LOL re analysis paralysis - that's me in a nutshell! nm
Posted By: k on 2006-01-16
In Reply to: Same here... - DJ
nm
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Yes, in a nutshell
that would be correct. There is Enrich and Compilation; I personally like the compilation if you have several reports from 1 doctor on hand (which you can copy/paste said reports in Notepad and compile it that way). Enrich will throw everything in your active glossary, but I didn't really care for that because of my platform and I have my glossary just how I want it. Plus, you can add phrases easily by highlighting them, pressing Ctrl += and giving it the abbreviation you want or leaving the suggested on. For example, "the patient states no" would have the abbreviation "tpsn" suggested. If you want it to be something else you can change it.
It's confusing and lengthy to explain "blindly" but having it in front of you would make it all come together and make sense.
MT'ing in a nutshell
1. You must be able to be alone alot, or else you will get very lonely. I myself love it most of the time, but there will be a few days where I long for co-workers, happy hours, and gal pal'ing with colleagues, but then i'll quickly sober up and remember the backstabbing, office politics, all women in the office pms'ing simultaneously...I would rather be alone than deal with that even one day out of the month.
2. You have to be disciplined. I am, but not to a fault. There are still at least one or two days out of the pay period where I immediately "start work" by daydreaming, surfing the internet, checking email, chatting, float from room to room aimlessly. You have to be on time, every day, ready to work, or else you won't make any money.
3. Get ready to justify being an MT to just about EVERYONE in your life. Many people do not think of this as a "real" job, which I cannot for the life of me get over. Its not respected, even though i'm very proud of my profession, and able to support myself soley on it, have a few hobbies and manage to go to school, and plan on buying a house.
4. This is THE most important...KNOW YOUR STUFF! Research, never guess, if you cannot understand a word. You will learn so much and will become that much better in the long run.
I dont know if the girls can add anything else, but those of the double edge swords we deal with. Good luck 
and in the final analysis
It will always boil down to memorization.
I have a very old version of IT and ran the compilation for VR (helps improve accruacy), but there is no way I could remember all the different phrases they have. I'm lucky I remember the traditional chfx = congestive heart failure.
the point in a nutshell, IMHO sm
the point I think everyone is trying to make here is, yes, most of us have done it and succeeded with small children, BUT it is by no means easy. You have to be flexible and hopefully have a flexible employer. It's not impossible, it can be done, but it won't be a piece of cake! If you're motivated, organized, and willing to compromise a portion of your sanity , then by all means, go for it. But the bottom line is this...you have to do what works for YOU, not anyone else! Think it through and make an educated decision, and not one just based on the opinions on this board. Good luck to ya! 
You seem like a person who can look ahead and do analysis of situations...
you definitely should take the at home job. You will make significantly more money as long as you actually are on the keyboard. I think it's a surprise sometime as to how much time is actually spent transcribing and how much is wandering around. If you time yourself at home, just to take the laundry out of the dryer can add up to 10 minutes in no time. So take that into consideration. You won't get paid for 8 hours - you'll only be paid when your fingers are actually making contact with the keyboard. Check your line production at work if you can to get an idea of how many lines you are actually cranking out in a day.
Now, that being said, you need to take a good long look at what is coming down the pike for MT. In all reality, MT is not going to last until you retire. Don't forget, what is left of MT is going to have to be either a) spread around amongst all of us or b) competed for by all of us. When there are more MT's than MT jobs, you can bet pay and working conditions is going to go down. So right now, while you have a job, you need to be thinking and planning where you are going to be when you lose your MT job and can't find another - or at least another that pays decent...Ask yourself, what would I do if next year I lose my job? and start exploring options that way. Me - I'm enrolled full time in nursing school for a BSN. I wasn't sure I could go back to school at 46, but I am and doing it quite successfully, no less. I still have at least 15 more years to work before retirement...so just plan ahead...
Good analysis. Mass mutiny, new unsuspecting
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