I was surprised at options. I'm 58 and lots of jobs are paying more

For a long time MTing was a stable career (it transferred all acros the country) and a respected one.

Now it is a scam operation. 

There are jobs we never would have considered before because we thought we had valuable skills (typing speed, education, knowledge of medicine/drugs, dialects, computers).  But that value has been brought down to below burger-flipping pay.  In fact most days lately I would have been making more at Burger King.

That's why I say go LOOK.  You will be surprised that you can be paid more for "showing up" than for what you know.  SAD ISN'T IT.  But that's what's going on right now.

They scammed people into thinking "oh a stay-at-home highly paid job"  NOT.

They were taking your money to train you for 6 weeks or 6 months and telling you were qualified enough to do transcription from home without supervision BUT IN MOST CASES YOU CAN'T SO DON'T TRY - but in the meantime these fly by night MT training companies have your $2000 or whatever.  That's the scam.

If hospitals really wanted MTs they would do MT trainee programs.  That's how most of us learned.  The hospitals just got lazy and looked for the easy out which has cost them through the nose and along the way they lost control of the medical records to boot. 

Look around out there.  Don't keep letting these companies make millions off your road to bankruptcy.  And they can surely take you there while you are hanging on trying to make it work.  It's not going to.  The big suits are not going to let you make money - they are going to shuffle the way the money is divided and the most will go to them.  What used to be our benefits is now their profit.  It's really pretty simple.

• Bummed out - me
  • No more - totallyfedup
    • sounds like a bargaining tactic - me
  • MDI-Maryland pay is very good, IC status though, nm - MDI'r
    • Can you explain to me the difference between SE and IC please? nm - in the dark
  • That's what I was trying to explain the other day - - idiot jobs pay more than MT
    • After years of sitting down and getting 1 job an hour.... - Ex-MQer
      • I wish I could go back in house - me
      • Actually, I do work for a hospital now - CM
        • Thanks for the heads-up. You are 2nd person I've heard that from - in as many days. Hospitals
      • Me too! Me too! I hope enough bail that it all implodes. - and nationals pull up stakes.
    • Excellent post! There are still people with passion out there - that is great to know... - soon-exMT`
      • I was surprised at options. I'm 58 and lots of jobs are paying more - than MT w/o the hassle.
      • Changing Careers - CM
        • thanks...just knowing there are others, same age bracket, skills, etc...does help... - soon-exMT
        • Don't worry about age (I'm 45 too), in this age of people living so long, - 45 is YOUNG! nm
  • Are you in an area where there are numerous hospitals?? - SM
    • I wish I were - me
  • Bummed Out - My heart goes out to you. - Anon MT
    • MQ - me

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and expecting extremely experienced MTs, forget it. You're not going to get it.  If, however, you're willing to pay 9 or more cpl then you will find what you're looking for. There ARE experienced MTs out there who will work their fingers to the bone IF they are compensated well and treated with respect.

your job is to flag discrepancies.  Your job is to get the record straight.  Your job is NOT to guess or assume.  But you already knew that, didn't you? 

The Wizard of Oz...   Maybe Gone with the Wind and Imitation of Life... I love tearjerkers!

According to People magazine, Star said she was told her contract was not going to be renewed for the 10th season.  She has apparently known this for awhile but just felt today was the time to let the audience know.  She told People she felt she had basically been fired.  Guess it really will be a new direction for the view this fall.

Lots of crummy ESLs say the same phrases over and over again, and once you know what they are saying, you have a standard (free lines!)  The hospital I work for is about 80% ESLs and I have some form of standard for nearly all of them. There is one Indian cardiologist who comes to mind.  Any time someone asks me what department I work in, and I tell them transcription, they say, "Oh, how can you understand Dr. So and So?  I always hear him dictating and he talks sooooo fast."  And yes, it is true.  He does talk fast, but everything he says, whether it is on the past history, PE, ROS, consent, he very routinely says a lot of the same phrases.  He is terrific lines! 

I guess you are in a position where you can say who you will type for and who you won't.  Good for you.  I don't know anyone that fortunate.  Most of us just need a paycheck and we take what we can get, like it or not. 

AAMT (by whatever name it chooses) has ALWAYS been about making money.  I remember when my Iowa Chapter was begun. Anyone with 5 or more years' experience could be grandfathered in. I only had 2 years under my belt, but a couple of transcriptionists with whom I worked had over 10 years each. One was an extremely talented Transcriptionist and most likely would have aced the CMT test. However, the other one was just awful (examples of misspellings: payed, recieve, intellagent....so you can imagine the errors in the medical terminologh). Not only was her work not up to par, but she only transcribed the easiest doctors and even at that only produced 12 to 13 reports in an 8-hour shift (average was 20 to 25).

Needless to say,  I was very skeptical of an organization that used the grandfather clause. After all, wasn't this supposed to be the stamp of excellence? Can you imagine the nursing profession allowing someone who took care of ill family members for a few years to be able to put the RN initials behind their name? This is why I felt it utterly unnecessary to become a member. I wasn't the only one who felt that way, either. It really looked like they were money hungry, and as long as you were a paying body (who typed a couple of letters per day for a few years), you could have your CMT. I felt no need to pay a couple of hundred dollars to belong to the organization that just allowed membership without testing to an extremely incompetent transcriptionist.

About 10 years later, I did become credentialed. The test was done in 2 parts at that time (written and practical). I passed and became a member. I kept up the CUs for several years, but then let it expire because even though I enjoyed the symposiums, I still didn't feel the initials had great meaning (I mean, how would people know I wasn't grandfathered in?) More importantly, I didn't receive increased pay at my job, and the cost of keeping the CMT active outweighed the information obtained at the workships and seminars.

AAMT (ADHI) and whatever they decide to call themselves in the future has in my opinion always been about the money. This isn't the first (and probably not the last) time they've thrown the (American) transcriptionist under the bus.

that you say think priorities about work but not family.  When they lay be in my grave, I hope my family will not have to say *Geez, I wish I got to see her more, she was such a worker*

The reason there is no work on my shift anymore is not because there are no doctors dictating at that time, it is solely because it is in foreign hands.  So, I should adjust my family life and work life to work around people in another land?  Apparently they are not forced to work nights and weekends but I should be forced to? 

My opinion is that for the past 12 years with this company, my schedule was awesome and I volunteered every weekend, but now being forced to comit to a schedule of nights and weekends after they gave my accounts away.... FAT CHANCE.  I will find an American Company and continue working my schedule and giving my family the best of me! 

It does nothing for you to bow down to your supervisor every time they call... after 12 years of doing just that, they sold my job out.  Now I KNOW where my priorities are, and that is not at work.

Especially his 2nd song.  I couldn't believe he still sounds this good!!

Last night's AI was fabulous!!!  So happy that Taylor won!!!!!!! 

The guy with the long hair surrouding his face was CLAY AIKEN?????  I didn't know who it was....knew it was an Elton John song, knew it wasn't Elton John - that was CLAY???  OMG....I cannot believe it !!!!!

Yeah, Meatloaf didn't sound good at all until the very end of his song....and he was shaking the microphone and I thought perhaps he has Parkinson's disease or the beginnings of. 

WAY TO GO AI !!!  I thought this season was THE_BEST!!!!!