Look at both sides.
Posted By: I love being an MT. on 2008-02-11
In Reply to: Questions about career as MT - Jill
You will hear about declining wages, outsourcing, etc. But lower on this page, you see many making between 13 at the lowest, up to $25 per hour, and working at home, no transportion expenses with 3 dollar a gallon gas where I live, traffic, car wear and tear, lunches out, ordering in, office gossip, politics, dress codes, dry cleaners, and so forth.
I have done this job for 25 years now and it is the only job I have done. I absolutely love it. I still make a good living. Just be careful with the employer that you go with. Some pay better than others and are more honest.
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As with everything, every story has two sides. sm
Of course, Teri is not able to tell hers. But others were. I think Teri's family was treated abdominably, as well. I do not think he is genuine and I do not think what he did, he did from love. Putting myself in Teri's family's place, I can't say that I think I would have reacted any differently. I'm not sure why Michael chose to resurface. Most of the furor had died down.
Frustrating on both sides
You are absolutely correct about the hyphens - if the linked words form an adjective followed by a noun, they are hyphenated. I know it's frustrating to have undereducated QA people, and as a QA person, it's equally frustrating to have people who absolutely never hyphenate, put a comma after every 2 words (or none at all), etc. I really really hate when MTs start a sentence with "patient comes in......" when the doctor clearly states "THE patient....".....that drives me insane! I had a report the other night where I had to add "the" 27 times! It's amazing how many people do not understand proper punctuation usage, adjectives, verbs, etc. I certainly wish I had more like you who know where they go!
Here is a thought because I try to see all sides. Maybe
its not you, you dont know this? Also, maybe the email is to cover their butts, as no one can say they were not warned of this issue. Just a thought. No picking on you at all. I too have wondered the same as you a time or 2 about broad emails on certain issues with my company.
I have been on both sides and recently sm
I had a team and their QA to oversee. The "recruiter" would hire anyone she knew who could type. This was a teaching hospital, very large, very difficult and a challenge to those of us with plenty of experience. I could not fire an MT and if I told the MT manager that this so and so could not do the job, I was told to TEACH HER to do it and in the mean time, fix her reports.
I did have some MTs who wanted to learn, had had a bit of experience, and were anxious to progress. I spent a lot of time on them because they took to suggestions and they worked hard. The ones who not MTs, hadn't studied and were clueless, I had the option of assigning them very little work, which is what I did and I did out of self-preservation. There are only 24 hrs in a day and I was working 20 of them!
I have two jobs right now and QA at one I know very well, having worked with her for years. She only sends back a corrected a report in its entirety. The blanks she filled in are changed to a red font. I can see it, I can learn and I keep every one of her reports in a special folder in my email. I am trying to learn 3 doctors who chased away several other MTs on this account. One has a speech impediment and talks very very fast, one has an accent and talks too fast in the face of it and the third is a speed dictator who doesn't think that words need to be pronounced to be understood. The rest of the physicians don't present a problem. It has been difficult because I have had these 3 doctors about twice each and not enough to tackle the learning curve YET. In any case, this QA is patient and she never ever offers personal comments of a derogatory nature.
The other company I work for, I think that QA is nonexistent, other than when they are throwing their weight around. I had one particular report, an I&D of a sebaceous cyst. The doctor followed with this "cheesy material" which is what I transcribed. They called me on the phone to tell me that the doctor "never would have said that" and I said I'd stake my reputation as an MT that he did! She said, well...you're still wrong. Ummm no, I am not. That is lack of experience, knowledge or even a decent ear. No wonder we are on the verge of losing the account, yet again.
Now, I worked for a company where the QA person treated everyone like they were about 2 yrs old. I had her call me names like $toopid, moronic, an imbecile and whenever she used a word of 3 syllables, told me to look it up since I was not bright enough to understand what she was talking about. The owner, when I complained, said that is just how she is, but that she is so good at what she does... I said look, she represents your company and what you stand for. If this is all you have to offer, I am leaving, and I did.
SOME QA gals seem to have a chip on their shoulders. I am of the opinion that those who can do this job, do it and those who are knowledgeable, but can't do the job, do QA. I know several QA people who have CTS and can't type anymore, so they QA and I think that is a bit different.
It is widely understood that the very best MTs are not QA people, they are still MTs. I could not, would not take a 50% or better pay cut to be a QA person. I am far too fast and too capable for that. Neither company I work for presently would ever put me on QA because I am extremely valuable as an MT. Transcribing is my stock and trade and I can't see giving that up for anyone.
Remember as well, there are reasons that we work at home, and I am talking psychological reasons. I can't stand office politics and I don't like people. I am told I don't play well with others, and this is a correct assessment. Others have their issues too, and some of these issues creep up with QAs who seem to need some therapy and help dealing with people. This seems to attract people with a decided need to be the biggest fish in the smallest pond and throw their fins about to get attention.
I suspect we will see stories like these more and more on both sides soon
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071228/ap_on_re_as/japan_ambulance_death
So nice to hear both sides of
THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR OPINIONS! BOTH SIDES MATTER TO NEWBIES!
Christy
you talk out of both sides of your mouth--sm
on one hand you say compassion is another term for "enabling," and lending a helping hand to someone emotionally is only making them a victim. Now you say you have compassion and sympathy for others. yeah right.
not taking sides here but some people are
forced to take early retirement in order to keep their pensions, 401K, etc because BIG BUSINESSES are cutting older/more experienced/or employees with lots of time with the company in order to hire younger/less experienced (I.e. CHEAPER) employees which saves lots of $$$ for the company.
I just hope you never have to be in a situation where you are forced to retire but cannot afford it.
good communication; trust on both sides; and --sm
not doing everything possible under the sun to cut the transcriptionists line counts at every turn. I get REALLY irritated with that. I need to make a living too.
I am sitting here splitting my sides after reading your
comedy post. I absolutely love those dirty jokes and can hardly wait until my better half gets home to read to him. He will love also. Thanks for a perfect end to this otherwise dull day.
You're still missing the point. She needs to hear ALL sides.
Like I said somewhere way down below somewhere, many of us have done it successfully, but TIMES HAVE CHANGED. She needs to hear ALL sides, and she needs to know what she will be up against if she decides to pursue MT training.
I fully support stay-at-home moms. I was one myself. Still at home most of the time with pre-teens and a college student. I'm thankful every day that I did not have to put them in daycare. I applaude those who make that decision and make it work. My kids are well adjusted, secure, and all-around good kids. I will never regret my decision to go to school to be an MT so I could "work from home."
BUT IT DOESN'T WORK WELL FOR EVERYONE. The OP needs to hear the good along with the not-so-good.
As far as MT being an "at-home career," I've been an at-home MT, in-office MT, at-home editor, in-office editor, QA manager, QA consultant, and a college MT instructor. There are many avenues in this career; not all of them are at home, and there are advantages and disadvantages to all situations. I've seen it from a lot of different perspectives. My personal experience with MT has been great. But I've seen (and have personally known) many whose experiences weren't so grand. I've also had students who were talented, motivated and truly gifted for the profession of MT who spent thousands upon thousands of dollars, not to mention the hours of work, to earn a certificate with the hopes of working from home immediately after graduation so they could stay at home with their young kids who were suddenly faced with the harsh reality that the jobs were going to India, and most, if not all, MTSOs require 2 years of experience and won't even consider a new grad. As I stated previously, there ARE exceptions to this, but there are FEW exceptions. That's a fact that needs no debate. Granted, motivation, hard work and perseverance do pay off, and the motivation to stay at home with one's baby is the strongest motivation I can think of.
But still--again--stick to the original question and lighten up on those who don't see the world as you see it. There are many, many perspectives and she will benefit from hearing all of them.
GIVE YOUR ROOMS A LIFE OF THEIR OWN--TO REFLECT ALL SIDES OF YOU
Just as a side note, I "created" moods out of my rooms. Guests call my living room "the happy room" because it is colorful and cheerul (right down to the orange border). My dining room they call "the serious room". I gave it an exotic theme.
When redorating, think of a theme, and they apply all color and shapes and sizes according to that theme. My them for the living is "60's", I even bought some black light posters. I made my own pillow covers, seat covers and curtains, sewing them by hand. I used ribbon for the curtain looks and this same ribbon (yellow and orange) I used to hang all of my pictures.
This room has absolutely no color match to the next room which is the dining room. So the other person said you should tie in your rooms, that was out with the 80's. CREATE moods in your rooms. Give your room a life and style and character of its own. Your home can be as diverse as you are. Why not show all sides of you throughout your home. It is fun and it is a place you can LIVE in!!!
Puhleeze! MTSO's lie out both sides of their mouths when trying to hire an MT! SM
I should feel bad because I found out that they had been blowing smoke up my, err... blowing smoke after I received the equipment?
There are many, MANY factors contributing to falling line rates these days. Let's see, there is the outsourcing overseas to India and Pakistan paying those poor people 2 cpl to type our work! Then there are the uneducated, careless American MTs who produce poor quality work and don't have a clue or even care! Then there are the fly-by-night MT schools who promise $50,000 a year or better working from home when you finish their program, effectively turning medical transcription into a get rick quick scheme and producing some of the most under qualified MTs out there which brings us back full circle to the uneducated, careless American MT. It's a viscious circle.
So get off your high horse and get back to work. I don't feel guilty about screwing an MTSO that is already sticking it to someone else even as we speak!
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