awful.)

5. What do you think are the most important skills a medical Transcriptionist should have?

Speed of typing.  Good ears.  Able to stay in an office chair for lengthy periods of time.

6. Did some skills come naturally to you, while others required more practice?

It all came pretty natural once the money started rolling in.

7. In addition to transcribing medical reports, do you engage in other forms of business writing while on the job (such as memos, proposals, or progress reports, etc.) to clients, coworkers, or supervisors? Please explain.

All of the above.  I have my own clients.  I have written plenty of e-mails.

8. What do you think is the most difficult aspect of medical transcription?

Transcribing a specialty I am not familiar with or am not particularly fond of, but one's gotta do what one's gotta do.

9. What do you find to be the easiest aspect of medical transcription?

Cashing my check at the bank.

10. As a medical transcriptionist, do you often need to collaborate with others to ensure that all the information in your reports is correct?

Hardly ever.  After 18 years, I pretty much got it down pat. 

This is not really meant to be funny; just another honest opinion from a fairly young MT that's been around a long time in this business! 

And shame on you anyway.  What psychologists do, how they do it, what they call it and how they diagnose is not always consistent with medical diagnoses.  The ugly word "retardation" is only one example of this.

I'd like to see you find a doctor and a psychologist who can agree on the differences between situational depression, major depression and recurrent depression, and how they should best be treated.  An MD wants drug therapy.  A PhD wants psychotherapy.  When you have a certain type of hammer, everything looks like your special kind of nail.

I am finished with my shift and I come in for a visit, but I am not on here all day complaining about doctors or bashing my fellow MTs.  Glad YOU don't have a job that takes your time and attention because YOU could not be on here all day to stir the pot.

Most dogs bite out of fear.  Dogs also bite because they are establishing/maintaining their place in the family pack. These are the two most common reasons dogs bite. I would never trust a dog that you have raised.

We used to rent and went through that.  I've worked as a housekeeper before, so I'm anal about cleaning.  Security deposits are for damages only, usually not for routine cleaning.  We had landlords try to charge us for many reasons, but there are Landlord/Tenant laws in each state.  In my state, the landlord has to notify us that the unit is not clean enough and give us time to clean it up before they can withhold from the security deposit.  If they don't notify you, your deposit is fully due to you.  They also have to give you an itemized list of specific charges, not just general cleaning.  I always took pictures before and after, too, just to prove that we left everywhere clean.

We had one altercation with a landlord in a basement apartment we lived in.  The foundation was cracked and leaking, and the ancient threadbare 1950s carpet got stained with water, moldy, and mildewy, so we tore it out and replaced it with remnants.  He tried to charge me for recarpeting the entire basement apartment.  I took pictures, though, and threatened him with a lawsuit of my own for providing substandard living quarters, failing to make repairs, and withholding my security deposit.  He tried to bully me by telling me that he had never lost a case, so I turned him in to the county.

Go to Google and type in your state name with "Landlord Tenant laws" and "security deposit" to see what it says.  Then call an attorney for a free consultation.  Send a demand letter for the funds owed to you.

Not doing that is what has made the world go upside down right now.

If I am paid 7/cents a line and my cost of living is based on 12/cents a line plus

benefits, it's almost impossible to keep working for that company who is paying

7/cents a line.

It's pretty simple.

America still demands that we live an "American life style - no sh^t in the rivers, building codes, codes on how many people can live in a dwelling, high insurance rates, etc etc"

well, paying all that and making what a company is paying a peoples who don/'t have those demands is insane.

It's a simple question to our leaders?

Do you want us to live like the third world country? or do you want to give us ability to make salaries to pay for the LIFE STYLE America is demanding we do.

Frankly I'm sick and tired of paying for free loaders of any color.  When I saw Laurie Duh (don't know how to spell her name) on Fox yesterday report that one of the homeless from New Orleans........went out and bought a LOUIS VUITTON PURSE

with the $2000 she got..........I STARTED SCREAMING and if I could have gotten my hands around the neck of the idiot who thought it was a good idea to give these people the money in the first place I would have strangled him.........and then I would have done the same to the woman who bought the purse.

I'm sitting here in pain from a bad tooth and no insurance.........and she bought a purse.........LOUIS VUITTON.

p.s. Billfolds in Louis Vuitton start at around $600 and the purses are around $1500 to $5,000.

So what if it's not the South of France.  As long as you had a good time and enjoyed yourself, that's what it's all about! 

I have done a lot of traveling, and I can tell you the best vacation that goes down in my memory book is going to Sanibel Island, Florida - surf fishing, catching fish - swimming in the ocean - and kicking back wtih my honey with a Mai Tai.  We sent out to dinner at lot at some really nice restaurants there, but the best was steaks on the grill the resort had available there and a great bottle of vino.

I hope you get to Myrtle Beach again and enjoy yourself. 

(High Five To Ya') 

It's a good idea to do it every couple of months or so. It helps your computer to run faster and more efficiently.

Before I run defrag, I usually glance through my files and delete anything that is outdated or no longer necessary. I open my browser and delete history, files, and cookies. I empty the Deleted Items folder in my email. And I go to Add/Remove Programs and review all the programs I have installed and see if there are any I'm not using any more. 

going on the cruise if you are going to have to worry about work even if it takes you no time at all to get it done.  When you have an opportunity for rest and relaxation you need to take it.   It will be more trouble having to worry with the work on vacation.   I agree... see if someone locally does MT and get them to do it while you are gone.  Have them sign a contract or something so that you don't have to worry about your accounts.   Or I would be they would hold their dictation and let you do it when you got back.   NO WAY should you take the work with you.   If you have been with them for 5 years, you have already proven your worth.   Chances are if you tell them you are going to take a short vacation since you haven't in 5 years, they will respond and so go, we will hold it til you get back. 

Good luck, enjoy yourself!!

before they hired me.  Well, maybe at a hospital but not otherwise.  There was an older lady who worked at a hospital I worked at.  She was past retirement age but still working.  NOT TRUE that you can't still do it well; she did.  She not only transcribed but she acted as trainer for the new MTs the hospital had hired, started them out on discharge summaries and then progressed them as they learned.  She did a fantastic job.  I learned SO MUCH from that lady, and I was not a new MT and she did not train me, but still there is no substitute for all those years of experience.  If I had a question I sure knew where to go.  AND - she didn't mind questions!

So don't think you can't do it or they won't let you do it.  You sure can, and I bet you are much, much better than so many newer MTs.  Like I said, there is no substitute for all those years of knowledge!